PhnomPenhPost-Mar 31, 2022
Officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation have expressed frustration with the continued rejections of their visa applications by the US embassy’s consular office stemming from a decision by the US Department of Homeland Security in 2017 as a quid pro quo for Cambodia’s previous refusal to accept Cambodian deportees. A senior ministry official, who asked not to be named, told The Post that he received a letter from the consular office of the US embassy in Phnom Penh, informing him that applications for B1 and B2 visas for officials from the foreign ministry had been rejected. The reason of the denial was given as Cambodia’s delay in accepting citizens who had been deported from the US on the basis of criminal activity, a ban which has been in place since 2017.
Cambodia has resumed receiving its deported citizens from the US in recent years. In January 2020, 25 deported Cambodians arrived in Phnom Penh, the last batch to arrive since the Covid-19 pandemic began.Since 2002, nearly 800 Cambodians have been repatriated, according to the Khmer Vulnerability Aid Organization, an NGO that helps deportees re-integrate into Cambodian society. According to the Department of Homeland Security, a total of 81 Cambodians were removed from the US in 2019, 71 as a result of criminal activity. Read more at: https://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/officials-deplore-us-embassys-visa-denial
