Background
Immigration enforcement in Cambodia covers the identification, processing, and removal of foreign nationals who are found to lack legal permission to remain in the country. The General Department of Immigration is the Ministry of Interior body responsible for managing immigration administration and related enforcement functions in Cambodia.
Deportation is an immigration control mechanism used by states to remove foreign nationals who do not meet legal requirements for entry, stay, or continued residence. In Cambodia, immigration enforcement records are relevant for tracking border control practices, administrative removals, and the institutional role of the Ministry of Interior in managing foreign national status.
Enforcement Actions
The General Department of Immigration reported that from 12 April to 19 April 2026, a total of 1,175 foreign nationals were deported from the Kingdom of Cambodia. The group included 167 women and covered 28 nationalities.
The nationalities listed by the General Department of Immigration included Rwanda, Cameroon, Myanmar, Nepal, Vietnam, India, Sri Lanka, China, Zimbabwe, Bangladesh, Nigeria, Indonesia, Sierra Leone, Uganda, Ethiopia, Kenya, Pakistan, Madagascar, Ghana, the Philippines, Lebanon, Korea, Malaysia, the United Kingdom, Poland, Taiwan, Kyrgyzstan, and Canada.
Institutional Role
The General Department of Immigration stated that the action followed guidance from the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior and Ministry of Interior leadership. The announcement said GDI Director General Sok Veasna instructed the Department of Investigation and Procedure Implementation to continue the deportation process.
The reported action reflects the operational role of immigration authorities in applying administrative procedures to foreign nationals whose status is described by the authority as illegal.
Operational Implications
The scale of the reported deportations makes the announcement relevant for long-term monitoring of Cambodia’s immigration enforcement system. The nationality breakdown also provides a reference point for assessing the geographic scope of foreign-national removal actions handled by the General Department of Immigration.
