Background
The General Department of Immigration (GDI) and interior ministries in Cambodia operate within bilateral and regional frameworks to coordinate investigations, identification, and removal of foreign nationals linked to criminal activity. Cambodia and China maintain a Law Enforcement Cooperation Coordination Office under bilateral memoranda of understanding signed in 2019 and 2024 to coordinate investigations and information exchange. Cambodia participates in the Lancang‑Mekong Integrated Law Enforcement and Security Cooperation Center established under a 2017 MoU, and updated its working group composition in 2018, 2019 and July 2026.
Operationally, Cambodia receives diplomatic notes and specific investigative requests from foreign partners and then locates, verifies status, detains, or transfers individuals to the General Department of Immigration as required by national procedures. The ministry’s public reporting lists case-level outcomes—such as numbers located, individuals found to have no entry records, persons who left the country, arrests, rescues of confinement victims, and formal deportations—which together document the domestic processing steps applied to cross-border requests.
Key Developments
According to the Ministry of Interior deputy spokesperson, Cambodian authorities responded to multiple formal requests from China over the past year involving identified Chinese nationals. Outcomes reported include: locating 14 of 16 persons named in one request (4 had left Cambodia, 10 remained); locating 39 of 52 named in another request (9 left Cambodia, 13 had no entry records, and 1 held Cambodian citizenship); and locating 36 of 45 named in a separate request (16 had left, 20 remained, and 9 had no entry records).
The ministry reported rescuing three Chinese nationals who had been confined and forced into online scam operations and transferring them to the General Department of Immigration. For five suspects accused of illegal deposit‑taking and pornography, officials reported all five remained in Cambodia and were under legal procedures. For an additional five suspects accused of sexual assault and other disturbances, officials reported the five had entered Cambodia and two later left, but none of those five had records in the national identity management system cited by the General Department of Identification.
Within the Lancang‑Mekong framework, authorities reported receiving 100 diplomatic notes concerning 214 suspects (including 10 women). The ministry stated it completed two cases by arrest and deportation, submitted first‑phase responses for 30 diplomatic notes (covering 31 individuals), and continued processing 68 diplomatic notes (covering 183 individuals, including 7 women).
Institutional Role
The Ministry of Interior and the General Department of Immigration act as receiving and processing authorities for foreign investigative requests and diplomatic notes sent by partner states. Where investigations identify persons within Cambodia, the General Department of Immigration is the agency to which detained individuals are transferred for identity verification and deportation procedures, according to the ministry’s reports.
Operational Implications
Public figures in the ministry’s statement illustrate common operational issues in cross-border case handling: a portion of named suspects have no entry records in Cambodian systems, some left the country prior to investigation, and a small number are rescued from forced online operations and then processed through immigration channels. The ministry also reported large-scale repatriation activity coordinated by the Chinese side, including special charter flights to return persons alleged to be involved in online scams to face legal processes in China.
