citizens on Cambodian territory, and the 2018 Nationality Law which regulates the acquisition and loss of nationality. The 1993 Constitution is generally silent on issues of nationality, other than noting under Article 33 that nationality should be determined by law. That said, the Constitution provides for extensive human rights protections, which remain relevant for the protection of stateless persons.19 3.2.1. The 1994 Immigration Law The Immigration Law was one of the first laws to be considered by the National Assembly following the UN-organised elections in 1993. Article 2 considers an ‘alien’ to be ‘any person who does not have Cambodian nationality’. Article 4 distinguishes between three types of aliens: (1) non-immigrant aliens (shortterm visitors, including tourists, business people, foreign students and diplomatic staff); (2) immigrant aliens (aliens who are legally in Cambodia to perform their professions, or aliens who have not been included in any of the categories mentioned under non-immigrant aliens); and (3) immigrant aliens as private investors.20 Yet, implementing regulations (e.g. sub-decrees) were passed with great delay, which left many requirements of the law unclear for a long time, including in relation to residency for immigrant aliens. Many long-term resident populations in the country are considered non-citizen by the Cambodian authorities, such as multi-generational communities of Vietnamese origin, and are therefore frequently managed under the ‘immigrant alien’ category of the immigration law framework. 3.2.2. The 2018 Law on Nationality The acquisition and loss of Cambodian nationality is determined by the 2018 Nationality Law, which is an amendment of the 1996 Nationality Law.21 The law provides for both jus sanguinis (by descent) and conditional (double) jus soli (by birth on territory) conferral of nationality. Article 9(1) of the law provides that a child born from a parent who has Cambodian nationality is entitled to Cambodian nationality. This provision allows for automatic conferral of citizenship, regardless of place of birth, to children born to at least one parent with Cambodian nationality. The provision of conferring nationality by descent is uncontroversial in Cambodia and widely applied, although some difficulties have been reported in relation to children from certain mixed marriage couples, as will be discussed later. 19 Some concern has been expressed over the frequent reference to ‘Khmer citizens’ in the Constitution, raising doubts over whether constitutionally protected human rights also apply to non-citizens. See also Sperfeldt 2017 GLOBALCIT report. 20 Law on Immigration (1994), Art. 4. <https://www.refworld.org/legal/legislation/natlegbod/1994/ en/15784> 21 Both the original Khmer and an unofficial English translation of the 2018 Law on Nationality are available from the GLOBALCIT country profile section: https://data.globalcit.eu/NationalDB/docs/ Nationality%20Law_EN_FINAL%20Sept%202019.pdf (9 July 2024) 8