2021 Statelessness & Citizenship Review 3(2) Cambodian authorities implemented a ‘foreigner’ census, one aim of which was to identify and deport ‘illegal immigrants’. 20 Subsequent deportations disproportionately targeted Vietnamese, with more than 10,000 (mostly recent immigrants) deported to Vietnam. 21 Shortly thereafter, Cambodian authorities implemented a nation-wide registration process under the auspices of the Ministry of Interior — again focusing mainly on Vietnamese populations — that involved the issuance of new permanent resident cards. The new cards were issued for a fee of 250,000 riel per person (more than USD60), requiring renewal after two years for the same price. 22 These documents identify their holders as ‘immigrant aliens’ having ‘Vietnamese nationality’ 23 — confirming the Cambodian Government’s position that these people are not stateless, but are in fact Vietnamese nationals, without any verification of such a status. Almost 90,000 Vietnamese were eligible to apply for the new permanent resident cards. 24 Many people reported that officials told them they could apply for naturalisation after seven years residing legally in Cambodia with these new documents. 25 The rights and entitlements under the new resident cards remain unclear. For a period beginning in 2017, this registration process was accompanied by systematic confiscation of all prior documentation that authorities deemed to be ‘irregular’. 26 The Ministry of Interior identified around 70,000 mostly Vietnamese ‘foreigners’ who held these irregular documents. 27 In the provinces monitored by MIRO and visited by the author, authorities have confiscated legal documents previously held by Vietnamese residents, including old immigration or resident cards, family books and even Cambodian ID cards — effectively revoking citizenship from potentially thousands of individuals. 28 In fact, the Ministry deemed irregular most documentation previously issued by mainly local 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 Sperfeldt (n 1) 113. Khy Sovuthy, ‘Deportations of Vietnamese Dropped Last Year’, Cambodia Daily (online, 23 January 2017) <https://english.cambodiadaily.com/news/deportations-vietnamese-droppedlast-year-123878/>; Chhun Sunly, ‘Deportees total more than 18,000 since 2014’, Khmer Times (online, 18 June 2021) <https://www.khmertimeskh.com/50876526/deportees-totalmore-than-18000-since-2014/>. Sperfeldt (n 1) 114 n 73. ibid; Mech Dara and Daphne Chen, ‘Government Pledges Documentation for Ethnic Vietnamese’, The Phnom Penh Post (online, 28 February 2018) <https://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/government-pledges-documentation-ethnicvietnamese>. Management of Foreign Immigrants in Cambodia (Notification No 1990, Ministry of Interior, 2020). Author’s and MIRO’s observations from field visits conducted between 2015–19. This is seemingly in line with the naturalisation requirements set out in art 19 of Cambodia’s 2018 Law on Nationality, but disregards the previous legal residence status of many Vietnamese: Law on Nationality No NS/RKT/0618/008 2018, art 19 (Kingdom of Cambodia) (‘Law on Nationality’). See also Dara and Chen (n 23). Cancellation and Withdrawal Of Irregular Cambodian Administrative Documents Possessed and Used By Foreigner (Sub-Decree No 129, 15 August 2017). Ben Sokhean, ‘Interior Ministry Sees a Danger to Kingdom: Illegal Immigrants “are a Security Risk”’, Khmer Times (online, 14 July 2020) <https://www.khmertimeskh.com/744331/interior-ministry-sees-a-danger-to-kingdomillegal-migrants-are-a-security-risk/>. Sperfeldt (n 1) 114–5; See also Voun Dara, ‘Ethnic Vietnamese Protest Against Residency Blunder’, Phnom Penh Post (online, 17 January 2019) <https://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/ethnic-vietnamese-protest-against-residencyblunder>. 350