Cambodia’s Ministry of Interior and the General Department of Immigration (GDI), has refuted as false a viral online document claiming that African nationals were ordered to leave the country by May 31, 2026, or face imprisonment and hefty fines.
In a statement released on Friday, the GDI said some features on the document are forged including signatures of Som Sopheak, GDI director-general, and Sar Sokha, Minister of Interior.
“The General Department of Immigration of the Ministry of Interior of the Kingdom of Cambodia wishes to clarify that the information published on those websites is completely untrue,” the statement said.
According to local media, immigration waivers were issued to a number of workers with expired visas, often those who were freed or fled from scam centres, in order to allow them time to arrange passage back to their home countries.
“To obtain official information, the public are requested to visit the official website of the General Department of Immigration or call (+855) 78 38 66 99 directly,” the statement reads.
On Thursday, a statement which has now been confirmed as fake by the Kingdom of Cambodia authorities, alleged that the Kingdom had given African nationals in the country a deadline of May 31st to leave the country or face arrest, as the country steps up efforts to clean up and eliminate all cybercrime occurring in the country.
According to authorities, Cambodia regularly enforces immigration and visa regulations for all foreign nationals regardless of nationality, including penalties for overstaying visas under existing immigration laws.
However, the GDI made it clear that no special directive targeting African nationals had been issued.
