Cambodia

Detains migrants or asylum seekers?

Yes

Has laws regulating migration-related detention?

Yes

Refugees

24

2023

Asylum Applications

5

2022

International Migrants

79,341

2020

Population

16,900,000

2023

Overview

Cambodia; Cambodia is an important target for labour-related trafficking syndicates. Victims may face arrest and be prosecuted for alleged crimes related to their trafficking. Sources in Cambodia have told the Global Detention Project that the country’s immigration detention facilities have been growing increasingly overcrowded.

Types of facilities used for migration-related detention
Administrative Ad Hoc Criminal Unknown

Cambodia & Southeast Asia: Cyber Scam Trafficking Victims Facing Detention and Prosecution

In a recent report to the ASEAN Inter-Governmental Commission on Human Rights, a group of NGOs highlight a growing pattern of human rights violations across Southeast Asia involving trafficking rackets that are fuelled by scam online employment schemes. The report echoes recent information that the Global Detention Project has received from sources in Cambodia about […]

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Cambodia: Covid-19 and Detention

Cambodia has had few confirmed cases of Covid-19, numbering just over 100 as of mid-May. The country has taken a number of measures to prevent the spread of the disease. On 20 March, the border with Vietnam was closed and general entry restrictions were implemented for foreign travelers. On 30 March, it suspended the issuance […]

Read More…

Prison Personnel Sitting at an ICRC Training on Chlorine Disinfection to Prevent the Spread of Covid-19, (
Last updated:

DETENTION STATISTICS

Migration Detainee Entries
Not Available
2019

DETAINEE DATA

Total Number of Children Placed in Immigration Detention (Year)
0
2017

DETENTION CAPACITY

ALTERNATIVES TO DETENTION

ADDITIONAL ENFORCEMENT DATA

PRISON DATA

Criminal Prison Population (Year)
21,989
2016
14,697
2013
14,043
2010
10,902
2007
6,778
2004
6,179
2001
3,233
1998
2,490
1995
Percentage of Foreign Prisoners (Year)
4.2
2016
3.9
2011
Prison Population Rate (per 100,000 of National Population)
138
2016
100
2013
99
2010
79
2007
51
2004
49
2001
27
1998
22
1995

POPULATION DATA

Population (Year)
16,900,000
2023
16,700,000
2020
15,578,000
2015
International Migrants (Year)
79,341
2020
78,649
2019
74,000
2015
International Migrants as Percentage of Population (Year)
0.47
2020
0.5
2015
Refugees (Year)
24
2023
24
2021
0
2020
0
2019
0
2018
0
2017
67
2017
61
2016
76
2015
63
2014
Asylum Applications (Year)
5
2022
27
2019
208
2016
37
2014
Refugee Recognition Rate (Year)
50
2014
Stateless Persons (Year)
75,000
2023
57,444
2018
0
2016
0
2015

SOCIO-ECONOMIC DATA & POLLS

Gross Domestic Product per Capita (in USD)
1,094
2014
Remittances to the Country (in USD)
304
2014
Unemployment Rate
2014
Net Official Development Assistance (ODA) (in Millions USD)
799.4
2014
Human Development Index Ranking (UNDP)
143 (Medium)
2015

LEGAL & REGULATORY FRAMEWORK

Does the Country Detain People for Migration, Asylum, or Citizenship Reasons?
Yes
2023
Does the Country Have Specific Laws that Provide for Migration-Related Detention?
Yes
2023
Legal Tradition(s)
Civil law
2017

GROUNDS FOR DETENTION

LENGTH OF DETENTION

DETENTION INSTITUTIONS

Custodial Authorities
(Cambodian police)
2006
(Cambodian police)
2006

PROCEDURAL STANDARDS & SAFEGUARDS

COSTS & OUTSOURCING

COVID-19 DATA

TRANSPARENCY

MONITORING

NATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS MONITORING BODIES

NATIONAL PREVENTIVE MECHANISMS (OPTIONAL PROTOCOL TO UN CONVENTION AGAINST TORTURE)

NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANISATIONS (NGOs)

GOVERNMENTAL MONITORING BODIES

INTERNATIONAL DETENTION MONITORING

INTERNATIONAL TREATIES & TREATY BODIES

International Treaties Ratified
Ratification Year
Observation Date
ICPED, International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance
2013
2013
CRPD, Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
2012
2012
CTOCTP, Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children
2007
2007
OPCAT, Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
2007
2007
VCCR, Vienna Convention on Consular Relations
2006
2006
CTOCSP, Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime
2005
2005
ICCPR, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
1992
1992
ICESCR, International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
1992
1992
CEDAW, Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women
1992
1992
CAT, Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
1992
1992
CRC, Convention on the Rights of the Child
1992
1992
CRSR, Geneva Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees
1992
1992
PCRSR, Protocol to the Geneva Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees
1992
1992
ICERD, International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination
1983
1983
Ratio of relevant international treaties ratified
Ratio: 14/19
Individual Complaints Procedures
Acceptance Year
CEDAW, Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, 1999 2010
2010
Ratio of Complaints Procedures Accepted
Observation Date
1/8
2017
Relevant Recommendations or Observations Issued by Treaty Bodies
Recommendation Year
Observation Date
Committee on Enforced Disappearance 48. The Committee recommends, taking into account its general comment No. 1 (2023) on enforced disappearance in the context of migration, that the State party adopt the necessary measures to prevent the disappearance of migrants, strengthen mutual legal assistance to facilitate the exchange of information and evidence for the search for disappeared migrants and for the investigation, and provide support services to them and their relatives ... 51. The Committee takes note of the information provided by the State party regarding the existence of 10 different registers for prisons, as well as similar registers for social service centres and correctional facilities. ... Nevertheless, the Committee is concerned at: (a) The inconsistency of the elements listed in article 17 (3) of the Convention that appear in the registers, and the lack of information on registration procedures in other places of deprivation of liberty, such as military or immigration detention facilities; 2024
2024
2024
Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination § 36. The State party take all measures to ensure the full respect of the principle of non- refoulement . Recalling its general recommendation No. 22 (1996) on refugees and displaced persons in the context of article 5 of the Convention, the Committee recommends that the State party ensure judicial appeals procedures for asylum seekers and allow asylum seekers and refugees to have access to basic rights. 2020
2020
2020

> UN Special Procedures

> UN Universal Periodic Review

Relevant Recommendations or Observations from the UN Universal Periodic Review
Observation Date
No 2014
2017
No 2010
2017

> Global Compact for Migration (GCM)

GCM Resolution Endorsement
Observation Date
2018
2018

> Global Compact on Refugees (GCR)

GCR Resolution Endorsement
Observation Date
2018

REGIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS MECHANISMS

Regional Legal Instruments
Year of Ratification (Treaty) / Transposed (Directive) / Adoption (Regulation)
Observation Date
ASEAN CATPWC Convention Against Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children 2016
2016
2017

HEALTH CARE PROVISION

HEALTH IMPACTS

COVID-19

Country Updates
Cambodia has had few confirmed cases of Covid-19, numbering just over 100 as of mid-May. The country has taken a number of measures to prevent the spread of the disease. On 20 March, the border with Vietnam was closed and general entry restrictions were implemented for foreign travelers. On 30 March, it suspended the issuance of visas for all foreign nationals. In April, travel between provinces and districts was restricted. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, many businesses have closed in Thailand and in consequence, more than 90,000 Cambodian migrant workers have lost their employment and many have returned to Cambodia. UN agencies report that they are working with the Cambodian Government to ensure that migrant workers and their families receive assistance in terms of shelter and food. The UN and partners are working to include migrants in the social protection support package being proposed as part of the exceptional measures created by the Government to mitigate the impact of Covid-19 among vulnerable groups. IOM Cambodia has printed and distributed information, education and communication materials developed by the Ministry of Health and the WHO. The organisation is also collaborating with UNICEF to manage a hotline providing returning migrants with information regarding access to essential healthcare and psychological support. In addition, IOM Cambodia says that it is working with border authorities to monitor migrants’ cross border movement in order to understand their mobility, respond to their needs, and inform preparedness and response strategies. Human Rights Watch says that Cambodian authorities are using the Covid-19 pandemic to carry out arbitrary arrests of opposition supporters and government critics. At least 30 people, including 12 linked to the now dissolved Cambodian National Rescue Party have been arrested on charges of spreading “fake news” and other offences. HRW has urged the government to immediately and unconditionally drop the charges against all those accused of crimes in violation of their rights to freedom of expression and association. Human rights groups have called on the government to take measures in the country’s prisons, which reportedly have nearly 40,000 inmates despite a capacity of just over 25,000. Due to overcrowding, social distancing measures are effectively impossible in the country’s prisons. Human Rights Watch called on the government to “immediately release people who should not be in custody, including pretrial detainees held for minor offenses, and political prisoners.” According to Amnesty International, Cambodian detention facilities “are a ‘ticking time bomb’ for a potentially disastrous coronavirus outbreak.” Footage releases by the organization revealed terrible conditions in which inmates are being held. The Director in the Office of the Secretary-General at Amnesty International called out the government to “urgently ease this overcrowding crisis while giving all detainees access to appropriate healthcare without discrimination.” ICRC reports that it has been working in prisons to prevent the spread of Covid-19. On 10 April, the organisation signed an agreement with the General Department of Prisons for the donation of 20 tonnes of medical materials including 50kg of calcium hypochlorite powder, protective clothing, boots, gloves, goggles, water spray buckets, sanitisers and medical face masks. On 20 April, it organised training on disinfection of prisons with chlorine for 28 different prisons. The Ministry of Health insisted that prisoners must wash their hands regularly, not touch their faces and wear masks. In late March, HRW reported that Cambodian Muslims had been facing discrimination since the beginning of the pandemic. They were accused by the Health Ministry of spreading the virus, which led to “led to an outburst of discriminatory and hateful comments online, and discriminatory daily interactions at markets, shops, and community areas against Cambodia’s minority Muslim communities.”
Did the country release immigration detainees as a result of the pandemic?
Unknown
2022
Did the country use legal "alternatives to detention" as part of pandemic detention releases?
Unknown
2022
Did the country Temporarily Cease or Restrict Issuing Detention Orders?
Unknown
2022
Did the Country Adopt These Pandemic-Related Measures for People in Immigration Detention?
Unknown (Unknown) Unknown Unknown Unknown
2022
Did the Country Lock-Down Previously "Open" Reception Facilities, Shelters, Refugee Camps, or Other Forms of Accommodation for Migrant Workers or Other Non-Citizens?
Unknown
2022
Were cases of COVID-19 reported in immigration detention facilities or any other places used for immigration detention purposes?
Unknown
2022
Did the Country Cease or Restrict Deportations/Removals During any Period After the Onset of the Pandemic?
No
2022
Did the Country Release People from Criminal Prisons During the Pandemic?
Unknown
2022
Did Officials Blame Migrants, Asylum Seekers, or Refugees for the Spread of COVID-19?
Unknown
2022
Did the Country Restrict Access to Asylum Procedures?
Unknown
2022
Did the Country Commence a National Vaccination Campaign?
2021
Were Populations of Concern Included/Excluded From the National Vaccination Campaign?
Unknown (Included) Included Included Included
2021