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lite.cnn.com - on gopher - inofficial
ARTICLE VIEW:
Cambodian lawmakers pass bill to revoke citizenship that critics call
repressive
Story by The Associated Press
Updated:
10:23 PM EDT, Mon August 25, 2025
Source: AP
Cambodian lawmakers on Monday approved a bill giving the government
power to revoke the citizenship of anyone found guilty of conspiring
with foreign nations to harm the national interest.
The amendment to the Nationality Law, which was approved by all 120
members of the National Assembly who were present, is viewed by critics
as a way to suppress internal dissent and control political opponents
of Prime Minister and the ruling Cambodian People’s Party.
Ahead of the vote on Sunday, 50 Cambodian non-governmental
organizations issued a statement saying they were deeply worried by the
bill’s “vaguely written” contents allowing the the government to
strip Cambodians of their citizenship. They claim it “will have a
disastrously chilling effect on the freedom of speech of all Cambodian
citizens.”
“With this new amendment to the Nationality Law, all Cambodians risk
losing our identities over our activism. If we are stripped of
citizenship, we will lose the foundation for every right we have in our
home country,” the statement said.
Before becoming law, the bill must be approved by Cambodia’s Senate
and head of state, King Norodom Sihamoni, which are normally pro forma
actions. Although Cambodia is formally an electoral democracy, Hun
Manet’s Cambodian People’s Party holds 120 of the 125 seats in the
National Assembly and controls all the levers of government.
The passage of the legislation comes during a period of heightened
nationalism among Cambodians following a that broke into a five-day
armed conflict in late July ending only when a shaky was reached.
Cambodian Interior Minister Sar Sokha told the lawmakers that the
update to the law is vital to boost the patriotic feelings of
Cambodians while their country is facing what he characterized as an
invasion by neighboring Thailand.
He suggested a small group of Cambodians were commenting and acting in
a manner harmful to the country’s interests and national security.
Appealing to nationalist sentiment, he said people who directly or
indirectly harm the interests of the nation and its people “should no
longer be qualified as Cambodian citizens.”
The law would apply to lifelong Cambodian citizens, people with dual
citizenship in Cambodia and another nation and people from other
countries who have been granted Cambodian citizenship.
Some prominent government critics and opposition politicians are known
to have dual citizenship. Hun Manet and his father , who stepped down
as prime minister in 2023 after 38 years in power, have been proactive
in throttling opposition, often through lawsuits in the courts, which
are widely seen as being under the ruling party’s influence.
The country’s main opposition party, the , was dissolved by a court
order in 2017 after Hun Sen’s government accused it of seeking to
topple it with the aid of foreign powers. The party’s then-leader, ,
was arrested and later convicted of treason after specifically being
accused of conspiring with the United States.
Many countries have , but often on narrowly defined grounds.
Speaking to villagers and government officials in July in northern
Kampong Thom province, Hun Manet claimed that among nearly 200 United
Nations member states, 150 countries have laws allowing citizenship
revocation, including the United States.
“Please don’t be concerned if you are a patriot and do not oppose
the interest of country. But if you have conspired with foreign powers
to destroy Cambodia then, yes, it is true you should be worried, and in
such case you are not a Cambodian.” Hun Manet said. “No true
patriot would ever plot with foreign powers to destroy their nation.”
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