Cambodian lawmakers pass bill to revoke citizenship that critics call repressive

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia -- 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 Hun Manet 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 border dispute with neighboring Thailand that broke into a five-day armed conflict in late July ending only when a shaky ceasefire 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 Hun Sen, 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 Cambodia National Rescue Party, 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, Kem Sokha, was arrested and later convicted of treason after specifically being accused of conspiring with the United States.

Many countries have laws allowing citizenship to be revoked, 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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Grant Peck contributed from Bangkok, Thailand.