Cambodia arrests 19 Chinese nationals for illegal stay and suspicious activities

The arrested Chinese nationals did not have a passport or any documentation to support their purpose of stay in Cambodia. Security agencies seized 135 smartphones, 44 ghost SIM cards

@kunalchonkar

New Delhi: Security agencies of Phnom Penh have arrested 19 Chinese nationals for not only illegally staying in the country but also for their alleged involvement in suspicious activities in Cambodia. The incident of the arrest in Cambodia surfaces with several Asian nations recently reporting of Chinese citizens residing in their countries without valid visas and work permits.

Last week, the joint operation carried out by the Cambodian national police along with officers from the Immigration Special Forces led to the arrest of 19 Chinese nationals residing illegally in the country’s Mondolkiri province.

According to sources in Cambodian foreign ministry, on August 8, security agencies conducted a raid on a large hotel in the city of Sen Monorom. Acting on a tip-off from the country’s intelligence agency – the police and immigration team carried out a search in the Modolkiri Hotel. Teams checked 74 of the occupied rooms in the hotel, which led to the discovery of 22 Chinese nationals residing in the property without a valid visa, work permit, or immigration documentation.

Speaking to TheNews21, a senior Cambodian official said that they have successfully arrested all the 22 Chinese nationals. Authorities were surprised that 19 of the arrested Chinese nationals did not have a passport or any identification proving their Beijing citizenship. Three individuals were found to have Chinese passports with them.

“They (19) had no documents on them to either prove their nationality or their travel dates into Cambodia. They were also unwilling to cooperate and communicate with the teams,” the officer said.

On the question, whether the arrested Chinese nationals were spies or part of any covert intelligence operation by Beijing, the officer said, “We cannot give you any comment at this moment. First, we need to ascertain their identity and other details. The immigration and security department will now investigate everything and even contact the Chinese Embassy.” The officer added that the team had also seized several electronic appliances and telecommunication devices from the Chinese nationals.

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As per shared information, the Cambodian security agencies seized 135 smartphones – including eight locked, 34 computers, six laptops, nine USB memory sticks, 172 new SIM cards – including 44 ghost cards, 23 computer keyboards, and seven Wi-Fi routers.

Further investigations are being carried to verify the identity of these nationals and the purpose of their presence in Cambodia. The seized electronic appliances have been sent for a further probe to the technical team at the foreigners’ division in the security department of the national police. Despite several attempts, the office of the Deputy Commissioner for Security, Brigadier General Dun Sokha, Deputy Commissioner, who led the operation remained unavailable to comment on the development.

A similar crackdown on Chinese nationals with no valid visa and involvement in suspicious activities was seen in Nepal in January. Officials from Kathmandu in the operation arrested 122 Chinese nationals, who were immediately deported to Beijing. Nepalese security agencies had seized 67 fake passports, along with 747 mobile phones, 331 laptops, 18 CPUs, 19 monitors, 22 pen drives, and 327 SIM cards from the Chinese nationals.