US visa restricts Cambodian senior officials (Source: brecorder.com) Hanoi (VNA) – Cambodia’s Ministry ofForeign Affairs said on September 14 that US visa restrictions on Cambodianforeign ministry officials are "unreasonable" and against the spiritof good cooperation between the two countries.
Visa restrictions are the sovereign rights of the UnitedStates government, however, linking these restrictions to the repatriation ofCambodian nationals is unreasonable, the ministry said in a statement.
The US’s reason for discontinuing the granting of visas surprisedCambodia since the country has not denied or unreasonably delayed its nationalsdeported from the US entry to the country, said the statement.
Cambodia is still prepared to accept its nationals deported fromthe US and will try to ensure that those Cambodians will successfullyreintegrate into society and begin their new lives with decency and dignity, itadded.
Previously on September 13, the US stopped issuing some typesof visa to high-level Cambodian Ministry of Foreign Affairs employees and theirfamilies. It said the restrictions came after Cambodia refused to accept thereturn of its nationals expelled from the US.
In April, Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen saidCambodia did not cancel a deportation agreement with the United States, whichwas signed in 2012, but asked the US to amend the agreement to allow Cambodiansconvicted of felonies to stay in the US after serving their prison sentence.
Under the current agreement, Cambodians who are permanentresidents of the US are deported if they are convicted of a felony.-VNA
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