Cambodia and Kyrgyzstan are among the 36 additional countries whose citizens could be banned from entering the United States under a proposed expansion of the Trump administration’s travel ban.
Earlier this month, President Donald Trump signed a proclamation banning citizens of 12 nations from entering the U.S., citing worries about “foreign terrorists” and other national security threats.
According to a report published on Saturday by the Washington Post, which cited an internal State Department memo, the governments of 36 additional nations have been given 60 days to meet new benchmarks and requirements established by the State Department.
“The Department has identified 36 countries of concern that might be recommended for full or partial suspension of entry if they do not meet established benchmarks and requirements within 60 days,” the memo said.
These requirements varied widely, according to the memo. Some countries had “no competent or cooperative central government authority to produce reliable identity documents or other civil documents,” or they suffered from “widespread government fraud,” the memo stated. Others had large numbers of citizens who overstayed their visas in the U.S., or had not been cooperative in facilitating the removal of their nationals from the U.S. – both factors that were cited as the key determinants of which nations ended up on the initial travel ban list on June 4.
Other concerns mentioned in the memo included the availability of citizenship by monetary investment without a requirement of residency and claims of “antisemitic and anti-American activity in the United States” by people from those countries
Cambodia and Kyrgyzstan were the two Asia-Pacific nations on the list, which also included Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Benin, Bhutan, Burkina Faso, Cabo Verde, Cameroon, Cote D’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Dominica, Ethiopia, Egypt, Gabon, The Gambia, Ghana, Liberia, Malawi, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, South Sudan, Syria, Tanzania, Tonga, Tuvalu, Uganda, Vanuatu, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
The initial travel ban list included full bans on citizens from Afghanistan and Myanmar, and a partial ban on Laos and Turkmenistan. Full bans were also announced on nationals from Chad, the Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen, and partial restrictions on citizens from Burundi, Cuba, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela.
The reason for the possible addition of Cambodia and Kyrgyzstan to this list remains unclear. According to the Department of Homeland Security’s Entry/Exit Overstay Report for 2023, which was seemingly used to determine the scope of the initial travel ban, Cambodian citizens had an overstay rate of just 2.61 percent on business and tourist visas, and a rate of 8.05 percent on student, vocational, and exchange visitor visas. This was relatively low compared to many nations on the initial ban list. By contrast, Kyrgyzstan had overstay rates of 11.06 percent on business and tourist visas, and 24.83 percent on student, vocational, and exchange visitor visas.
These relatively low figures suggest other reasons for Cambodia’s inclusion on the list. The State Department memo obtained by the Washington Post lists “government fraud” and the “availability of citizenship by monetary investment without a requirement of residency” – both of which are allegedly issues in the case of Cambodia.
In Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index for 2024, Cambodia was listed at 158 of the 180 nations surveyed, above only North Korea, Myanmar, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, and Tajikistan. One particularly pernicious impact of this corruption is the recent boom in cyberscam operations in the country, which has persisted despite periodic crackdowns by the government – and indeed, allegedly with the active support of figures close to it.
Cambodia may have also come under the State Department’s attention for the ease with which well-heeled foreigners can obtain citizenship. Under Cambodia’s 1996 Law on Nationality, naturalization generally requires someone to have resided in Cambodia for seven years, to have a clean criminal record, and to read and speak the Khmer language. But under the law, these requirements are loosened significantly for “any foreigner who has made a donation in cash” of more than the national budget of from 1 billion riels (around $250,000) “for the interest of restoration and rebuilding of economy of the Kingdom of Cambodia” or invested 1.25 billion riels ($310,000) in the country.
