Foreign Ministry Calls on a Foreign Radio to Work on Basis of Facts and Statistics, Not Rumors and Twisted Information

The Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation yesterday issued a press statement dismissing an article of a foreign radio which distorted the work of Cambodian embassies in foreign countries, and calling on the radio to work on the basis of facts and statistics, not rumors and twisted information.

The full press statement reads as follows:

“The Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MFAIC) of the Kingdom of Cambodia is dismayed at and dismisses a misleading article, solely based on unverified sources of information, of a foreign radio broadcast in Khmer language on 27 January 2023, which grossly distorted the vital work of Cambodian Embassies abroad.

First, to state the Cambodian Missions operate with political tendency and pay less attention to the workers’ well-being is baseless, biased and prejudiced. The truth is they tirelessly function to support and assist the Cambodian people abroad in accordance with the law regardless of the latter’s political affiliation.

At the height of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, overseas Cambodian Missions coordinated repatriation of about 2,900 citizens and offered administrative, consular and material supports to more than 26,000 workers and students in various countries in a non-discriminatory manner.

The above-mentioned radio appears to lose sight of its 2019 report that a Cambodian worker received a consular document from the Royal Embassy of Cambodia to Thailand at 22:00. Over the last two years, the embassy in Bangkok eased with various hospitals to clear medical bills in 23 cases on a humanitarian ground in favor of those unable to pay. This is just a very select instance in one of the Cambodian embassies.

Second, to allege that some officials extorted money in the embassy’s consular services is unfounded. The fact is that at a firm instruction of the MFAIC, all Missions have eliminated opportunity for third-party services, encouraged workers to submit their requests in person, and expedited the service provision. The Cambodian Embassy in Bangkok has issued the consular files on the same day upon the receipt of the demand.

To conclude, the said radio’s reporters should have worked on the basis of facts and statistics, not rumors and twisted information, if they are to claim professionalism.”

Source: Agency Kampuchea Press