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Global Witness Statement on Being Barred From Entering Cambodia           


In 1999, Prime Minister Hun Sen staked his job on the government's ability to crackdown on illegal logging.

Six years later, illegal logging in Cambodia is rife. In 2005, Hun Sen banned 5 Global Witness and an environmental and illegal logging watchdog staff from entering the country.

Global Witness’s Jon Buckrell said, "It cannot have escaped the Prime Minister's attention that some of Cambodia's most persistent illegal loggers are either related to him or close acquaintances.”

Buckrell also stated, "After 10 years of focusing on illegal logging, we intend to broaden our remit to include other aspects of institutionalized corruption.

The present administration is rotten to the core and good governance must be placed squarely at the top of the political agenda."

Long Visalo, Foreign Ministry's Secretary of State, sent a letter to the Ministry of Interior on June 28 of this year, which was subsequently passed on to immigration, denying Global Witness entry into Cambodia.

On July 18, Global Witness's assistant Cambodia coordinator was stopped by immigration officials at the airport and put on a plane back to Thailand.

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