Category Archives: Opinions

Guide to apply for a Cambodian passport

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If you’ve been living in Cambodia for some time, you know how difficult it is to live here if you don’t have a lot of money to accommodate the needs of those in power. If you were born Cambodian, then you also know making a passport here isn’t very cheap like neighboring countries such as Laos, Vietnam and Thailand.

To get a passport within 1 month or 50 days or nearly 2 months costs $135 (including the service of having your photos taken); 2 weeks: $290, 3 days: $380, 1 day: $480.
My 3 year old passport needs a twin

-          Come to the passport department and park your bike inside, if you have a car, park it somewhere else, as there doesn’t seem to be space for your car. It opens from 8am to 10am (morning) and 2pm to 4pm (afternoon).

-          Bring your national identification card, family residence document and birth certificate.

-          Keep $4 with you. I really mean it. It could be 4 one-dollar notes, because you don’t want to be scolded for giving them a big note and for them having to go look for change for you.

-          If you get a travel agent to make it easier for you to get a passport without having to spend hours there, you have to find him. But if you’re on your own, find an application form to fill in your name, nationality, age, parents’ names and occupations. Remember that the birth certificate and family residence book are significant to help you get through this phase. If the broker is there, she/he is willing to fill it in for you. The broker will also ask for the two documents as well as your national identification card (ID).

-          Make a copy of your application form and staple the original paper and the copy together.

-          Go to the counter close to the photo copy machine or ask people where to go next. They’ll tell you. That counter is on the right side of the entrance door of the building. If you are there all by yourself to give the form, the passport officers have the habit of tossing your application below others’. If the broker is there, they’ll make it very quick for him, therefore for you. After inspecting the name and basic information, they can point out if there’s some inconsistency, but if there isn’t, they will give you number tags.

Cambodia's passport office on Mao Tse Dong blvd near Chamkar Morn traffic light

-          Enter the building with your number tag. With your broker’s help, you might wait for 3 to 5 minutes or even less while others who are on their own can wait forever. There are very few rows of seats for those who wait; some even sit on the floor. There is a passport official sitting opposite the seats calling names every 5 seconds. Once he calls your name, he stamps your paper, and do keep in mind that the number will be important for the next step to take till the end of the process. Don’t forget to leave the number tag and insert it on the metal bar you find on his table.

-          Look at the number on the paper he stamps and gives you. There are about 6 counters, one of which you have to go to next. For example, I saw number 4 on the paper, and I had to go to counter number 4. There, I met a very unfriendly passport officer who shouted at those who were unfamiliar with or new to place heir left and right thumbs on the red scanner. Face your paper down on the table. You are then demanded to place your left thumb first and then right thumb on the scanner as long as you can till he tells you to stop.

-          Take the paper (that consists of the original and copy application) which the scanner officer stamps. Leave him in peace, and go straight to another room which is the only room in sight after the scanner counters. Give $4 (12,000 Riel or 4 one-dollar notes) to the official seated at the table on the left when you enter the room. Don’t expect the room to be spacious — it can accommodate only just about 20 people a time. Therefore, you can easily find the table where you are supposed to pay for your passport photo. The photo official will then imprint a tick with a pen on your paper, and you take it and go to a photo booth of the NUMBER that you were assigned earlier. You can have a look at the front page of your paper, and you’ll know what number it is . There are only 6 photo booths, so it is not tough to find yours.  Give the official your paper, and go sit on a chair opposite his camera. His computer might look like it came from Stone Age, but you can’t help but think this is Cambodia.

-          Make sure your hair doesn’t cover your ears; otherwise once made, you’re asked to take another picture again. This is a problem common among women. You won’t like a stranger to ask you to toss your sideburn backward, will you (for gals)?

-          Get your paper back once the passport photo official stamps yours. Don’t go to another room yet; go to the photo-printing counter two metres away from your photo booth as you have to wait for your photo which will be pasted onto your paper by an official. He calls your name, and you take the paper to another room.

Cambodian domestic helpers (to Malaysia) pay USD 150 for their passport

-          Enter the door next to the photo printing table, and go straight to two tables. Just go to one of them, and put your paper down on one of the officials’ tables. This is one of the most hilarious moments you’ll ever have in  your life. The official asks you what your name is and probably your parents’ names. If you can’t tell your name correctly, you are advised to go back to the beginning. Now, you should learn to pronounce your name correctly in this “interview” section. Minors (less than 18 years of age under Cambodian rules) are advised to bring their guardian or parents along. This passport official was surprised and said,“Hey, you’re only 14 years old – too young to make a passport” at a girl standing next to me.  “Since when can’t a 14-year-old girl make a passport?” I thought to myself.

-          Get your paper after they stamp yours, and leave to another room. Remember all the doors there are missing; perhaps they were stolen. Face your paper down on the first table you see when you enter the next room. You wait until the man reads through your document, signs it and calls your name. You take your paper, and go the next one: “height-measuring.”

-          Face your paper down on the table or on top of other people’s forms, and wait until the height-measuring official calls out your name. You’ll find a long wooden measure stick attached to the wall. It is about 2 metres tall, and those who are taller than 2 metres have no way to make it through this stage, I guess. Take your shoes off, and lean on the wall near the measure stick. The man will tell how tall you are by way of his naked eyes or educated guess.

-          Take the paper he hands to you after he stamps it, and go to the next counter with the NUMBER you were assigned earlier. I stuck with number 4. Face the paper down on counter 4, and stay there till the official reads through your document, signs and stamps it. He then tells you to leave through the exit door. Don’t take the paper with you, as he keeps it.

I’m compelled to write this down because the two times I made my passport were as hard. The passport office lacks signs, instructions and guidance.

I was reminded this important piece of information. There was no way you could go to the passport office, and make a passport without help from a broker. As I said, you’d forever waiting for nothing because your application would be tossed below other files that only come later than yours. Do remember that the passport officials share the rice pot with the brokers, in Khmer meaning they work together for mutual monetary benefits. I was also told that the brokers from tour companies pay a lot of money to the officials to get things done.

Brokers here can be passport officials themselves or the travel agents from tour companies. I tried calling both of them to see ranges of prices only to be informed by one official from the passport office that he would never cause any conflict with any travel agent after I asked him if he could help me. Earlier, I had asked a travel agent from the biggest tour company in Phnom Penh to get my new passport done in one week.

“I wouldn’t want to break our rice pot together,” he plead on the phone.

It’s even ridiculous that your broker might not even have time to tell you what you are going through in the next minute at the passport office. I helped several people get to the next step — it was a total chaos. And, such a messed-up system really pisses me off. The process of doing it, as we describe it as ‘red tape’ is really “red tape”. I was told that it would take me 30 minutes to make it, but it turned out that it was close to 3 hours that day even I would have to pay 280$.

I will publish another blog post to compare prices of making a passport within the ASEAN countries.

Cambodian Government Picks NGO Representatives for ASEAN Summit

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Well, it’s just another story that didn’t go published in the media. T-T

The Cambodian government has chosen civil society representatives to attend the ASEAN summit in Phnom Penh next month sparking outrage among civil society groups who have come to regard the selection process as unfair and voice-stifling.

The choice of representatives for civil society groups in Cambodia by the Royal Government for the ASEAN summit next month has stirred a tempest in the teapot.

Several civil society groups have expressed dismay over the choice of representation made by the government.  These organizations feel that the current candidates are not truly the face of the non-government organizations in the country.

Furthermore, some of the NGOs have called the selection process as unfair and biased, and have stated that the government has prevented mainstream organizations and critical voices from being heard on an international stage.  They claim that the organizations nominated by the government are obscure and unheard of in the civil society circles.  These organizations are likely to be more empathic towards government views.

The current nominees from Cambodia are Huoy Sochivanny, head of Positive Change for Cambodia and Sok Theavuth, head of the Cambodian ASEAN Youth Association.

Theary Seng, the founder of Centre for Cambodian Civic Education (CIVICUS) and former director of Centre for Social Development (CSD),spoke to Asia360news and labelled the developments as a “facade of sham representation for civil society where the Cambodian people will not be well-represented at the ASEAN summit, which is supposed to be a place where regional issues are addressed and solved.”

“It is shameful and deeply unfortunate that the Cambodian government continues to be disingenuous with the Cambodian people and deprives us of genuine representation at the ASEAN meeting.  These NGOs are really GONGOs or the oxymoronic ‘government non-government organizations.”

The head of the Cambodian Centre for Human Rights, Ou Virak told Asia360news: “It is not right for the government to select representatives unilaterally.  They should have let the civil society groups to gather and select representatives among themselves.”

Civil society representatives from the ASEAN region are expected to meet on 3 April 2012 in Phnom Penh.  The government has since attempted to sideline the issue of nomination of representatives by telling the other nine ASEAN nations to nominate the representatives themselves rather than go through the ASEAN Civil Society Conference and the ASEAN People’s Forum which is the accepted protocol.

Khus Thida, head of the planning committee for the ASEAN Civil Society told Cambodian local media that as a rule, the selection of NGO representatives has to be followed through the ASEAN Civil Society Conference (ACSC).

“I think that only NGOs that don’t criticise the government have been chosen so that no sensitive issues might be raised during the ASEAN summit and so that Cambodia will not look bad in front of other members,” she was quoted by Raksmey Kampuchea Daily.

Independent ASEAN activists have said that they will boycott the ASEAN summit meeting between civil society representatives and the regional leaders on the ground that the conditions set by the Cambodian government are not consistent with the established protocol.  The Cambodian Council of Ministers bears direct responsibility for the nomination issue.

Cambodia’s civil society groups form a powerful voice of dissent in the political and economic sphere as the country receives a large amount of aid from foreign donors who seek greater involvement in the political process.

Although many of these organizations are perceived positively in the Cambodian society, they are also looked upon as instruments in foreign hands for sowing dissent.  In the recent years, the Cambodian government has sought to actively make these organizations more accountable and to neutralize their involvement in politics.

Note: What do you think about what the Cambodian government has done? Your opinion is appreciated. 

Cambodian in Debt Trap?

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China is pouring money into Cambodia, but will the political cost be even bigger than the interest bill? 

PHNOM PENH (10 February 2012) — A multi-million dollar “no strings attached” loan by China to Cambodia has ignited debate in the kingdom about the economic, political and social costs of its rising dependence on the world’s second biggest economy.

The state-run Export-Import Bank of China promised to advance the US$302 million loan during a visit by its chairman Li Ruogu last week. It is the latest in a string of investments byChinasince 2007 as it strives to bolster its economic and political influence inSoutheast Asia.

The flood of Chinese money is likely to continue, with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen petitioning Li to finance seven infrastructure and irrigation projects this year to the tune of US$500 million. He said the projects were crucial to the development ofCambodia’s economy.

Cambodiahas borrowed vast sums fromChinain recent years to finance road, hydropower and defence projects, many of which are contracted to Chinese firms. Last November, Hun Sen put the total debt owed toChinaat US$2 billion.

Concerns at the rising bill were compounded when National Assembly Finance Commission Chairman Cheam Yeap put the China debt at US$6 billion then hastily backtracked saying he was not sure how much was owed.

Cambodiaalso owes US$1.8 billion toRussiain a deal dating back to Soviet times, and another US$444 million to theUnited Statesfollowing a loan to the Lon Nol regime in the 1970s.

Chea Kimsong, a development programme manager of the NGO Forum for Cambodia, told Asia360 News that worries were spreading aboutCambodia’s rising foreign debt.

“Loans don’t have to be a bad thing as they can help the economy, but our revenue should be improved so we can meet our future debt obligations,” he said.

A recent report by the NGO Forum found thatChinaprovided the least favourable concessionary loan terms, demanding interest five times higher than other creditors such asSouth KoreaandJapan.

The interest bill has raised fears thatBeijing’s strategy is to wooCambodiawith largesse, then snare it in a debt trap later — thus securing political influence at both ends of the deal.

“It goes without saying that more debt Cambodia owes to China, the more comfortable China feels about exerting influence over Cambodia politically, socially and economically — like it or not,” former director of Cambodian Centre for Social Development Chea Vannath told Asia360 News.

For now, however,CambodiawelcomesChina’s money. Hun Sen laudedChinalast week for contributing toCambodia’s recent economic growth without attaching onerous conditions to its loans.

Hun Sen is reported to favour Chinese loans as support from Western nations often comes with conditions attached, such as improvements on human rights issues and market-opening economic reforms.

AndChinais getting its pound of flesh as well. Recent evictions of residents at Beng Kak lake in northernPhnom Penhhave been conducted by a local partner ofChina’s Erdos Hong Jun Investment Co, which has pledged to spend US$3 billion on property development, metal processing and power generation.

Moreover, activists claim thatPhnom PenhdidBeijing’s bidding in 2009, when it deported 20 Uyghur asylum seekers toChinareportedly in exchange for military equipment. Some Uyghur residents ofChina’s Xinjiang province had fled toCambodiaafter regional unrest in July that year but were repatriated to face possible prosecution and severe punishment back home, according to Amnesty International.

Some analysts believeCambodiashould shun debt-driven growth in favour of market-based reforms — such as rule of law and a level playing field for investors — which would attract ample capital given time.

But withChinadetermined to consolidate influence in the region and impoverished Cambodia eager to catch up with neighbouring economies likeThailand, the cash will continue to flow.

Read more on Asia360News.