Phnom Penh, February 4, 2025 – The Cambodian government’s decision to deny British journalist Gerald Flynn re-entry to Cambodia and ban him from the country is a blatant attack on journalism and serves as yet another example of the Cambodian authorities’ intolerance of critical and investigative journalism. We condemn this arbitrary decision and call for authorities to immediately facilitate his return to Cambodia so he can continue his work.
Flynn, an investigative and environmental reporter who has worked for local and foreign publications in Cambodia for years, was denied re-entry at the Siem Reap International Airport on January 5, 2025. Flynn, who is the president of the Overseas Press Club of Cambodia (OPCC), was returning from a holiday in Thailand.
Immigration officials at Siem Reap airport informed Flynn that his visa was “fake”, but did not provide further details. The officials told Flynn that he would never be allowed to return to Cambodia because he had been placed on a “blacklist” on November 25, 2024. He was forced to board a flight to Thailand immediately and told that he was banned from returning to the country.
A few days prior, on January 2, the journalist was first flagged at immigration while departing from Siem Reap. After being taken aside and briefly questioned by officials, he was allowed to board his flight to Thailand. Flynn has a government-issued one-year Type-E work visa valid from February 2024, as well as a work permit, which is issued by the Labour Ministry based on a valid visa. His Information Ministry-issued press pass was valid until January 1 and he had already submitted an application for his 2025 press pass.
Almost a month since Flynn was denied entry to Cambodia, the government is insisting he applied for a visa as an electrician rather than a journalist and has so far refused to confirm that Flynn is banned from the country or provide any information about possible appeals processes open to him.
The apparent blacklisting of Flynn on November 25, 2024 came shortly after he was featured as a source in a France24 documentary that aired on November 22, 2024. The documentary scrutinised Cambodian’s carbon offsetting projects in the Cardamom Mountains and, without evidence, the government dismissed the documentary as “fake news.” Two other sources who were also featured in the documentary were detained on November 23, 2024 and released two days later.
Flynn’s arbitrary ban from entering the country comes after five years of reporting in Cambodia, where he has uncovered rampant environmental crimes and the destruction of natural resources. Most recently, for US-based environmental news outlet Mongabay, Flynn has reported on the deforestation of protected areas, such as the Prey Lang Wildlife Sanctuary, illegal fishing operations off the southern coast of Cambodia and the failures of carbon credit projects that are globally feted. The Cambodian government has frequently dismissed facts brought to light by Flynn’s reporting, which has been featured in various local and international media.
This latest attack on press freedoms comes a month after Siem Reap journalist Chhoeung Chheng was murdered after having previously reported on land clearings in the province. Likewise, in late November 2024, six prominent environmental activists were detained for three days and questioned by authorities while investigating an illicit timber trafficking network in Stung Treng province that Flynn had reported on for Mongabay. Additionally, in late September, Cambodian journalist Mech Dara was accused of fake news dissemination, leading to his detention in prison on incitement charges. Dara was released from prison on bail in October but only after sustained domestic and international pressure on the government.
Over the past two years, Cambodia has fallen nine places in Reporters Without Borders’ World Press Freedom Index, ranking 151st out of 180 countries in 2024.
Flynn should be allowed to return to the country and resume his important journalism which is critical to conservation efforts to protect Cambodia’s fast-dwindling natural resources. The government must stop impeding journalists in the country through arbitrary arrests, intimidation and harassment.
This statement is endorsed by:
- Overseas Press Club of Cambodia (OPCC)
- Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines (FOCAP)
- Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan (FCCJ)
- Foreign Correspondents Club (Malaysia)
- Asia Human Rights and Labour Advocates (AHRLA)
- Climate Rights International (CRI)
- Reporters Without Borders (RSF)
- International Federation of Journalists (IFJ)
- Cambodian Journalists Alliance Association (CamboJA)
- National Union of Journalists of the Philippines
- Gerakan Media Merdeka (Geramm-Malaysia)
- Alliance of Independent Journalist (Indonesia)
- Association Journalists Timor-Leste (AJTL)
- Centre for Independent Journalism (Malaysia)
- Prachatai (Thailand)
- International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), within the framework of the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders
- World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), within the framework of the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders
- Human Rights Watch (HRW)
- The Taiwan Foreign Correspondents’ Club (TFCC)
- Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights (LICADHO)
- Cambodian Center for Independent Media (CCIM)
