The government of Cambodia has enforced a prohibition against a British journalist, specialising in environmental issues, from setting foot in the country. This move is seemingly a response to the journalist’s exposure of corruption and the exploitation of natural resources in Cambodia.
Gerry Flynn, at the age of 33, was denied entry back into Cambodia at Siem Reap International Airport on January 5th, as reported by his employer, environmental news platform Mongabay. Flynn, who also presides over the Overseas Press Club of Cambodia, was returning from a vacation in Thailand.
Airport immigration officials informed Flynn that he was indefinitely barred from Cambodia due to a discrepancy in a document submitted during his latest visa extension application. He was then promptly escorted onto a plane bound for Thailand.
Documentation provided by immigration officials revealed that Flynn was added to Cambodia’s immigration blacklist on November 25, thereby denying him return to the country indefinitely. This occurred three days post the broadcast of a France24 documentary criticizing Cambodian carbon offsetting initiatives, in which Flynn was featured. Mongabay reports that immigration officials allege Flynn applied for a work visa as an electrician, not revealing his profession as a journalist.
Since 2019, Flynn has resided and worked in Cambodia, contributing to Mongabay and other media platforms on environmental issues. Many of his reports have examined the connection between illegal logging and the political and economic circles of the Cambodian People’s Party (CPP). As stated by Mongabay, Flynn’s work has continuously revealed the political and business elite benefiting from the exploitation of Cambodia’s natural resources.
Flynn, in a recent social media post, stated that the government’s action appears to be a response to his journalistic work. He revealed that on the same day he was blacklisted, the Ministry of Environment denounced the documentary as “fake news”. This took place two days after the arrest of six environmental activists, two of whom were sources in the aforementioned documentary, for probing illegal logging in the Veun Sai-Siem Pang National Park.
While the activists were released on November 25, Flynn reported that some joined the ruling party and denounced their former peers, a recurring strategy in Cambodia.
The ambiguous grounds for denying Flynn’s re-entry highlight the challenges faced by the press in Cambodia, which has been under increasing government pressure. This aligns with a political crackdown that has eliminated most significant opposition to the dominant CPP. Despite this, the majority of this pressure has been directed towards the Khmer-language media and Cambodian journalists, making it unusual for a foreign journalist to be barred.
Today, 20 regional press freedom and human rights organisations criticised Flynn’s denied re-entry as “a blatant assault on journalism”. They further stated that it serves as another testament to the Cambodian authorities’ intolerance of investigative journalism. Shawn Crispin, the senior Southeast Asia representative of the Committee to Protect Journalists, stated that it revealed the government’s readiness to “suppress independent reporting on the country’s environmental issues.”
In conclusion, he stated, “The reality is Cambodia’s predators of the press are knocking down environmental reporters as fast as its forests are falling.”
