Click to expand Image Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba (R) and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet attend a news conference after a bilateral talk at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo, May 30, 2025. © 2025 The Yomiuri Shimbun via AP Photo Cambodian authorities are harassing Cambodians living in Japan who are publicly critical of Cambodia’s government and also harassing their relatives in Cambodia.The Cambodian government’s expansion of repression to include activists in Japan and other countries is an example of transnational repression.The Japanese government should rebuke Cambodia’s government for transnational repression and adopt measures to better protect Cambodians living in Japan.(Tokyo) – Cambodian authorities are harassing Cambodians living in Japan who are publicly critical of Cambodia’s government, Human Rights Watch said today.The Cambodian government has sought to deter public criticism of the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) by targeting dissidents abroad and supporters of opposition political parties, as well as their relatives in Cambodia. This practice, known as “transnational repression,” refers to governments reaching beyond their borders to suppress or stifle dissent by nationals or former nationals living or exiled abroad, and members of diaspora communities.“The Cambodian government has expanded its severe repression of activists and opposition party members within Cambodia’s borders to Japan and other countries where Cambodians have gone to live,” said Teppei Kasai, Asia program officer at Human Rights Watch. “The Japanese government should publicly rebuke Cambodia’s transnational repression and adopt measures to better protect Cambodians living in Japan.”Between April and July 2025, Human Rights Watch interviewed 23 Cambodian nationals living in Japan. Nearly all of them had been involved in peaceful activities, including public assemblies and rallies in support of Cambodian opposition parties, notably the dissolved Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) and the Candlelight Party. Others had created online content critical of the ruling party.For years, Cambodian authorities have cracked down on peaceful protests and arbitrarily arrested, detained, and prosecuted members of the political opposition, dissidents, and union activists. They have increasingly acted against those posting criticism on social media. Many critics of the government have fled to other countries in the region, including Japan, where some have received refugee status, which the Japanese government rarely grants.Most of those interviewed said that the Cambodian police, CPP-appointed village chiefs, or high-ranking military personnel had visited their relatives in Cambodia and pressured them to end their activities in Japan.One Cambodian woman in Japan said that in 2019 she had asked a relative in Cambodia to send her a CNRP flag and a box of t-shirts imprinted with the image of Kem Ley, a prominent political commentator who was murdered in 2016. After a local post office declined her relative’s request to ship the items, local authorities summoned her relative and seized the material. The authorities then forced her relative to sign a document pledging that neither of them would do anything similar again. The woman nonetheless continued her activism in Japan and in 2024, a village security guard told her relative to urge her to end her activism.The CPP-controlled courts in Cambodia summoned a Cambodian woman living in Japan in 2023, after she publicly criticized the National Election Committee’s decision to ban the Candlelight Party from elections that year. The court tried her in absentia and found her guilty of incitement and imposed a fine of 10 million riel (US$2,500).Their experiences are consistent with other previously reported cases of transnational repression by Cambodian authorities tied to activism in Japan.Human Rights Watch wrote to the Cambodia’s Foreign Ministry on August 1, 2025, for comment on the findings, but the ministry has not responded.Human Rights Watch also provided its findings to Japan’s Foreign Ministry, which responded on August 12. The ministry said it has “persistently communicated” the importance of “protecting the universal values of freedom, respect for fundamental human rights, and the rule of law” to the Cambodian government. The ministry declined to comment on specific questions addressing the Cambodian government’s repression of Cambodian nationals in Japan but said that “in general” it will “firmly address” any instances that “violate domestic law.”On August 20, Japan’s National Police Agency said it is not “aware” of the Cambodian government’s repression of Cambodian nationals in Japan, in response to Human Rights Watch’s request for comments on its findings.The Japanese government should recognize the threat posed by the Cambodian government’s repression of Cambodian nationals abroad, and help protect their rights by establishing a system for residents in Japan to report such incidents, Human Rights Watch said. Most of those interviewed said they did not seek help from Japanese authorities as they did not know whom to contact, but would use an official hotline if it were available.Such a reporting system should have appropriate safeguards for individuals’ privacy, facilitate criminal investigations in cases in which Japanese law has been violated, and protect people who have reported credible cases of transnational repression from deportation or extradition. People who face such pressure should be advised of their right to seek asylum or other forms of protection.The Japanese government should publicly call on the Cambodian government to end its surveillance and threats against those living in Japan. On June 26, 2024, Japan joined 54 countries from all regions at the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council in condemning transnational repression and pledging to hold those responsible to account.The Japanese government should also coordinate with other governments and UN bodies to protect those at risk. On June 16, Japan and other G7 countries expressed “deep concern” about transnational repression. Two days later, the UN human rights office issued its first guidance paper on transnational repression, urging countries to “document systematically incidents of transnational repression for better analysis of risks, trends, and methods of mitigation.”“The Japanese government should urgently establish support mechanisms so people being harassed by the Cambodian government have a place to turn for help,” Kasai said. “The government should also swiftly establish a national system to investigate cases of transnational repression by any country with appropriate safeguards for individuals’ privacy.”For select accounts of Cambodian government harassment of Cambodian nationals living in Japan, please see below.The names, dates, and personal information of those interviewed have been withheld for their protection.Harassing Relatives in CambodiaCase of M.N.M.N. has been living in Japan for more than five years. Before moving to Japan, he participated in protests about labor rights and environmental issues, including land grabs by the Cambodian government. After several warnings by the police not to participate in such protests, he moved to Japan. He said after he joined a protest in Japan in 2021, the police told a relative back home to tell him not to join “anti-government activities”:“In December 2022, the police came [to my relative’s house]. They asked my [relative] where I lived, and told my [relative] that they saw videos of me participating in anti-government activities. They told my [relative] to tell me to stop, and that if I were to continue, they would arrest me when I return home.”M.N. said that his relative died in a traffic accident in 2023. Although he wanted to attend his relative’s funeral, he felt he could not go back to Cambodia due to fear of arrest. “When my [relative] passed away, I wanted to attend his funeral,” he said. “But I couldn’t go because I would be arrested. I felt bad that I couldn’t send [my relative] off properly.”In 2024, the Japanese government granted M.N. refugee status.Case of E.F.E.F. said before he moved to Japan in 2018, he participated in protests in Cambodia calling for increased wages for workers: “I participated in the December 2013 and January 2014 protests. Afterwards, the police visited my [relatives] and asked them if I had joined the protests.... my [relatives] lied and told them I didn’t.”After the protests, he stayed at his friends’ home for a while before returning home for the Cambodian new year. “That’s when my [relatives] told me the police came,” he said. “They said they were scared but they didn’t stop me.... I was afraid because the police were going around arresting and searching for people.”E.F. said that in 2020 he began participating in activities in support of the CNRP in Japan: “I became a supporter in 2020, and I’ve joined about 30 activities and events.... I joined because authoritarianism is getting worse in Cambodia, and I want the Cambodian government to undertake reforms.”Soon after, a local government official in Cambodia began visiting his relatives and urged them to tell E.F. to stop his activities in Japan:“A local official visited my [relatives] in 2021, 2022, 2023.... They told my [relatives] to warn me not to join protests in Japan.... My [relative] told me not to join any more protests because in Cambodia, even if I do something overseas, [the authorities] will keep an eye on me and I will be arrested if I return.... I responded that I will continue because the situation in Cambodia is not improving and that if I don’t do something it won’t get better.... My village has only two or three supporters of the opposition and most of them are CPP supporters, so [my relative] told me it makes us stand out.”In May 2025, E.F. joined a protest against the Cambodian government during Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet’s visit to Japan. He said:“When [Prime Minister] Hun Manet came to Japan, I participated in a demonstration outside the Japanese prime minister’s residence. One day later, a local village chief asked my [relative] to come to the local government office and told my [relative] to tell me to stop my activities in Japan.... [The relative] told me the more active I become here, the stronger the pressure back home.... My[relative] is old, her body is weak, her heart is weak, so if there’s too much pressure on her, I’m worried about her health.Case of A.B.A.B. was a member of the since-dissolved CNRP from 2012 to 2019, while living in Cambodia. When he and his fellow supporters received information about the 2019 plan of the exiled party leader Sam Rainsy to return to Cambodia from France, they met in private to discuss the matter. A.B. said he secretly met with activists at his house in Phnom Penh: “[A]bout 10 of us met at least once a month on the second floor of my house. The police noticed people coming in and out, so they monitored us and eventually told us not to have meetings there.”Fearing arrest, A.B. moved to Japan in early 2019 and soon applied for refugee status. In August 2019, he participated in his first public protest in support of the CNRP in Japan and posted about it on his social media account. Soon after, A.B. said, the police visited his relatives in Cambodia and told them to tell A.B. not to join “anti-government activities.” Repressing Freedom of Expression and AssemblyCase of I.J.I.J. moved to Japan in 2018 after Cambodian security forces shot and killed her husband during a workers’ rights protest in early 2014. I.J. said a relative was also killed in a suspicious hit-and-run incident in 2016:“My husband was shot and killed by security forces during a protest to demand higher wages. Afterward, I began my own protests, meeting with NGOs [nongovernmental organizations], human rights organizations, and opposition lawmakers to ask why they had killed him. Then the police threatened me and told me to stop doing media interviews and asked me whether I also wanted to die like my husband. I was followed by strangers and kicked by a stranger when I was riding my bike.... in 2016, my [relative] was hit by a car. Before he was hit, he was told to stop his protests as well.... they found the car, but the driver had run away. The number plate was that of the police, but they didn’t investigate, and the perpetrator is still on the loose.”I.J. said her family members’ deaths are the reason she continues to protest in Japan:“That day, I was at home, looking after my child.... my husband was at the protest and I told him to come home because I was worried he might get shot. He told me, “If everyone were to leave, wages won’t go up so I’m going to stay.” [And] with what happened to my [relative], [I fear] if I were to stay [in Cambodia], I’d either have to do nothing or do something and face serious risk, so I decided to go overseas.... I still think to myself, why did they crack down on protesters simply asking for higher wages? There are photos and videos of when they killed my husband, but no one has been held responsible, and how come victims have to run around and live under difficult circumstances?”In Japan, I.J. has been a supporter of opposition parties since 2019. She has participated in about 50 protests and events critical of the Cambodian government. In 2023, when Cambodia’s National Election Committee barred the Candlelight Party from running in that year’s election, ostensibly for not submitting the proper paperwork, I.J. urged voters on social media to write an X on their ballots, cancelling them.The following day, a Cambodian court issued a summons, requiring I.J. to appear before a judge in Phnom Penh. She said: “I wasn’t scared. On the contrary, I was embarrassed about what the Cambodian government was doing, as they could only threaten their own people. They don’t think about a solution, or think about reforms, but only about how to repress people.”The case proceeded even though she was not present, and she was tried in absentia. The court found her guilty of incitement two months later, imposing a fine of 10 million riel (US$2,500), and revoking her right to vote and run for office.In June, the Japanese government granted I.J. refugee status.Case of L.M.In 2007, L.M. began participating with labor unions in small protests in Cambodia to demand higher wages. “In 2013, there was a large-scale protest, and I helped gather people for it,” she said. “That’s when the police in my district threatened me, saying they would arrest me if I kept gathering people. The police began visiting my apartment.”She moved to Japan in 2015. Since early 2017, L.M. has participated in activities in support of the CNRP. In 2019, she asked a relative back home to send her t-shirts imprinted with an image of Kem Ley, a prominent political commentator and human rights defender who was shot twice at point-blank range and killed in 2016, as well as a flag of the CNRP that she planned to use for an event. But she never received them:“I ordered some t-shirts of Kem Ley from Cambodia in 2019, but when my [relative] tried to ship them to me, the police summoned him and confiscated the t-shirts. They also asked [the relative] to sign a document stating [the relative] and I won’t do anything like this again.”Mobilizing the Pro-CPP DiasporaCase of J.K.J.K. moved to Japan in 2015. From 2018 to 2024, he was a member of the CPP. After leaving the party in 2024, he provided independent political commentary on social media.“I left the CPP because when I was working with them, I received orders from the Cambodian ambassador to Japan, or the minister of labor, to create videos attacking activists in Japan,” he said. “I initially made them, but I eventually became sick of it and left.”Human Rights Watch analyzed financial transactions that show Cambodia’s minister of labor and vocational training, Heng Sour, paid J.K. on two occasions in 2024. J.K. said he received the payments after he made videos criticizing opposition supporters in Japan.J.K. began producing social media content, including short videos, critical of the CPP. In May 2024, a high-ranking military officer visited his relatives back home and asked for his whereabouts. J.K. said:“My [relative] told me that the situation will get bad so that I shouldn’t make “extreme” [anti-CPP] videos…. I told her I’m getting quite popular, and I’m careful when I make videos by making sure I have evidence and documents to back them up, so if the government were to repress me, I can fight back.”Case of S.T.S.T. has lived in Japan for more than a decade. In Cambodia, he had participated in a 2014 protest demanding higher wages. He saw the police shoot protesters and he himself was injured when a police officer struck him with a baton.He participated in his first protest in Japan in 2019 and has taken part in several more since then. S.T. said CPP members approached him on two separate occasions in 2024, urging him to stop protesting and to join the CPP.“When I was doing some farm work, a CPP member approached me and told me to stop participating in protests …. saying if I’m too provocative, I may end up in prison,” S.T. said. “That’s when I realized I was being surveilled…. [Another time] when I was shopping, [a different CPP member] approached me and told me to stop anti-government activities and to join the CPP.”