British environmental and investigative journalist Gerald Flynn has been barred from entering Cambodia, a move that press advocacy groups have decried as an assault on media freedom by the nation’s authoritarian regime.
Flynn, a correspondent for Mongabay, was forced to leave Cambodia and fly to Thailand on 5 January after being denied entry upon his return from a holiday.
Mongabay reported that Flynn discovered he had been blacklisted on 25 November, shortly after he appeared in a France24 documentary that critiqued Cambodia’s carbon offsetting measures.
The Cambodian government sharply criticized the documentary for disseminating “false information,” although Flynn stated that he had no editorial influence over the content.
Human Rights Watch has labeled the ban a “blatant attack on journalism,” highlighting it as indicative of the Cambodian leadership’s ongoing intolerance towards investigative reporting.
The Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Thailand echoed this sentiment, describing the incident as “another nail in the coffin of the free press in Cambodia.”
They referenced the climate of intimidation that has seen local and foreign journalists threatened, and noted the closure or exile of numerous news organizations.
This suppression was further illustrated by the treatment of Cambodian investigative journalist Mech Dara, arrested in September for his exposés on criminal operations, and only released after issuing an apology.
The narrative of media oppression is underscored by the recent murder of Chhoeung Chheng, a reporter investigating illegal timber trafficking, who was fatally shot.
The tightening grip on press freedom follows the political transition from Hun Sen, who ruled Cambodia for nearly four decades, to his son Hun Manet after the 2023 elections, widely dismissed as fraudulent.
In the wake of these changes, virtually all independent media have been either shut down or censored, with Voice of Democracy ceasing operations in early 2023 and other notable publications like Cambodia Daily and Phnom Penh Post facing similar fates in previous years.
Despite having his visa extension approved until February 2025, Flynn, who also presides over the Overseas Press Club of Cambodia, was informed of his ban due to an alleged error in a document related to his visa application.
Mongabay has stated that Cambodian immigration officials have been unresponsive to inquiries about Flynn’s case, even from the British embassy in Phnom Penh.
The International Federation for Human Rights and the Committee to Protect Journalists have both condemned Flynn’s blacklisting, with CPJ’s senior Southeast Asia representative, Shawn Crispin, remarking on the essential role of watchdog journalists in safeguarding environmental and public interests against governmental abuses.
The Cambodian government has yet to formally respond to the allegations surrounding Flynn’s exclusion from the country.
