RSF condemns Cambodia’s blacklisting of journalist who exposed deforestation scandal
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) condemns Cambodia's expulsion of Gerald Flynn, a British investigative journalist who spent five years reporting on environmental issues in the country.
Despite holding a valid work visa, Flynn was denied re-entry at the Siem Reap International Airport on 5 January upon returning from a holiday in Thailand. He was told he had been on a "blacklist" since 25 November, forced to leave Cambodia immediately, and prohibited from returning. Authorities have since refused to provide any information about possible appeals processes open to Flynn, despite his inquiries.
Three days before being placed on the "blacklist", Flynn featured in a France 24 television report exposing the destruction of protected forests in Cambodia, a report the Cambodian Ministry of Environment dismissed as “fake news”. Several Cambodian activists featured in the documentary were arrested and later released under the condition that they cease working with foreign journalists.
“Having worked as a journalist in Cambodia for more than five years, it's heartbreaking to be so abruptly uprooted from the country I've grown to love. Based on information from immigration officials this appears to be a crude retaliation for my journalistic work and I hope that the government will reconsider its decision to ban me from returning to Cambodia.” Flynn said.
In a joint statement on 4 February, RSF and 19 other press freedom NGOs denounced the Cambodian authorities’ decision to deny re-entry to Flynn, who is the president of the Overseas Press Club of Cambodia (OPCC) and had worked in the country since 2019, for publications including Mongabay, an independent online media organisation focused on environmental news.
"The timing of the Cambodian government’s decision to blacklist journalist Gerald Flynn just after release of the deforestation report leaves no doubt: he has been deliberately targeted in retaliation for his reporting on environmental issues. We call on the Cambodian authorities to allow him to return to the country and urge them to end their harassment of environmental
journalists.
Since 2012, RSF has documented eleven violations of the rights of journalists specializing in environmental issues, ranking the country among the most dangerous for those media professionals. In December 2024, journalist Chhoeung Chheng was shot dead while reporting on illegal deforestation in a nature reserve in the country’s northwest.
Having fallen nine places in two years, Cambodia is now ranked 151st out of 180 countries in RSF’s 2024 World Press Freedom Index, placing it in the category of nations where threats to press freedom are deemed “very serious”.
