Ambassador Santo Affirms Indonesia Is Ready To Strengthen Partnerships With Cambodia To Overcome Transnational Challenges

Indonesian Ambassador Santo Darmosumarto when meeting with the Deputy Director General of Immigration at the Cambodian Ministry of Home Affairs Major General Lour Rabo. (Source: Indonesian Embassy in Phnom Penh)

JAKARTA - Indonesian Ambassador Santo Darmosumarto emphasized that Indonesia is ready to strengthen its partnership with Cambodia to overcome transnational challenges between the two countries.

Ambassador Santo held a meeting with the Deputy Director General of Immigration at the Cambodian Ministry of Home Affairs Major General Lour Rabo on Thursday.

The meeting discussed efforts to further strengthen cooperation in dealing with consular and immigration issues faced by Indonesian citizens (WNI) living in Cambodia.

On this occasion, the Ambassador Santo welcomed the increase in interaction between immigration officials between the two countries. He also conveyed the commitment of the Indonesian Embassy in Phnom Penh to implement the results of "The 2nd Bilateral Immigration Meeting" which was held in Bali in May.

"Indonesia is ready to strengthen its partnership with Cambodia in overcoming transnational challenges, including online fraud, human trafficking, drug trafficking, and other forms of organized crimes related to illegal migration," said Ambassador Santo in a statement from the Indonesian Embassy in Phnom Penh September 5.

Furthermore, Ambassador Santo expressed his appreciation to the Cambodian authorities, especially the General Department of Immigration (DGI), for their ongoing support in helping Indonesian citizens who are facing this problem.

In recent years, cases of consular and immigration involving Indonesian citizens have increased sharply in line with the rapid growth of the Indonesian community in Cambodia.

Realizing the complexity of consular and immigration cases, Ambassador Santo thanked Cambodia for its assistance in facilitating Indonesian citizen deportation.

"The Indonesian Embassy will strengthen its appeal to Indonesian citizens to comply with Cambodian government regulations and regulations," said the Indonesian Ambassador.

At the same time, the Indonesian Embassy hopes that the deportation process can be carried out more quickly, thanks to the close cooperation between the Indonesian Embassy and the relevant authorities in Cambodia.

In 2024, there are more than 131,000 Indonesian citizens living in Cambodia. During that year, the Indonesian Embassy handled 3,310 consular cases involving Indonesian citizens.

However, from January to July 2025, in just the first seven months of 2025, the number of cases was recorded at 3,256, surpassing the total last year. It is worrying because 83 percent of these cases are linked to online fraud.

Following the latest efforts by the Cambodian authorities to overcome the rise of online fraud, hundreds of Indonesian citizens were arrested in raids on fraudulent operations in all provinces.

Ambassador Santo emphasized that the Indonesian Embassy in Phnom Penh was committed to working closely with the Cambodian authorities in following up on the deportation process of those arrested in the raid.