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CLAIM: A notice bearing the seal of Cambodia’s General Department of Immigration (GDI) has been widely circulated on Facebook, Instagram and on some news outlets, since May 28, 2026, claiming that the Cambodian government has ordered all African nationals including Ghanaians, Kenyans, Cameroonians, and Ugandans to leave the Kingdom of Cambodia by May 31, 2026, or face a two-year jail term and an $8,000 fine.
VERDICT: FALSE! The notice is fake. Cambodia’s General Department of Immigration described it as “completely untrue” on May 29, 2026, and Ghana’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed after diplomatic engagement that it “was not issued by any state institution in Cambodia.” The names of the two signatories on the document do not match verified Cambodian government records.
Full Text
On May 28, 2026, a document styled as an official notice from Cambodia’s Ministry of Interior’s General Department of Immigration began circulating on WhatsApp groups and social media platforms (archived here) in Ghana and across Africa. The notice, referenced as No. 1662/GDI and dated with a May 31 deadline, threatened arrest, a two-year prison sentence, and an $8,000 penalty for any African national found in Cambodia from June 1, 2026. The document carried what appeared to be the official GDI seal and was signed by two named Cambodian officials.
The post was shared on Facebook with the caption, “BREAKING: Cambodia Orders African Nationals To Leave By May 31 Or Face Jail Term, $8,000 Fine.” We observed that the claim had also gone viral on other platforms here, here, here, and here.
Many users believed the report, noting that if not for bad governance, Nigerians would not be in Cambodia.
A Facebook user, Ejike Azz, reacting to this claim, wrote: “Honestly, no be their fault…”
Another user, Nneji Christian Prince, said, “If not for bad governance, what would Africans be doing in Cambodia?”
Rasaki Arole Bakare also questioned what value Cambodia offers Africans. He wrote, “What can Cambodia offer Africa before???”
This claim was also reported by SaharaReporters on Facebook (archived here), X, and its website (archived here), The Sun newspaper (archived here), and Pulse Ghana.
The viral notice in circulation on WhatsApp
The notice generated widespread alarm among Ghanaians with relatives or contacts in Cambodia. Several Ghanaians and African news websites published the document without independent verification.
DUBAWA subjected the document and its claims to a multi-layered verification process over two days.
Copy of the viral notice
What the document claims
The notice purports to be an official communication from the General Department of Immigration, Ministry of Interior, Kingdom of Cambodia, reference number 1662/GDI. It states that a prior immigration waiver granted to African nationals — specifically naming Ghana, Kenya, Cameroon, and Uganda will officially end on May 31, 2026. It orders all African nationals whose fines have been cleared to depart Cambodia by that date, and warns that anyone found in Cambodia from June 1 will be arrested, jailed for two years, and fined $8,000.
The document lists two signatories: Lt. Gen. Som Sopheak, described as Director General of the GDI, and Gen. Sar Sokha, described as Secretary of State of the Ministry of Interior.
DUBAWA observed that the alleged press statement contained no specific date, though a mosaic design appeared in the top-right corner, suggesting it might include some detail, which may or may not be the date.
The document has gone viral across several countries and has the potential of causing fear, panic, and a possible diplomatic row between Cambodia and the African countries mentioned in the statement.
DUBAWA, therefore, decided to verify the claims made in the statement.
Verification
Check 1: First signatory — Lt. Gen. Som Sopheak, Director General, GDI
The document is signed by Lt. Gen. Som Sopheak as Director General of the GDI. However, the GDI’s own official website carries a Director General’s welcome message attributed to His Excellency Lieutenant General Sok Veasna, not Som Sopheak.
This is corroborated by multiple Cambodian news sources. As recently as May 11–20, 2026, just days before this notice surfaced, Lt. Gen. Sok Veasna was publicly named as Director General of Immigration when Cambodia announced the deportation of 3,598 foreigners. In April 2026, Sok Veasna was also named as GDI Director General when he ordered the deportation of over 1,000 foreigners. No public record, appointment announcement, or credible news report places anyone named Som Sopheak in the role of GDI Director General at any point.
Actual name and director of GDI
Check 2: Second signatory — Gen. Sar Sokha, “Secretary of State, Ministry of Interior”
The document lists Gen. Sar Sokha as Secretary of State of the Ministry of Interior. This title is incorrect. Sar Sokha has served as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, head of the entire ministry, since August 22, 2023, under Prime Minister Hun Manet. He is not a Secretary of State, which is a subordinate rank. Notably, Sar Sokha’s prior role before 2023 was Secretary of State of Education, Youth and Sport, never of the Interior ministry. The title attributed to him in the notice does not reflect his actual rank or portfolio at any time relevant to this document.
Check 3: On-the-ground source in Cambodia
DUBAWA contacted a Ghanaian national living in Cambodia, who provided context on the situation. The source stated that the circulated letter is fake. However, the source confirmed that a real government crackdown on undocumented migrants has been underway in Cambodia since January 2026, linked to raids on Chinese-owned online scam operations.
African nationals, primarily Ghanaians, Kenyans, Ugandans, and Cameroonians, are among those caught up in the enforcement action because many were working in these scam compounds without valid visas.
The source explained that their respective embassies intervened to negotiate fine waivers on behalf of affected nationals, so they could pay for flights home rather than accumulate daily overstay fines of $10 per day. The source was clear that the enforcement targets undocumented overstayers involved in scam operations, not the broader African community in Cambodia.
Screenshot of a chat with a Ghanaian national in Cambodia
Check 4: Cambodian provincial operations reporting
A Cambodian news report on operations in Kandal province confirmed that a formal government sub-decree exists authorising a nationwide crackdown on online scam-related crimes. The Kandal Provincial Governor, Kuoch Chamroeun, led operations targeting scam sites and confirmed that hundreds of foreigners involved in online fraud had already been arrested in the province alone. This reporting corroborates the account of the Ghanaian source — the crackdown is real, structured, and legally grounded, but it is directed at undocumented foreigners in scam operations, not at African nationals as a group.
Check 5: Ghana Ministry of Foreign Affairs — initial response
DUBAWA contacted Fred Duhoe, Head of Media Relations at Ghana’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on May 28, 2026. Duhoe confirmed that the Ministry had not, at that point, officially received any communication from the Cambodian government regarding the reported ultimatum. He said concerns raised by Ghanaians with relatives in Cambodia were being noted and would be looked into, and assured that the Minister for Foreign Affairs would take action should the matter be formally brought before the Ministry. The fact that Ghana’s foreign ministry had received no official communication through diplomatic channels at that stage further undermined the document’s authenticity.
Check 6: GDI official press clarification
DUBAWA scanned the official Facebook page of Cambodia’s General Immigration Department (GDI) and found no such report. We also sent a direct message to the official Facebook page, but got no response.
On May 29, 2026, while we were awaiting a response from the GDI, they officially debunked the viral claim in a statement noting it had nothing to do with it. The GDI specifically named two websites that had published the false information, including the Ghanaian outlet newsghana.com and campaigneronline.com, stating that information published on those platforms carrying the headline “Cambodia Orders Africans with Expired Immigration Waivers to Leave by May 31, 2026” is “completely untrue.”
A part of the statement reads, “The Directorate of Immigration, Ministry of Interior of the Kingdom of Cambodia would like to confirm that the information published on those websites is not true information.”
The GDI directed the public to its official website (www.immigration.gov.kh) and hotline (+855 78 38 66 99) for verified information. The clarification was signed by the General Department of Immigration and dated May 29, 2026, in Phnom Penh.
Letter from the General Department of Immigration of Cambodia’s Ministry of Interior
Check 8: Ghana Ministry of Foreign Affairs official press release
Also on May 29, 2026, Ghana’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a formal press release titled “Circulation of Fake Notice Purportedly Issued by Cambodian Immigration Authorities.” The Ministry stated that following direct diplomatic engagements with Cambodian authorities, it had been confirmed that the circulated notice “is absolutely fake and was not issued by any state institution in Cambodia.” The Ministry attached the GDI’s press clarification as supporting evidence.
Crucially, the MFA statement revealed a significant dimension of the story that had not previously been reported: some Ghanaian nationals resident in Cambodia had, before this controversy, already expressed a desire to voluntarily return to Ghana. Through Ghana’s High Commission in Malaysia — which is concurrently accredited to the Kingdom of Cambodia — the Government of Ghana had already facilitated the evacuation of 85 Ghanaian nationals between March and May 2026. The Ministry further disclosed that arrangements are ongoing to facilitate the return of an additional 76 Ghanaians currently in Cambodia who have expressed a desire to come home.
The Ministry advised all media houses and the general public to disregard the discredited document and to avoid sharing unverified information that could create unnecessary fear and anxiety among affected persons and their families. It reaffirmed Ghana’s commitment to working with the Cambodian authorities to ensure the safe return of its nationals.
Statement from Ghana’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs
What is actually happening
While the specific document is false, there is a real and ongoing situation in Cambodia that Ghanaians should be aware of. The Cambodian government has been conducting a structured, sub-decree-backed crackdown on undocumented foreigners since January 2026, principally targeting individuals working in Chinese-owned online scam operations. Hundreds of Africans among thousands of foreigners have been arrested in raids across multiple provinces. Many entered Cambodia without valid visas or overstayed while working in scam compounds. African embassies negotiated fine waivers to help affected nationals secure passage home.
Critically, Ghana’s government has been aware of this situation and has been managing it through quiet diplomacy for months. Eighty-five Ghanaians have already been brought home, and 76 more are awaiting facilitated return. The fake notice did not create this problem. It exploited a real situation to generate panic, and several news outlets amplified it without verification.
Conclusion
The document circulating on social media purporting to be an official Cambodia immigration notice ordering all Africans to leave by May 31, 2026, is false. Both of its named signatories are factually inconsistent with verified Cambodian government records — the named Director General does not hold that post, and the approver carries the wrong title. The claim was independently debunked by two official government sources on the same day: Cambodia’s General Department of Immigration, which described it as “completely untrue,” and Ghana’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which, after diplomatic engagement, confirmed that it “was not issued by any state institution in Cambodia.”
The underlying situation, a real crackdown on undocumented Africans in Cambodian scam operations, is confirmed and ongoing. Ghana’s government has been quietly facilitating evacuations since March 2026.
