Nearly 2,000 people have been deported from Cambodia – the vast majority of them Vietnamese – in the first nine months of 2015, according to new government figures.

From January through September, 1,919 people were expelled from the Kingdom, and 90 per cent of those thrown out were of Vietnamese origin, a report issued by the General Department of Immigration on Wednesday revealed.

The proportion of deportees who are Vietnamese has grown since last year.

In 2014, between July and December, the only months for which figures are available, 1,307 deportations took place, of which Vietnamese people accounted for just over 80 per cent.

In addition to Vietnamese nationals, illegal migrants from countries including China, Nigeria, America, Britain, France and Italy were deported, Uk Hai Sela, investigation chief at the Immigration Department, said.

“Most of them did not have a passport or were using an invalid passport, while some had no work permit or residency visa,” he added.

Migrants here unlawfully had mostly entered the country through illegal routes, fields and jungle, according to Khat Sarath, director of the Bavet international checkpoint.

Human rights group Adhoc’s Ny Chakrya welcomed the government transparency about numbers of deportees, but insisted that those threatened with expulsion should be treated fairly.