Police officers take photos of their local residents to make ID cards at O’Russey IV commune in the capital’s Prampi Makara district. Heng Chivoan
Over an 18-day period, the Phnom Penh municipal police report that they had distributed 16,000 new national ID cards to capital residents seeking to register or renew them.
The Ministry of Interior established an inter-general department mechanism on October 27 of this year to establish ID card commissions in Phnom Penh and the provinces for the purpose of conducting the ID card campaign from late November, 2022 to the end of October, 2023 because of the large number of ID cards set to expire over that period.
Municipal police spokesman San Sokseyha said on December 19 that the campaign was conducted by officers who went door-to-door in Phnom Penh over the 18-day period to spread the word, and that the process had gone smoothly. The municipal police has issued at least 16,185 new ID cards to residents thus far.
“This campaign has done a very good job of moving service provision to our residents, so that they can easily get new ID cards. Citizens have expressed their satisfaction and gratitude for the improved service,” he said.
At the November 30 meeting on issuing the new type of Cambodian national ID cards, municipal police Sar Thet pushed for the campaign, saying that they could make it easier for people and save them time to conduct business and their lives without having to wait in lines to receive the ID cards.
Cambodian Institute for Democracy (CID) president Pa Chanroeun said the campaign is a good idea and appeared to be a success, but he hoped that there was no corruption or improper issuance of ID cards to people under false names which could be used for criminal activities.
“This process of managing data and making the ID cards must be done carefully and with good governance to prevent corruption or false ID cards being issued to people.
“In addition, making the ID cards must be done equally and without discrimination against anyone, regardless of social status or political affiliations, and the authorities should be especially meticulous in their inspections to prevent corruption and bribery in this process,” he added.
Based on the national ID card data stored in the data management server system, the interior ministry found that an estimated 1.7 million ID cards were set to expire by July of 2023, prompting the campaign renewal.
