A US law enacted in December endorses calls by the US Congress to deny visas to Cambodian
officials identified in a 2007 report by the environmental watchdog Global Witness
as being guilty of plundering Cambodia's forests. The law "sends a clear message
that the exploitation of Cambodia's natural resources by a small group of powerful
individuals at the expense of the country's poor is unacceptable," Global Witness
director Simon Taylor said in a statement. The legislation authorizes spending and
instructs the US State Department to identify foreign officials and their relatives
who are believed to have "been involved in corruption relating to the extraction
of natural resources in their countries." It also endorses a congressional subcommittee
recommendation to "prohibit corrupt Cambodian officials identified in the June
2007 Global Witness report-from entering the United States." (Source: AFP)
