TWO Cambodians who had been legally living in the United States have arrived in the Kingdom after being deported, an official has said, bringing to seven the number of Cambodians sent back this month.

The new arrivals bring to 236 the number of Cambodians who have been deported from the US as the result of an agreement signed by the two countries in 2002. Only four of those are women.

All the deportees are former legal permanent US residents – but not full citizens – who have served prison sentences for aggravated felonies, a group of crimes that was expanded in 1996 to include some like minor drug offences that were previously misdemeanors.

Kloeung Aun, executive director of the Returnee Integration Support Centre, an NGO based in the capital, said that both deportees – a 28-year-old woman and a man believed to be about 36 years-old – were from Philadelphia, but declined to give further details.

He added that US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials had told him recently to expect an unspecified number of new arrivals each month for the foreseeable future.

Pin Piseth, director of the Immigration Department at the Interior Ministry, referred questions to National Police spokesman Kirt Chantharith, who could not be reached for comment.