Opinion ID: 202247
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Events of May and June 2002

Text: 5 Petitioners' decision to leave Cambodia for the United States arose from events occurring in May and June 2002. A government worker named Ly came to Sou and Srey in early May and warned them that Sou was believed (1) to be a member of Khmer Seri or the Cambodian Freedom Fighters (CFF) 2 and associated with a man named Nou Uth Buntha; (2) to be a supporter of the Sam Rainsy Party (SRP); and (3) to have been a soldier in the 1970s in the army of the Lon Nol government and, as a result, to be especially dangerous. 3 Ly warned Sou that it would be safer if he went away for a while. Although Ly's statements made them fearful, petitioners did not leave the country at that time. Instead, they decided that Sou should go into hiding at his sister's home about 50 kilometers away. 6 Srey testified that several days later uniformed police arrived at her store in the afternoon and told her that they were looking for her husband. In the presence of customers, they held a gun to her chest and repeatedly demanded to know where he was. She said that she did not know, and they left. About two or three weeks later, after the situation calm[ed] down, she sent a message to Sou telling him about the situation at home. After he returned home, they decided to leave Cambodia. 7 They spent several weeks preparing to leave the country, including obtaining a passport for Srey and visas from the U.S. Embassy. They sold off the inventory of their pharmacy and, on June 25, 2002, closed the store. 4 They left Cambodia two days later. A Cambodian government official stamped Sou's passport with an exit visa, dated June 27. When questioned as to how he obtained the stamp, Sou explained that he gave his passport to someone else to get it stamped for him. Neither Sou, Srey, nor the individual who obtained the exit visa for Sou were questioned or detained. They boarded their flight apparently without incident and the next day, June 28, arrived in Los Angeles. 8 Petitioners did not bring their children, who were then 14, 15, and 16 years old, with them. The children were left in the care of a relative in Phnom Penh. They receive letters from their children, but do not speak with them on the phone. 5