Bodies pulled from rubble
After four days of waiting amid a mounting death count, Yat Meng got a call that his younger brother, Pheng, was found dead yesterday, buried under the concrete slabs of a collapsed condominium just north of Bangkok. Pheng, 20, was one of two dead Cambodian migrant ...
Vong Sokheng and Laignee Barron
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/bodies-pulled-rubble
Workplace deaths up
Workplace deaths shot up more than 60 per cent last year when compared with 2012, while injuries and payouts to those injured also saw dramatic increases, according to data released yesterday by the National Social Security Fund (NSSF). Speaking during a conference at the Ministry of ...
Sen David and Sean Teehan
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/workplace-deaths
Linking the worst factories with the labels
The building that housed USA Fully Field Garment factory in Phnom Penh’s Meanchey district stands empty now. The grounds are littered with garbage and boxes full of dusty brand labels that were stitched onto clothes by almost 400 workers before the factory owner fled in ...
Simon Henderson and Khy Sovuthy
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/linking-the-worst-factories-with-the-labels-55839/
ILO says shaming factories leading to improved standards
Naming and shaming factories that fail to ensure a basic standard of conditions for their workers is starting to improve standards in the crucial garment sector, according to the International Labor Organization (ILO), but persistent offenders remain. Nine factories are included in the “lowest compliance” category ...
Holly Robertson and Sun Heng
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/ilo-says-shaming-factories-leading-to-improved-standards-63202/
Rescued fishermen tell of enslavement, abuse
When Roeun Hen would try to take a break from his 20-hour shift trawling Indonesian waters for fish, his Thai captain would pummel him, kicking and punching the 29-year-old until he returned to work. ...
Alex Consiglio and Khy Sovuthy
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/rescued-fishermen-tell-of-enslavement-abuse-81774/
Over 200 fishermen to return from Indonesia on charter airliner
More than 200 Cambodian fishermen trapped in Indonesia were scheduled to be returned home Thursday morning on a charter Boeing 737 airliner following the intervention of Indonesia’s Fisheries Ministry and Cambodian diplomats in Jakarta. ...
Khuon Narim and Alex Consiglio
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/over-200-fishermen-to-return-from-indonesia-on-charter-airliner-85764/
Migrants’ dream turns into pesticide nightmare
Promises of well-paying jobs in Malaysia turned into a nightmare for four young men repatriated from the country last week with help from rights group Adhoc. The four – who range from 18 to 24 years old – had been sold to a plantation ...
Chea Takihiro
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/15416/migrants----dream-turns-into-pesticide-nightmare/
Military police at large after firing at truckers
Authorities in Prey Veng province are searching for a group of rogue military police officers who shot at, tied up and beat two local truckers who drove through a pair of checkpoints without stopping while transporting a load of rice along National Road 11 on ...
Aun Pheap
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/military-police-at-large-after-firing-at-truckers-80537/
Japan to strengthen local SME’s capacities
The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) announced yesterday that it will provide technical support for Cambodian small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs), strengthening their capacities through the establishment of a national policy, officials said. Meng Saktheara, director-general of the General Department of Industry at the Ministry of ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013030561745/Business/japan-to-strengthen-local-sme-s-capacities.html
Strikes in Cambodian factories may hit orders
Officials of the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC) are concerned that recent strikes could delay delivery to customers, and factories are looking for solutions to meet buyers’ demands. About 10,000 workers in seven or eight garment factories have gone on strike recently demanding higher wages ...
Committee Formed to Sell Off Mfone’s Assets
The administrator dealing with the debts of defunct mobile operator Mfone yesterday established a committee to sell off the company’s remaining assets. Since it filed for bankruptcy in January, more than 1,000 creditors, including former staff, have claimed Mfone owes them a combined $160 million. Mfone’s remaining ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/business/committee-formed-to-sell-off-mfones-assets-22715/
Amid overcrowding, inmates build new prison
Even within the country’s notoriously overcrowded prison system, inmates in this northern province live in particularly harsh conditions. Approximately 120 prisoners, including 16 women and three children, are held in four cells in the Oddar Meanchey provincial police headquarters. “In one cell we keep 20 or more ...
Lauren Crothers and Ouch Sony
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/amid-overcrowding-inmates-build-new-prison-67129/
Vendors at capital market balk at massive rent hike
A dramatic hike in rent by the landlord of Phnom Penh’s Dey Thmey Boeung Kropeu Market saw 60 vendors turn out in protest at the site yesterday morning. ...
Khouth Sophak Chakrya
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/vendors-capital-market-balk-massive-rent-hike
Illegal factory floor removed
The illegally built second storey of the Siu Quinh garment factory in Phnom Penh has been destroyed, factory officials and workers said yesterday. Bun Leng, administrative manager at the factory in Dangkor district, said his company had demolished the floor after inspection from a private company ...
Mom Kunthear
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/illegal-factory-floor-removed
Worker insurance near
The government’s long-pledged health insurance scheme for private sector employees, including factory workers, is just around the corner, officials promised yesterday while refusing to name a more specific date. On Wednesday, the Ministry of Labour held a public forum on the insurance plan, which is expected ...
Laignee Barron
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/worker-insurance-near
Human trafficking still rife in Cambodia, US report says
Amid numerous reports of Cambodian women being trafficked to China and men being used as forced labor on fishing boats, the U.S.’ latest Trafficking in Persons report again said Cambodia is not doing enough to combat human trafficking. ...
Chris Mueller
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/human-trafficking-still-rife-in-cambodia-us-report-says-89840/
Cambodian workers in limbo as Qatar drags heels on safety standards
The Cambodian government is working on an agreement with the Qatari government that would allow Cambodians to join the thousands of migrant workers helping to build the infrastructure for the 2022 World Cup. As a safety measure, the Cambodian government has requested that Qatar guarantee ...
Jonathan Cox
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/14391/cambodian-workers-in-limbo-as-qatar-drags-heels-on-safety-standards/
90 Garment Factory Workers Faint Over Two-Day Period
About 90 garment factory workers fainted over a two-day period last week at Zhen Tai garment factory in Sen Sok district’s Phnom Penh Thmei commune, union officials and police said yesterday, though accounts of what caused the mass fainting differed. Thirty workers first fainted on ...
Economists See Growth Potential in Stock Exchange
Cambodia has officially opened a stock exchange, which economists say will provide a chance for the development of the country and job creation. However, they warn that mismanagement of the bourse could also lead to economic woes. “When this stock market goes well, it will ...
Cambodia feels drop in Asian rubber prices
The end of export restrictions in Thailand and a lowering of economic growth forecasts out of top rubber importers China, the United States and Germany have caused natural rubber prices around Asia − and in Cambodia’s local industry − to fall from a two-month high. Future ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013060666093/Business/cambodia-feels-drop-in-asian-rubber-prices.html