Need for more transparency
GREATER transparency along the garment supply chain, from producers to buyers, is required in order to strengthen the accountability of retailers, factories and governments in protecting the rights of workers, Ou Virak, president of the Cambodian Center for Human Rights, said yesterday. Speaking in Phnom ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013022861656/Business/need-for-more-transparency.html
Walmart intervention sought at Thai factory
A large North American union has called on US retail giant Walmart to take immediate action against one of its seafood suppliers in Thailand accused of holding Cambodian workers in debt bondage while barely providing them with eNough money to eat. The United Food and Commercial Workers ...
Asian tourist numbers up, profits stagnant
The growth in international tourists visiting Cambodia is almost 27 per cent that of the numbers seen during the first six months of 2011, according to tourism officials who are predicting that the growth may be 25 per cent at the end of this year. Visitors ...
Police Clamp Down on Land Rights Meeting
Local authorities, including a heavily armed police officer, broke up a training session on land rights in Ratanakkiri province’s Lumphat district on Friday, claiming the two groups had no legal right to hold such a meeting. The move marks the second time in less than a ...
CNRP Proposes Minimum Wage Law for Garment, State Workers
The Cambodian National Rescue Party (CNRP) has submitted a new law to the National Assembly for consideration that would institute a minimum monthly wage of $150 for garment workers and $250 for civil servants, the newly formed opposition party announced at a press conference yesterday. The ...
E-card holders concerned about SIM card exchange
Mfone e-card holders are concerned that the cards can no longer be used after the change from Mfone’s SIM card to Cellcard’s SIM and, along with officials, are unsure of a solution. Wholesalers and retailers have expressed concern that they will lose money when the scratch ...
Prey Lang activists halted on road
More than 300 activists from Kampong Thom province’s Prey Lang Community Network were stopped by district police yesterday as they were marching from the Vietnamese-owned CRCK Company to deliver a lawsuit in Sandan district calling for the postponement of alleged forest clearing and the “invasion” ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013021461350/National/prey-lang-activists-halted-on-road.html
Farmers Suffer From Illegal Pig Imports
Small pig farmers are struggling to stay in business as illegal imports of pigs from neighbouring countries rise, squeezing them out of the market, industry insiders say. Srun Peu, deputy director of the Cambodia Pig Farmers Association, an organisation with 4,000 members, said the increase in ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013042565222/Business/farmers-suffer-from-illegal-pig-imports.html
Cambodian Land Rights Activist's Bail Plea Rejected
The Cambodian Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected a jailed land rights activist’s appeal to be released on bail, drawing criticism from rights groups who said the whole case smacked of political interference and should be thrown out. “I am having heart, respiratory, and stomach ...
http://www.rfa.org/english/news/cambodia/land-03272013191716.html
Residents Call for Foul-Smelling Factory to Move
About 100 people protested Wednesday evening outside a Phnom Penh ice-making factory owned by the daughter of deputy Kompong Spue governor Tong Seng, complaining that the factory causes a bad smell and that the health of residents in Russei Keo district’s Kilometer 6 commune was ...
Against the Grain
On the palm-studded plains of Cambodia, rice farmers’ eyes light up with the prospect of sending their crop northward to China. The poor Southeast Asian nation had been trying for several years to export rice to the mainland but only last year did it gain ...
http://www.chinaeconomicreview.com/china-rice-demand-market-import
Recall Election Technically Possible, Analysts Say
Analysts say a recall election is possible within Cambodian law, despite statements to the contrary by Prime Minister Hun Sen. Hun Sen, who left Thursday for an official state visit to Vietnam, said in a speech last week he would not step down—something opposition supporters ...
Sok Khemara
http://www.voacambodia.com/content/recall-election-technically-possible-analysts/1818074.html
Two Months After Sentencing, Chhouk Bundith Still at Large
Former Bavet City governor Chhouk Bundith, who was convicted in June of shooting into a crowd of protesters and injuring three garment workers, is still at large avoiding an 18-month prison sentence, the national police spokesman said yesterday. “We have ordered all of our authorities to ...
Violent Mob, Police Attack Peaceful Protesters
Riot police and groups of men in plain clothes armed with sticks, Tasers and slingshots violently attacked a group of anti-eviction protesters conducting a hunger strike at Wat Phnom late last night, injuring several people. Protesters from Phnom Penh’s Boeng Kak community began the hunger strike ...
Simon Marks and Kevin Doyle
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/violent-mob-police-attack-peaceful-protesters-42892/
EU’s Bike Imports from Cambodia Grows Enormously
During the first half of 2013 the import of bicycles in the 27 European Union member states dropped with a big 11%. Almost all EU bike supplying countries saw their export drop; except for one. Cambodia stands out as their export of bicycles to the ...
Jack Oortwijn
http://www.bike-eu.com/Sales-Trends/Market-trends/2013/10/EUs-Bike-Imports-from-Cambodia-Grows-Enormously-1379624W/
Cambodian-Americans Warn of Dangers of Political Deadlock
As demonstrations continued in Phnom Penh, Cambodian-Americans in Washington said this week that the international community can no longer stay out of Cambodian affairs, lest the political deadlock turn to violence. At a discussion at the National Press Club in Washington, held by the Khmer People’s ...
Sok Khemara
http://www.voacambodia.com/content/cambodian-americans-warn-of-dangers-of-political-deadlock/1776213.html
CPP Lawmaker Says Election Monitor Could Face Legal Action
CPP lawmaker Chheang Vun said Wednesday that the National Assembly will take legal action against the Committee for Free and Fair Elections in Cambodia (Comfrel) for causing “chaos” in society by reporting the day before the national election that the indelible voter ink could be ...
Mech Dara and Colin Meyn
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/elections/cpp-lawmaker-says-election-monitor-could-face-legal-action-46712/
Cambodian ruling, opposition parties fail to reach agreement on independent poll probe committee
Cambodia’s ruling and main opposition parties failed to reach agreement on Tuesday after the second round of negotiation on the establishment of an independent committee to look into alleged irregularities during the July 28 election. The ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) negotiators were led by Prum ...
Xinhuanet News
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2013-08/20/c_132647778.htm
Forum leads to clashes
Police officers, some of them armed with batons and shields, clashed with Cambodia National Rescue Party lawmaker Mu Sochua and villagers yesterday as authorities cracked down on a public election forum at a private home in Battambang town. Sochua said she and others were left with ...
Cambodian opposition renews protest warning
Cambodia’s long-time opposition leader Sam Rainsy once again threatened to call nationwide demonstrations if an independent committee was not established to look into allegations of poll irregularities. “We strongly insist the establishment of an independent committee to investigate election irregularities before the release of the final ...
Xinhua News Staff
http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90777/8377805.html