At government rally, all proceeds smoothly
While workers and opposition supporters marched to mark Labour Day yesterday, and baton-wielding district security guards enforced a ban on gatherings, a very different, uninterrupted rally took place at the capital’s Koh Pich Exhibition Center. About 2,000 workers from pro-government unions and government officials heard Labour ...
Mom Kunthear
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/government-rally-all-proceeds-smoothly
Union leader ready to pay bulk of bail
Independent union leader Ath Thorn said Sunday he had collected enough money from supporters to pay most of his $25,000 bail to the Phnom Penh Municipal Court, and would deliver it to the court Monday. The court has charged Mr. Thorn, president of the Coalition of ...
Mech Dara
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/union-leader-ready-to-pay-bulk-of-bail-58474/
Activist ‘threatened with knife’
A forest activist in Kampong Thom province yesterday claimed to have been threatened with a knife by a soldier after reporting that the officer was behind a number of forest crimes in the area. Pen Bunkear, a soldier with the Kampong Thom military research unit, yesterday ...
May Titthara
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/activist-%E2%80%98threatened-knife%E2%80%99
Migrants told to get permits
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Friday called on all undocumented Cambodians in Thailand to register for a legal work permit at one of that country’s newly opened one-stop service centres. Thailand’s junta began piloting the latest temporary registration centres at the end of June and ...
Sen David
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/migrants-told-get-permits
Rainsy to Meet Cambodian Workers in South Korea
Opposition CNRP leader Sam Rainsy is to meet with Cambodian migrant workers during a two-day trip to South Korea later this week, at the end of a European tour that has included stops in Geneva, Brussels and Paris. “He will be visiting [South] Korea to meet ...
Mech Dara and Alice Cuddy
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/rainsy-to-meet-cambodian-workers-in-south-korea-51349/
Villagers nab logging truck
In the latest case involving illegal logging in Mondulkiri’s Sen Monorom district, two indigenous communities filed a lawsuit against three unidentified illegal loggers after confiscating a truck laden with luxury wood on Saturday, a rights monitor and villagers said yesterday. About 50 villagers turned over the ...
Phak Seangly
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/villagers-nab-logging-truck
City hall denies unions permission for Freedom Park forum
A group of 18 labor unions and associations said they will proceed with plans for a public forum in Phnom Penh’s Freedom Park on Saturday, despite City Hall’s rejecting their request, citing public security concerns. The unions, who are organizing a nationwide strike in the garment ...
Mech Dara
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/city-hall-denies-unions-permission-for-freedom-park-forum-53525/
Agriculture Ministry establishes 2 H5N1 ‘contamination zones’
The Ministry of Agriculture has created designated bird flu contamination zones in Phnom Penh and Kandal province following the deaths of hundreds of birds due to the H5N1 virus, officials said Wednesday. Agriculture Minister Ouk Rabon signed two directives late last month saying that poultry being ...
Khuon Narim and Denise Hruby
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/agriculture-ministry-establishes-2-h5n1-contamination-zones-53633/
New report says garment sector fails to meet UN standards
Cambodian garment manufacturers and the association that governs them are failing to meet the standards set by the U.N.’s Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, as evidenced by lethal violence against workers during garment strikes in January, when five people were shot dead and ...
Lauren Crothers
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/new-report-says-garment-sector-fails-to-meet-un-standards-54191/
Smugglers’ boats sink in timber chase
Smugglers sank two boats filled with illegally logged rosewood into Koh Kong’s Sre Ambel River as they shook off pursuing rangers from Wildlife Alliance on March 22, the NGO has said. An anonymous informant tipped off rangers in Sre Ambel district to the boats, allegedly filled ...
Amelia Woodside and Phak Seangly
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/smugglers%E2%80%99-boats-sink-timber-chase
Factories mostly skip minimum wage meeting
Government officials and union representatives met behind closed doors Thursday to start hashing out a better way to set the minimum wage for the country’s all-important but troubled garment sector at a workshop brokered by the International Labor Organization (ILO). But what was supposed to be ...
Aun Pheap and Zsombor Peter
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/factories-mostly-skip-minimum-wage-meeting-57337/
Legal Cambodians may return, says Thailand
Thai officials said Tuesday they will take back Cambodian workers who re-enter the country legally. The statement follows a mass exodus in recent weeks of tens of thousands of Cambodians amid rumors of a crackdown on undocumented workers. Koy Kuong, a spokesman for Cambodia’s Foreign Ministry, told ...
Kong Sothanarith
http://www.voanews.com/content/thailand-says-legal-cambodian-workers-can-return/1939085.html
Cambodia agrees to help Thailand clarify labor policy
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has confirmed to the Cambodian Ambassador to Thailand that no harsh measures are being taken against Cambodian workers while the latter has promised to help Thailand clear up the rumor. ...
National News Bureau of Thailand
http://thainews.prd.go.th/centerweb/newsen/NewsDetail?NT01_NewsID=WNSOC5706170010018
Protesting families demand answers from ADB
Phnom Penh families who face losing a part of their land to a railway rehabilitation project being funded primarily by the Asian development Bank (ADB) protested in front of the bank’s country headquarters Monday over what they say has been a lack of transparency about ...
Aun Pheap and Zsombor Peter
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/protesting-families-demand-answers-from-adb-66271/
Police officer among 3 accused of cheating
The Anti-Corruption Unit has announced that three people, including a police officer, who were arrested last week in Svay Rieng province after posing as students taking the grade 12 national exam, have been charged with using false identities. In a statement released on Monday, the ACU ...
Chhay Channyda
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/police-officer-among-3-accused-cheating
Guards move batons aside in rare show of benevolence
Over the past year, Phnom Penh officials have proven themselves to be an unyielding group in the face of dissent, and the helmeted, baton-wielding security guards who answer to them the scourge of protesters. On Wednesday, however, Daun Penh district officials took a softer approach when ...
Mech Dara
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/guards-move-batons-aside-in-rare-show-of-benevolence-67226/
Koh Kong gov to bring petition to Say Sam Al
Koh Kong Governor Bun Leart has promised villagers evicted from their land by Chinese-owned Union Development Group that he will give their petition to Minister of Environment Say Sam Al today. ...
Sen David
http://phnompenhpost.com/national/koh-kong-gov-bring-petition-say-sam-al
Lure of South Korea is strong
Cambodian migrant worker hopefuls have heard murmurs about the poor work conditions in South Korea. However, they remain unfazed – even the recent reports of long hours and abusive employers are doing little to deter their quest to secure better wages abroad. ...
Laignee Barron and Pech Sotheary
http://phnompenhpost.com/national/lure-south-korea-strong
In Siem Reap, poor girls want to stay in school
Impoverished girls in Siem Reap say they hope for a better education, in the wake of First Lady Michelle Obama’s visit. Girls in Siem Reap province say they are aware of the importance of education, especially higher education, to escape poverty. ...
Phorn Bopha
http://bit.ly/1BrEnb5
Hun Sen Orders Anticorruption Education for Students
Prime Minister Hun Sen on Friday issued a statement ordering that anti-graft education be incorporated into the national schooling system as part of a wider effort to stamp out corruption in the country. The statement, released in the lead-up to International Anti-Corruption Day, which falls today, ...
Mech Dara and Alex Willemyns
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/hun-sen-orders-anticorruption-education-for-students-48830/