Cambodia has floor in Oz parliament debate
A spirited debate on human rights in Cambodia was heard in the Australian parliament this week after an opposition Labor Party MP introduced a motion calling on the government to condemn state violence against striking garment workers and ask authorities to release detained protesters. Clare O’Neil, ...
Kevin Ponniah
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/cambodia-has-floor-oz-parliament-debate
Protest planned for 2nd day of garment protest trials
Some 500 supporters of union leader Vorn Pao and 24 others arrested during a string of garment worker protests since November will rally in front of the Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Tuesday on the second day of their trials, a union official said. All 25 ...
Khuon Narim
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/protest-planned-for-2nd-day-of-garment-protest-trials-58141/
Rubber company suspends projects as World Bank investigates
A World Bank-supported rubber company accused of land grabs has suspended some of its projects, as an investigation by the bank continues. The Hoang Anh Gia Lai company, which received support from the bank’s International Finance Corporation, said in a decision following an April 2 ...
Sok Khemara
http://www.voacambodia.com/content/rubber-company-suspends-projects-as-world-bank-investigates/1908775.html
Villagers defy ban, march to Gov’t buildings
More than 200 people from the group Land Communities for Peace marched from the Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU) to the National Assembly on Thursday in defiance of a ban issued by City Hall. Phnom Penh deputy governor Khuong Sreng said the protest would not be allowed after ...
Mech Dara
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/villagers-defy-ban-march-to-govt-buildings-60037/
Illegal workers arrested, face Thai court
Thai authorities have arrested and are preparing to try 13 Cambodian migrant workers who were allegedly caught with fake stamps on their work papers as they tried to return home, Foreign Ministry spokesman Koy Kuong confirmed on Friday. The government also announced a plan to subsidize ...
Khy Sovuthy and Lauren Crothers
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/illegal-workers-arrested-face-trial-in-thailand-62059/
Legal experts: Cambodia judicial laws of 'Deep concern'
International legal experts are expressing deep concern over proposed changes to Cambodia’s legal system that critics say hand over too much power to the executive. At a meeting in Phnom Penh Tuesday, a group recommended the three judicial reform laws should be returned to parliament ...
Robert Carmichael
http://www.voacambodia.com/content/legal-experts-say-cambodia-judicial-laws-of-deep-concern/1958277.html
Slow year for Japanese investment
The Japanese embassy is reporting a $280 million drop in Japanese investment last year, but officials were quick to say that the numbers don’t necessarily reflect slumping investor confidence in Cambodia. Japanese investment in the Kingdom reached about $47.5 million in 2013, compared to $328 million ...
Hor Kimsay and Eddie Morton
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/slow-year-japanese-investment
Interior Ministry Says No to Freedom Park Rally
The government will consider a planned union rally on Sunday of several thousand people at Freedom Park in Phnom Penh an attempt to “overthrow the government,” Interior Ministry spokesman Khieu Sopheak said on Friday. Phnom Penh municipality rejected the request to hold the rally, but ...
Sinary Sany
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/interior-ministry-says-no-to-freedom-park-rally-51032/
Unions plan forum
The leaders of 18 unions and union confederations this week will invite ruling and opposition party members to take part in a public forum where labour relations issues will be discussed. Rong Chhun, president of the Cambodian Confederation of Unions (CCU), yesterday said the letters have ...
Mom Kunthear
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/unions-plan-forum
True refuge still elusive for refugees
It took three illegal border crossings, several bribed officials and six months in an overcrowded detention centre before Mohammed Ibrahim* finally arrived in Cambodia. Four years later, the ethnic Rohingya, a victim of violence and oppression in strife-torn Rakhine state in Myanmar’s west, is one of ...
Amelia Woodside
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/true-refuge-still-elusive-refugees
‘People’s congress’ to test ban
Opposition leaders yesterday announced plans to hold a thousands-strong “people’s congress” in the capital’s Freedom Park on Sunday, despite a ban on gatherings at the site. Cambodia National Rescue Party president Sam Rainsy and vice-president Kem Sokha, following their return from overseas trips to Australia, New ...
Meas Sokchea and Daniel Pye
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/%E2%80%98people%E2%80%99s-congress%E2%80%99-test-ban
Lack of funds delays railway
The China Railway Group’s planned $7.5 billion Cambodian north-south railway line has been delayed due to funding shortages, according to the company’s top official. Originally slated to begin construction last year, China Railway’s chairman, Li Changjin, told the South China Morning Post that work on the 400-kilometre railway ...
Daniel de Carteret
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/lack-funds-delays-railway
Hun Sen attends dinner, presentation in China
Accompanied by his wife, Bun Rany, Prime Minister Hun Sen continued his trip to China on Tuesday evening by attending a dinner reception hosted by Chinese President Xi Jinping, according to state news agency Agence Kampuchea Press. Mr. Hun Sen and his delegation of high-level officials ...
Simon Henderson
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/hun-sen-attends-dinner-presentation-in-china-59355/
Prey Speu tales conflict
Following last week’s street sweep, children as young as 7 years old were kept in Phnom Penh’s notorious Prey Speu social affairs centre, eyewitnesses, staff and those targeted by the initiative have told the Post, directly contradicting government denials offered earlier this week. Standing at the centre’s ...
Alice Cuddy and Sen David
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/prey-speu-tales-conflict
‘Tiger’ falls prey to linguistics
Tigers and black bears look nothing alike, but their identical names in some Khmer dialects left some thinking that one of Cambodia’s most endangered species may be attacking people in the Cardamom Mountains. Sitting outside his Santre commune home in Pursat province’s Kravanh district, with bandages ...
Khouth Sophak Chakrya and Sean Teehan
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/%E2%80%98tiger%E2%80%99-falls-prey-linguistics
CNRP’s wish list for NEC narrows
The opposition is eyeing two leading civil society figures and deputy party leader Kem Sokha’s daughter to fill the three remaining slots the party holds on the nine-member National Election Committee, according to a high-level party source. Cambodia National Rescue Party lawmaker-elect Kuoy Bunroeun has already ...
Meas Sokchea, Kevin Ponniah and David Boyle
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/cnrp%E2%80%99s-wish-list-nec-narrows
Caper to free official works
Military police in Ratanakkiri province’s O’Yadav district on Monday were duped into letting a detained immigration official walk free just hours after he was arrested for alleged involvement in the cross-border illegal timber trade, police said yesterday. District military police chief Sok Min said yesterday that ...
Sen David
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/caper-free-official-works
US retailers express support for Cambodian living wage
As a new round of Cambodian wage negotiations approaches this month, major U.S. and European retailers who source from the country say they will be watching the talks carefully and want to see fair pay for workers. Representatives of the brands like Gap, Levi Strauss, and ...
Kimseng Men
http://www.voanews.com/content/us-retailers-express-support-for-cambodian-living-wage/2470747.html
Bear-cub rescues lift tally to nine in 2014
Nine sun bear cubs have been rescued in the first 10 months of this year, according to the Phnom Penh office of NGO Wildlife Alliance. The cubs, some as young as two weeks, were saved by government rangers and the NGO’s Wildlife Rapid Rescue Team (WRRT), ...
Phak Seangly
http://phnompenhpost.com/national/bear-cub-rescues-lift-tally-nine-2014
Tycoon gunned down in Phnom Penh
A prominent Phnom Penh businessman died after being shot six times by an unidentified gunman outside a fruit shop in Chamkar Mon district on Saturday, according to military police, who believe the murder was an assassination. Ung Meng Chue, 53, a construction tycoon who held the ...
Saing Soenthrith, Hay Pisey and Alex Consiglio
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/tycoon-gunned-down-in-phnom-penh-72866/