Social development
Civil society
Criticism is sour grapes, says minister
The justice minister yesterday defended three long-awaited laws on judicial reform which were approved by the Council of Ministers last week in a move slammed by the Cambodian Center for Human Rights (CCHR) as lacking transparency. Minister of Justice Ang Vong Vathana said that the “three ...
Buth Reaksmey Kongkea
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/criticism-sour-grapes-says-minister
Stay-at-home strike a bust as workers return to factories
The vast majority of the country’s 600,000-strong garment factory workforce appeared to be back on the job Monday despite a call from unions to continue a stay-at-home strike until Tuesday. Eight unions had spent weeks urging workers to stay home after the Khmer New Year from ...
Khy Sovuthy
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/stay-at-home-strike-a-bust-as-workers-return-to-factories-56888/
UN concerned about detainees’ presence at trials
The U.N.’s human rights office in Cambodia expressed concern Monday that 22 detained protesters may not be allowed to attend their trials on Friday, while the government insisted that the prisoners will be transported to the court. Two minors were arrested for intentional violence for their ...
Lauren Crothers
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/un-concerned-about-detainees-presence-at-trials-56914/
Borei Keila activists go to PP court
Seven Borei Keila community activists were summonsed to Phnom Penh Municipal Court yesterday to back up a complaint they filed accusing high-ranking Prampi Makara district officials of assault for their role in the violent dispersal of demonstrators in February. ...
Khouth Sophak Chakrya
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/borei-keila-activists-go-pp-court
Low salaries stifle education reform efforts
Sao Sothy’s home is small and the furniture is sparse. There are no tables or chairs. In one room, there is a small bed, but her family of four sleeps on mats in the living room. Hanging on the otherwise bare walls is Ms. Sothy’s ...
Emily Wilkins and Sek Odom
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/low-salaries-stifle-education-reform-efforts-56752/
Iffy factory supplying LA’s finest
A Phnom Penh-based factory supplying uniforms for police officers and firefighters in the US city of Los Angeles continues to break Cambodian labour laws, a report to be publicly released today says. Kin Tai Garment factory, a supplier to 5.11 Tactical – which sells the uniforms ...
Sean Teehan
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/iffy-factory-supplying-la%E2%80%99s-finest
Uighurs ‘arrested’ at border
A group of 14 ethnic minority Uighurs, including six children, fleeing China were arrested on Saturday in the Thai border province of Sa Keo after Cambodian smugglers deserted them on Friday, Thai media reported yesterday. The five men, three women and six children who were apprehended ...
Amelia Woodside and Cheang Sokha
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/uighurs-%E2%80%98arrested%E2%80%99-border
Sorya bus drivers fired after wage strikes
At least eight bus drivers from Phnom Penh Sorya Transportation company were fired last week for leading a strike before Khmer New Year to demand higher wages, employees and union representatives said Sunday. About 80 drivers went on strike on April 3 demanding a $60 increase ...
Ben Sokhean
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/sorya-bus-drivers-fired-after-wage-strikes-56764/
Journalists covering logging denounce abuse
The Club of Cambodian Journalists (CCJ) released a statement on Friday expressing concern over three recent cases of reporters facing harassment while attempting to document illegal logging in Preah Vihear, Pursat and Kompong Cham provinces. Sorn Mongkul, a reporter for Kampuchea Thmey newspaper based in Preah ...
Eang Mengleng
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/journalists-covering-logging-denounce-abuse-56775/
Once again, Sochua denied
Following a break over Khmer New Year, opposition lawmaker-elect Mu Sochua continued her campaign to bring freedom to Freedom Park yesterday morning and was once again met with force, this time metres outside of the park. At about 8am yesterday, the Cambodia National Rescue Party member ...
Alice Cuddy and Khouth Sophak Chakrya
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/once-again-sochua-denied
2,500 workers in Bavet SEZ go on strike
More than 2,000 workers at three factories in Svay Rieng’s Bavet City went on strike Saturday, claiming their bosses owed them money. About 500 workers at the You Li factory, which makes baby clothes, went on strike Saturday because management refused to pay them for Thursday ...
Mech Dara
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/2500-workers-in-bavet-sez-go-on-strike-56762/
NEC bans campaign bases at council elections
The National Election Committee (NEC) on Friday said that political parties would be banned from setting up permanent campaign bases in the city during next month’s council elections. The announcement followed the CNRP’s request to City Hall on Friday asking permission to set up a base ...
Khuon Narim and Matt Blomberg
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/nec-bans-campaign-bases-at-council-elections-56748/
Nationwide garment factory strike sputters into second day
A few garment factories resumed operations in Phnom Penh on Friday, albeit at reduced capacity, as thousands of workers returned to the city after Khmer New Year celebrations in the provinces. While the majority of factories in Meanchey and Pur Senchey districts stayed closed, it remained ...
Sek Odom and Matt Blomberg
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/nationwide-garment-factory-strike-sputters-into-second-day-56740/
Little appetite for garment strike in Phnom Penh
Most garment factories did not open for business Thursday, choosing to extend the Khmer New Year holidays—which officially ended Wednesday—rather than face industrial action in the form of a planned nationwide stay-at-home strike. However, a number of workers interviewed Thursday said they knew nothing about the ...
Zsombor Peter and Mech Dara
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/little-appetite-for-garment-strike-in-phnom-penh-56695/
Land activists ‘under threat’
Cambodian land advocates face some of the most threatening and deadly working conditions in the world, according to a new report by UK-based environmental watchdog Global Witness. Since 2002, 908 reported killings linked to land activism have occurred across 35 countries – with 13 taking place ...
Amelia Woodside and Khouth Sophak Chakrya
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/land-activists-%E2%80%98under-threat%E2%80%99
Mu Sochua to restart Freedom Park campaign
Mu Sochua, a lawmaker-elect for the opposition CNRP, announced Thursday that she will on Sunday morning resume her campaign to enter Phnom Penh’s Freedom Park. Last month, Ms. Sochua appeared at the park alone for four straight days—each day being physically barred by authorities—in an effort ...
Alex Willemyns
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/mu-sochua-to-restart-freedom-park-campaign-56712/
Cambodia must make union draft law public: rights group
Cambodia’s government should make public a proposed law aimed at regulating the country’s labor movement, a rights group said Thursday, amid concerns that it includes provisions for the suspension of unions and for severely restricting their right to freedom of association. Requests from civil society to ...
Joshua Lipes
http://www.rfa.org/english/news/cambodia/unions-04172014170804.html
Predictions mixed for post-new year garment strike
Along Phnom Penh’s industry-heavy Veng Sreng Street on Wednesday, garment factories lay idle in observance of Khmer New Year. The dorms around them were empty, save for the few workers who could not afford the bus ticket home for the holiday, which ended Wednesday. Eight unions ...
Mech Dara
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/predictions-mixed-for-post-new-year-garment-strike-56624/
Landmine casualties in Cambodia up 90 pct in first two months
Casualties from landmines and unexploded ordnance have remarkably increased in the first two months of this year, a report of the Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority showed Tuesday. The country reported 40 casualties, 6 people died and 34 injured, during the January-February period this ...
Global Times News Staff
http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/854674.shtml#.U09J9_mSx8E
ADB urged to consult rail project evictees
More than two dozen NGOs have written to the head of the Asian Development Bank demanding the immediate release of a draft plan the ADB has drawn up to help Cambodian families evicted to make way for a bank-funded railway rehabilitation project. They also want ...
Zsombor Peter
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/adb-urged-to-consult-rail-project-evictees-56514/
Union scrambling for $25k bail
The leader of Cambodia’s largest independent garment union may soon be in jail, with the group fearing it will not be able to afford the $25,000 bail a judge has ordered be paid by April 25, its vice president said yesterday. Ath Thorn, president of the ...
Sean Teehan
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/union-scrambling-25k-bail
Staying at home not a strike, factories say
The Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC) warned garment workers on Thursday that they risk losing their jobs if they extend their Khmer New Year vacation by joining a stay-at-home strike. Aiming to avoid police suppression of street protests for a higher garment sector minimum wage, ...
Mech Dara
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/staying-at-home-not-a-strike-factories-say-56440/
Anti-dam activists set to block workers’ arrival
Members of an ethnic minority in Koh Kong province’s Areng Valley stood watch Thursday to block a road leading to the site of a proposed dam after they heard that Chinese workers would inspect the site, community representatives said. Villagers believe that the Chinese company Sinohydro ...
Khuon Narim
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/anti-dam-activists-set-to-block-workers-arrival-56442/
A logging free-for-all
The scale of mass logging in once-dense woodlands in Cambodia’s north now more closely resembles the free-for-all of a gold rush than the sustainable forestry more often associated with these communities. With the financial backing of powerful businessmen, villagers in three districts of Preah Vihear are ...
May Titthara
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/logging-free-all