Informal labor

The Union Media of Asean, an association of Thai and Cambodian journalists based in Sa Kaew, has agreed to set the record straight about the policy of Thailand’s ruling junta towards migrant workers, particularly those from Cambodia. Reporters affiliated with UMA would pass on the truth ...

Thailand’s military government has announced plans to fast-track work visas for thousands of Cambodians after a crackdown on illegal workers. Three temporary offices have been set up along the Thai-Cambodian border where migrants will have their work permits processed. ...

Labor Ministry officials are set to meet today with about 40 local recruitment agencies to talk about formalizing the procedure for sending migrant workers to Thailand, an agency director said. The meeting will focus on how the agencies can help migrants obtain work permits and other ...

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 ...

Union officials and the garment sector’s factory association said yesterday they supported a new program meant to enhance relations between employers and employees, but remained sceptical of how effective it would be. In a ceremony yesterday, the Ministry of Labour inaugurated the program, which entails training ...

The manager of Giant Ocean International, a now-defunct recruitment firm notorious for abuse scandals, was sentenced yesterday to 10 years in jail for trafficking hundreds of Cambodian fishermen to work in slave-like conditions overseas. Taiwanese national Lin Yu-shin, who ran the firm, was arrested in May ...

More than 100 Cambodians were deported from Thailand yesterday after Thai security forces conducted operations over the weekend aimed at stemming the flow of illegal immigrants. Net Sary, Cambodia’s consul-general in Thailand’s Sa Kaeo province, said yesterday that 120 Cambodians, including four minors, were deported after ...

A dozen tuk-tuk and motorcycle-taxi drivers who say their vehicles were confiscated after police suppressed a demonstration in Phnom Penh last week gathered outside City Hall on Wednedsay to demand the return of their property. The drivers waited from 12 p.m. until 5 p.m. hoping to ...

Many Cambodian women arrive in South Korea or China for marriage, only to find themselves being chosen as mistresses, say labour rights activists. While young Cambodian men, who travel to Thailand to work on fishing boats, often fall prey to drug abuse. Loss of land, debt, ...

Motorcycle-taxi and tuk-tuk drivers led a motorized rally of about a thousand people through Siem Reap City on Wednesday to call for lower petrol prices and a ban on the use of electric cars in the Angkor Archaeological Park. The rally, organized by the Phnom Penh-based ...

Tuk-tuk, motorbike and taxi drivers were among hundreds of workers from Cambodia’s “informal economy” who called on the government yesterday to cap fuel prices at 4,000 riel ($1) per litre, amid claims that the current 5,000 riel price leaves them unable to cover any more ...

In a letter to three government ministries, a local domestic worker rights group last week demanded wage increases and limitations on work hours. Von Samphous, president of the fledgling Cambodian Domestic Worker Network (CDWN), sent the letter to the Ministry of Women’s Affairs and the Ministry ...

The abuse of Cambodian maids overseas has become one of the most documented human rights violation here. But as the Government, media, NGOs and aid agencies focus their energies on domestic laborer living abroad, advocates have begun to urge that closer attention be paid to ...

Five workers riding a lift meant to carry animal carcasses up to the fifth floor of a meat roasting facility were left with serious injuries when their metal cage plummeted from the third floor. The five victims, aged from 25 to 38, suffered broken legs ...

Thailand’s ongoing recovery efforts from recent flooding have led to a resurgence in the country’s demand for labor, resulting in a record number of Cambodian migrants crossing the border in search of work, officials and experts said yesterday. Ouk Keorattanak, Banteay Manteay provincial deputy administration chief, ...

Cambodia does not have enough productive or high-quality jobs available and most employment is informal, which will prevent Cambodians from rising out of poverty, the International Labor Organization (ILO) said Monday at a workshop in Phnom Penh. To help solve the issues affecting the labor market, ...