Informal migration for labor

The Cambodian government has agreed to a request from the Thai Labor Ministry to temporarily block migrant workers from traveling to Thailand for the next four months as it conducts a census into migrants in the country, according to a statement released on Thursday.   ...

A year-long crackdown on illegal immigration equated to a threefold increase in deportations in the first 11 months of 2015, with 4,312 foreigners sent home versus just 1,307 in the same period last year, according to a Department of Immigration report obtained yesterday. ...

The first group of refugees to arrive in Cambodia as part of a controversial deal the government signed with Australia last year are now renting their own apartments and searching for jobs, having left their temporary accommodations in Phnom Penh, the International Organization for Migration ...

A senior investigator at rights group Adhoc has warned that regional economic integration will lead to a flood of Cambodians migrating elsewhere in search of jobs that pay better than those at home. ...

Nearly a month after the deadly bombing at Erawan Shrine in Bangkok, Cambodia’s military police spokesman Eng Hy said police have increased security at potential terrorist targets in Phnom Penh, such as Aeon Mall, aiming to prevent a similar tragedy in Cambodia. ...

Nearly 60 illegal Vietnamese migrant workers were arrested by immigration police Wednesday during raids on six furniture workshops and a coffee shop in Phnom Penh’s Chamkar Mon district, an immigration official said. ...

The Department of Immigration conducted a raid yesterday on a construction site in the capital near Wat Phnom. In all, officials checked 61 workers for valid permits. ...

The head of the Interior Ministry’s immigration department called on provincial governors and police chiefs on Wednesday to help rein in illegal immigration as the number of Vietnamese migrants doubled over a five-year period. ...

Police from the Interior Ministry’s general department of immigration on Thursday detained more than 100 Vietnamese men working at a metal scrapyard in Phnom Penh to assess the legitimacy of their employment in Cambodia. ...

Thai prisons released 55 Cambodian illegal loggers over the weekend, after the group had spent about two years in prison for their offences. ...

A Cambodian migrant worker was shot dead by a Thai foreman at the construction site where he was working last week in Thailand’s Chachoengsao province, a border official said Sunday. ...

As 58 Cambodian fishermen rescued from slavery in Indonesia await their travel documents to return home, the intergovernmental body organizing their return is attempting to raise money to pay for their travel because the Cambodian government is not offering any funds for their repatriation. ...

Cambodian Labor Minister Ith Samheng said on Sunday that the country’s garment and footwear industries, the kingdom’s largest foreign currency earner, are comprised of 1,087 factories with 700,000 direct jobs. ...

When Roeun Hen would try to take a break from his 20-hour shift trawling Indonesian waters for fish, his Thai captain would pummel him, kicking and punching the 29-year-old until he returned to work. ...

While mental health services are crucial to the recovery process for the Kingdom’s victims of human trafficking, stigma and limited resources remain a barrier in the provision of and access to those services, according to a new study published yesterday. The research, published in the International ...

At least 58 Cambodians were among the more than 300 enslaved fishermen recently rescued from a remote island in Indonesia’s Maluku province, an intergovernmental migration body said Tuesday. ...

Police have arrested more than 500 illegal migrant workers at the huge Talat Thai market in Pathum Thani. Police said the illegal migrants would face legal action before being deported to their home countries. ...

Cambodian migrant workers in Thailand are now reportedly able to access the same healthcare benefits as Thai nationals following the implementation of new regulations, although rights organisations warned yesterday that problems will persist for Cambodians across the border, the majority of whom remain undocumented. Under new ...

Workers from Myanmar, laos, Cambodia and Vietnam now get better coverage. Migrant workers from Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam can now buy healthcare insurance and enjoy healthcare benefits that are on par with what Thais get via the country’s universal healthcare scheme. ...

Workers from Myanmar, laos, Cambodia and Vietnam now get better coverage. Migrant workers from Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam can now buy healthcare insurance and enjoy healthcare benefits that are on par with what Thais get via the country’s universal healthcare scheme. ...

A growing labour undersupply has been of the factors behind Thailand’s sub-par economic growth. A nationwide survey of companies in six key sectors by SCB Economic Intelligence Center last year found that at least half had trouble filling vacancies within a three-month search. ...

Nineteen Cambodian men were repatriated Sunday morning after being rescued by Indonesian authorities from slavery on Thai fishing boats, according to Foreign Ministry spokesman Koy Kuong. ...

The head of the Interior Ministry’s general department of immigration issued a statement on Wednesday reminding foreigners working in Cambodia that they are required to hold a work permit—and will face fines if they do not. ...

Cambodian migrant workers working legally or illegally in neighboring Thailand and other countries in the region have remitted more than $1 billion dollars annually, which contributes significantly to the economy, an opposition lawmaker says. But their emigration has affected local farming as well, emptying rural villages, ...