Civil society

Five hundred villagers in Preah Vihear province protested yesterday outside the office of FP Malaysia Plantation Company, which they say is attempting to take their land. Rith Sothon, a village representative in Preah Vihear’s Kulen district, said the villagers filed a complaint after the company placed ...

Authorities in Mondolkiri province prevented hundreds of ethnic minority members from marching through Sen Monorom City to mark International Day of the World’s Indigenous People on Saturday, claiming it would confuse tourists. Marches elsewhere were allowed to go ahead. Doung Pen said Sunday that he was ...

An annual vulture census carried out across Cambodia has recorded the second lowest population estimate for ten years. The new figures follow a major vulture poisoning incident that occurred in Cambodia’s Mondulkiri Protected Forest back in february when 13 vultures were found dead. This is the largest ...

Due to discrimination, sexual minorities in the country face high poverty, bullying and elevated dropout rates, with the government’s ambiguous stance on LGBT issues worsening the situation, a UN report says. “Laws and policies in Cambodia are silent on LGBT people and rights,” states Being LGBT ...

The government’s long-pledged health insurance scheme for private sector employees, including factory workers, is just around the corner, officials promised yesterday while refusing to name a more specific date. On Wednesday, the Ministry of Labour held a public forum on the insurance plan, which is expected ...

An NGO partnered with Phnom Penh’s municipal government in a scheme to help poor children get off the street Wednesday blasted the city’s ongoing catch-and-release strategy. In June, City Hall partnered up with two NGOs in a campaign to remove beggars from Phnom Penh’s streets. The ...

While one of the two Phnom Penh families embroiled in a long-running land dispute with the Khun Sear Import Export Company this week accepted a compensation offer, the other says it has no plans to back down. ...

The Mekong River Commission issued flood warnings on Wednesday for Kratie, Kampong Cham and Stung Treng as well as the southern Lao city of Pakse. After surpassing alarm levels in recent days, the Mekong is expected to reach the flood stage in Kratie on Saturday, according ...

Rin Ren thought that her grandchildren had gone to study English with NGO Mith Samlanh and would return to their home along the railroad in Phnom Penh’s Boeng Kak II commune by nightfall, just as they had done many times before. Instead, friends of the children ...

A survey has found that while only 12 per cent of young Cambodians smoke cigarettes, more than four times that number are exposed to passive smoke every day, and a broad majority back tougher regulation of tobacco products. Mom Kong, executive director at the Cambodian Movement ...

Nine Prey Lang forest activists received suspended one-year prison sentences at Kampong Thom Provincial Court yesterday and were ordered to pay $1,250 to a businesswoman whose hectare of cassava they were accused of uprooting, the defendants’ lawyer said. Yong Panith – who represents Mao Thea, 37; ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen warned yesterday that people who instigate and commit acts of violence will face the full force of the law. In characteristically cryptic language, he told thousands of students on Phnom Penh’s Koh Pich that his government would not tolerate violence. ...

Cambodia’s embassy in Kuala Lumpur has played a key role in pressuring domestic workers to stay in the country despite fears for their welfare, rights groups have said. While a moratorium was placed on sending domestic workers to Malaysia in 2011 amid mounting concerns over abuses, ...

Deposite not coming close to achieving their goal of a $160 monthly minimum garment wage, unions announced yesterday that they will raise their demands to $177 for 2015. Ken Chhenglang, acting pres­ident of the National Independent Federation Textile Union of Cambodia (NIFTUC), said about 10 union ...

Cambodia says it has asked China to restrict the number of visas it issues to single Cambodian women, to prevent the brokering of marriages to Chinese men. The appeal comes as an increasing number of Cambodian women are finding their way into Chinese marriages and becoming ...

Human rights groups on Sunday criticized as inadequate a government proposal, announced on Friday, to require single women to deposit $10,000 into a Chinese bank before they are allowed to visit China as tourists, a move meant to curb the trafficking of Cambodian woman to ...

The Foreign Affairs Ministry on Friday defended the Cambodian Embassy and consulates in China, which have been accused of ignoring female citizens in peril there, and said it has made efforts to cut off the flow off women being sold into brothels or forced marriages. In ...

Fish and rice are staple foods for all Cambodians. Historical records show that Cambodia’s fisheries have been of major importance for centuries. Fish is a major source of nutritious food in the daily diet, a primary source of employment and income and has strong cultural ...

A survey of 10 Cambodian provinces is studying the whereabouts and plans of migrant workers who were recently repatriated from Thailand, fearing crackdowns on foreign workers there after the coup. During a workshop hosted by Coordination of Action Research on AIDS and Mobility (CARAM) yesterday, Ministry ...

A deal to end the political deadlock may reduce demonstrations in the streets, but the authorities are leaving nothing to chance – Daun Penh’s notorious district security guards are finally receiving proper government training. City Hall spokesman Long Dimanche, who has previously said the baton-wielding district ...

A group of NGOs is urging Cambodia’s two main political parties not to rush the election reform process. Instead, the Electoral Reform Alliance says the ruling party and opposition should ensure they have completed the reform process before they open a National Assembly session, which would ...

Try Chamroeun, a 19-year-old student, was planting soybeans on Sunday along with fellow villagers on a two-hectare (half-acre) plot in Preah Vihear province, when soldier Poeun Tash demanded that he stop, claiming the land belonged to his military boss, according to London-based environmental advocacy group ...

About 150 ethnic Kuoy villagers gathered outside Preah Vihear Provincial Court yesterday to protest the questioning of eight villagers and an NGO staff member for allegedly inciting villagers in Tbeng Meanchey district to destroy 36 tonnes of sugarcane. ...

Phnom Penh, capital of Cambodia, recorded 445 demonstrations during a year-long political crisis following disputed election results in July last year, municipal police chief Chuon Sovann said Wednesday. “About 445 protests had occurred in the past 12 months, including more than 80 protests led by the ...