Social development
Human rights
Authorities Burn 60 Homes in Pursat Province
More than 60 wooden homes in Pursat province were burned to the ground Wednesday by officials in Veal Veng district, who claimed that the owners were living on state land, rights group Licadho said. “On Wednesday morning, police, military police, RCAF soldiers and the deputy provincial ...
Ben Sokhean and Mech Dara
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/authorities-burn-60-homes-in-pursat-province-52093/
Unions plan 2nd round of mass strikes
After the Court of Appeal denied bail to 21 jailed protesters on Tuesday, 16 labor unions and associations announced Wednesday that they will retaliate by calling a nationwide labor strike in the middle of March. The unions, which mainly represent workers in the garment industry, said ...
Mech Dara and Aun Pheap
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/unions-plan-2nd-round-of-mass-strikes-52078/
Cambodian govt making efforts at minimum wage reform
The Government of Cambodia is making efforts at minimum wage reform, and it has set up a committee to study the minimum wage at garment manufacturing units as a way of continually working to increase it, Labour Minister Ith Sam Heng while unveiling the Ministry’s ...
Fibre2fashion News Desk - India
http://www.fibre2fashion.com/news/apparel-news/newsdetails.aspx?news_id=159685
Around 2,000 workers protest in Phnom Penh and Preah Sihanouk province
Workers from Galey & Lord factory producing jeans went on strike Wednesday for second days after local authorities failed to find solution for them. Some 1,000 workers have been on strike since yesterday to demand the Cambodian administration chief Sok Kong be ousted from the factory ...
The Cambodia Herald News Staff
http://thecambodiaherald.com/cambodia/detail/1?page=13&token=YTdlN2ViODBjOTU
Cambodia: Rainsy returns as court keeps protesters in jail
Anguished cries from supporters and family members echoed outside the Appeals Court in Phnom Penh yesterday as they received the news bail had been denied. They had been hoping for the release of 21 people detained since a brutal government crackdown in early January. On ...
Daniel Quinlan
http://asiancorrespondent.com/119494/cambodia-rainsy-returns-as-court-keeps-protesters-in-jail/
Vets protest unpaid pensions
After protesting in front of government offices yesterday, more than 60 retired soldiers received pensions that had been withheld for close to a year. The 64 Preah Sihanouk veterans gathered in front of the Department of Social Affairs, Veterans and Youth Rehabilitation told the Post that ...
Meas Sokchea
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/vets-protest-unpaid-pensions
Ministries to Help Farmers Hurt by Sugar Plantations
The government on Monday agreed to a comprehensive solution for rural families who have lost their land to well-connected agricultural plantations exporting sugar to the European Union (E.U.) duty free and will meet again early next month to discuss details. The decision was made at a ...
Hul Reaksmey and Zsombor Peter
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/ministries-to-help-farmers-hurt-by-sugar-plantations-51971/
Gov’t-aligned union’s strike quietly ended
Workers at Dongdu Textile in Phnom Penh’s Dangkor district ended a two-week strike yesterday after their bosses agreed to reinstate 11 union leaders and activists fired in January. Chhin Sony, president of the government-aligned Union of Cambodia, said more than 2,000 workers returned to the factory ...
Mom Kunthear
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/gov%E2%80%99t-aligned-union%E2%80%99s-strike-quietly-ended
Cambodia: Bail refused for 21 workers and human rights defenders
The Cambodian government must immediately and unconditionally release the 21 garment workers and human rights defenders who have been detained since early January, FIDH and its member organizations Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association (ADHOC) and Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human ...
FIDH News Staff
http://www.fidh.org/en/asia/cambodia/14627-cambodia-bail-refused-for-21-workers-and-human-rights-defenders
Fears over human rights in Cambodia as crackdown on protests continues
Prak Sovannary tries to put on a brave face. She has just heard that two of 23 men arrested during a violent crackdown on garment worker protests in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, last month have unexpectedly been released on bail.Her husband, Vorn Pao, a prominent activist and union leader, is not ...
Kevin Ponniah
http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2014/feb/11/cambodia-human-rights-crackdown-protests
Workers on strike to demand annual leave, administrator be ousted
Around 1,000 garment workers from a factory producing jeans in Bith Trang Special Economic Zone in Prey Nop district went on strike to protest against administration chief in their factory. They also demanded the annual leave of 18-21 days per years, which were rejected by ...
The Cambodia Herald News Staff
http://thecambodiaherald.com/cambodia/detail/1?page=13&token=MDc5ZDFkY2Q1MzB
Maina Kiai calls on Cambodia government to lift ban on public assemblies
UN Special Rapporteur Maina Kiai has asked the government of Cambodia to lift a ban on public gathering that has been in force for a month. A statement also said Kiai met and raised the issue of the blanket protest ban with Secretary of State for ...
Standard Digital News Staff
http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/?articleID=2000104438&story_title=kiai-calls-on-cambodia-government-to-lift-ban-on-public-assemblies
Fear ‘making bloggers, reporters self-censor’
Cambodian bloggers and journalists often self-censor out of fear that they could face legal or physical threats, the Cambodian Center for Human Rights said in a report on freedom of expression released yesterday. The policy brief, a summary of six roundtable discussions held over the past ...
Kevin Ponniah
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/fear-%E2%80%98making-bloggers-reporters-self-censor%E2%80%99
Adhoc concerned by deaths related to domestic violence
At least 11 people were murdered during domestic disputes or committed suicide after suffering domestic violence in the past two months, local rights group Adhoc said in a statement Monday. Only two perpetrators were charged in these crimes, Adhoc said, highlighting the lack of law enforcement. “Adhoc ...
Denise Hruby and Kuch Naren
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/adhoc-concerned-by-deaths-related-to-domestic-violence-51886/
Sonando sends latest TV license, radio request
Independent radio station owner Mam Sonando filed his latest request with the Information Ministry on Monday, requesting a TV license and a radio relay station to push his popular radio broadcasts farther into the provinces. Mr. Sonando, the owner of Beehive Radio and a longtime government ...
Kuch Naren
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/sonando-sends-latest-tv-license-radio-request-51880/
Unions threaten nationwide strike if 21 prisoners not released
Sixteen unions threatened Monday to organize a nationwide strike if the 21 activists and protesters jailed following garment industry protests on January 2 and 3 are not released on bail Tuesday. The unions also called for charges against the 21 prisoners, 16 of whom began a ...
Mech Dara and Alice Cuddy
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/unions-threaten-nationwide-strike-if-21-prisoners-not-released-51864/
Bail denied for 21 detainees
Defence attorneys will now turn to the Supreme Court after a Court of Appeals judge denied bail this morning for all 21 people still detained from clashes with authorities during garment strike demonstrations last month. The presiding judge said he decided not to allow bail based ...
Sean Teehan and May Titthara
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/bail-denied-21-detainees
Unions, opposition ‘hindering wage talks’
Labour Minister Ith Sam Heng and ministry spokesman Heng Sour yesterday accused unions and the opposition of derailing the government’s efforts at minimum wage reform by striking and stirring up violence for their own political gain. “The government has set up a committee to study the ...
Sen David
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/unions-opposition-%E2%80%98hindering-wage-talks%E2%80%99
Ministry of Labor highlights triumphs in 2013 Annual Report
The Ministry of Labor and Vocational Training released its 2013 annual report Monday, trumpeting a list of nine achievements it had reached in line with its five-year plan for the fourth government mandate, which ended last year. Speaking to a crowd of about 100 officials ...
Matt Blomberg and Ben Sokhean
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/ministry-of-labor-highlights-triumphs-in-2013-annual-report-51872/
Victorian MP Hong Lim urges Australia to push Cambodia over garment worker crackdown
A Victorian MP born in Cambodia says Australia should put pressure on the country of his birth over a crackdown on protesting garment workers which left five people dead. Hong Lim, the Member for Clayton, says he was in Cambodia earlier this month, when five protesting ...
ABC News Staff
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-02-10/an-victorian-mp-hong-lim-wants-more-australian-engagement-with-/5249570
Cambodian activists stage hunger strike
Dozens of protesters called Monday for the release of Cambodian activists arrested during a bloody crackdown last month, as a prison official said several of the detainees were on hunger strike. The brief rally was held outside the Ministry of Justice and the Appeals Court to ...
iAfrica News Staff
http://news.iafrica.com/worldnews/896936.html
Hun Sen warns against attempts to hold Cambodia ‘Hostage’
Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Sen on Monday accused certain groups of trying to hold the nation “hostage,” saying his government was functioning normally despite opposition calls for him to resign and hold fresh elections following disputed polls. His administration has also drawn criticism over its heavy ...
Radio Free Asia News Staff
http://www.rfa.org/english/news/cambodia/warning-02102014190358.html
Not going without a fight
Teng Khorn’s living room is under a tree, his bedroom in a boat hauled up on a slipway for caulking beside the mangroves that lead to his source of income: the sea. His choice of abode is also his act of defiance against the monolithic Chinese ...
May Titthara and David Boyle
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/not-going-without-fight
Supporters of 21 to march to embassies
Activists may find themselves in a showdown with police this morning during a planned vigil on Phnom Penh’s riverside and a march to several embassies. National Military Police spokesman Kheng Tito said yesterday that people supporting the release of 21 people detained during a garment strike ...
Mom Kunthear and Sean Teehan
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/supporters-21-march-embassies