Social development

The U.S. State Department released its 39th annual human rights report on Friday, reviewing abuses against the citizens of 199 countries and painting a forensic picture of the shortcomings of the Cambodian government’s efforts to protect the rights of its population. Under the heading “Arbitrary or ...

An intensified campaign of religious and political persecution of Montagnards by security forces in Vietnam is responsible for more than 150 of the group fleeing to Cambodia, while authorities in both countries are working together to track down asylum seekers crossing the border, Human Rights ...

After last year’s crackdown on high school exit-exam cheats, the number of students who have registered to take the exam this August has dipped, but with new monitoring initiatives in place, education officials said they are optimistic the pass rate will increase. The 88,488 candidates planning ...

“Roasting”—a Cambodian tradition that sees new mothers lie on beds over a fire for several days in the belief it will scare off evil spirits and warm the body after giving birth—is one of many dangerous but deeply rooted practices that midwives and health practitioners ...

An interministerial committee has been established to once again investigate the assassinations of Free Trade Union leaders Chea Vichea, Hy Vuthy and Ros Sovannareth between 2004 and 2007, according to a government decree obtained Thursday. ...

The director of a Phnom Penh children’s NGO arrested over allegations of abuse was released from police custody on Wednesday due to a lack of evidence, police said yesterday. ...

Three activists from the environmental NGO Mother Nature and a human rights monitor were detained in Phnom Penh’s Chamkar Mon district for about three hours Thursday after City Hall deemed a planned march to the National Assembly illegal. ...

Three environmentalists and a rights worker were detained yesterday for more than two hours and blocked from delivering a petition to the National Assembly calling on the government to order sand-dredging operations in Koh Kong province to cease. ...

Authorities in Cambodia on Thursday briefly detained three activists who protested in front of parliament, and a local rights group official who monitored the demonstration, calling on the government to stop a Vietnamese sand dredging company from polluting the environment in Koh Kong province. ...

As Cambodia seeks greater integration with regional and global economies, a language expert warns against overreliance on foreign identity and language. Chan Virak, a doctorate student in culture, literacy and language at the University of Texas at San Antonio, says Cambodia should invest in its own ...

Suy Channe, at 34 years of age, is becoming a familiar face in Cambodia’s IT sector as a female coder and regional leader at Innovation Lab SEA (InSTEDD). ...

Thailand will give its full cooperation to ASEAN nations to prevent the spread of the deadly Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) virus in the region, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said yesterday. ...

Four children were removed yesterday from Bethel Children’s Home of Cambodia and the centre’s director was arrested in Chhbar Ampov following a complaint alleging child abuse and neglect, including forced labour and sexually inappropriate conduct.​ ...

In an effort to demonstrate government measures to prevent the potentially fatal Middle East respiratory syndrome from entering Cambodia—days after the disease was found in Thailand—the health minister showcased machines that detect people’s body temperature at Phnom Penh International Airport on Tuesday. ...

A group of 300 pro-democracy and rights organizations and their supporters delivered a petition to the National Assembly on Tuesday, calling for lawmakers to reject a draft law to regulate NGOs. ...

More than 100 men, women and children rounded up from Phnom Penh’s streets last week remained in detention yesterday at the notorious Prey Speu Social Affairs Centre, with orders from City Hall to keep them there indefinitely. The detainees – who authorities say are either homeless, ...

Three Chinese nationals were jailed by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Monday for attempting to smuggle four teenage Cambodian girls to China, while the sentences of two Cambodians involved in the trafficking operation were reduced to time served. ...

Human Rights Watch says the World Bank is not doing enough to help people in Cambodia and elsewhere who are facing government harassment for speaking out against Bank-funded projects gone bad. ...

Authorities in Ratanakkiri province are struggling to find a plot of land that could safely house an accused sorcerer who has been held in protective custody at a district police station for the past two months. Forty-eight-year-old ethnic Jarai Rocham Kin fled his home in the ...

Sixteen international human rights groups on Monday urged Cambodia to withdraw a proposed law they fear will muzzle government critics and severely restrict the activities of non-governmental organisations. The law would require Cambodia’s 5,000 domestic and international NGOs to report their activities and finances to the ...

Opposition leader Sam Rainsy says his party will do its best to prevent the passage of a controversial draft law to regulate NGOs. Chheang Von, a lawmaker for the ruling Cambodian People’s Party and the National Assembly’s spokesman, said Sam Rainsy was only making promises ...

Following the first case of the potentially deadly Middle East respiratory syndrome being confirmed in Thailand on Thursday, government officials in Cambodia said entry points into the country were already equipped to prevent the disease from spreading here. ...

More than a dozen international advocacy groups wrote to National Assembly President Heng Samrin asking him to withdraw a controversial draft law on NGOs and associations. ...

After spending five days hiding out in the forest in Ratanakkiri province, two teenage Montagnard asylum seekers made their way to Phnom Penh on Friday where they joined more than 100 others waiting to be registered. ...