Social development

A surge in land disputes in Cambodia affected more than three times as many families last year as in 2013, a local rights group said Thursday, urging Prime Minister Hun Sen’s government to address the issue with “long-term lasting solutions” instead of making empty promises. Rights ...

A new group of six Montagnards from Vietnam have arrived in northeastern Cambodia’s Ratanakiri province to seek political refuge, as a United Nations team tries to locate and assist other refugees in hiding, a villager who provided shelter to the Montagnards said. The villager, who declined ...

Three of the country’s largest unions on Wednesday added their voices to a global campaign urging member states of the International Labor Organization’s (ILO) Governing Body, which Cambodia recently joined, to not revoke the option to go on strike as a fundamental right. ...

Thailand’s army has asked Cambodia “not to jump [to] the conclusion” that its soldiers were to blame for the deaths of three Cambodian loggers who were shot dead earlier this month while searching for rosewood across the border, according to Thai media. ...

The Kingdom has seen vast improvements in nutrition, general health and mortality rates over the past four years, according to the preliminary results of the fourth Cambodia Demographic and Health Survey (CDHS) released yesterday. ...

Plans to bring the raucous 10-day rave Kazantip to Cambodian shores were in tatters Wednesday as hundreds of Russian revelers showed up at the bridge leading to Koh Puos island to find the way blocked by a 2-meter-high metal barricade. ...

Nearly two-thirds of surveyed survivors of human trafficking in Southeast Asia show symptoms of depression, while another 40 per cent suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, according to a new study. ...

The Ministry of Interior on Wednesday said it was standing by its decision to not renew the visa of outspoken environmental activist Alejandro Gonzalez-Davidson in the face of mounting pressure from fellow activists, NGOs, unions, students and monks—even opposition leader Sam Rainsy—to reverse course. ...

The tiny liver fluke, Opisthorchis viverrini causes damage out of all proportion to its size. Consumed as cysts within raw fish by people in Thailand, Laos and Cambodia, it causes the tropical disease, Opisthorciasis, putting its victims at risk of cancer. Despite affecting millions of ...

US Ambassador William Todd has spoken out about ongoing arrivals of Montagnard asylum seekers from Vietnam, saying that the international community is concerned about their treatment and urging the government to give the fleeing Christian minority unimpeded access to “internationally accepted asylum procedures”. ...

In an unanticipated act of leniency yesterday, Prime Minister Hun Sen established a new committee to deliver pardons to mothers jailed with their children, according to several attendees of the conference where the announcement was made. ...

About 50 of Phnom Penh’s 270 gardeners gathered at the National Assembly and then City Hall on Monday morning to deliver petitions asking for a substantial raise to their modest monthly salaries, threatening to go on strike if they were denied. ...

The appropriate scope of a controversial proposed ban on NGOs “insulting” political parties in election campaigns on Monday continued to divide the CPP and CNRP during talks to amend the nation’s election law, with the negotiating teams deciding to pass the issue on to their ...

The South Korean government will double the number of Cambodian migrant workers who are granted permits to take up employment in the country’s manufacturing, construction and agriculture sectors each year, officials said on Monday. ...

Disgraced anti-sex trafficking activist Somaly Mam’s new charity – which is headed by former staff of her fallen foundation, a Hollywood actress and a PR guru – announced yesterday that it has been given the green light in the US. ...

Opposition CNRP president Sam Rainsy on Monday weighed in on behalf of environmental activist Alex Gonzalez-Davidson, asking the Interior Ministry to reverse a decision to not renew the Spanish national’s visa over a traffic incident from September. ...

Aiming to address a skills mismatch in the Cambodian economy, the government has put a hold on new licences for higher education courses in the fields of business and finance. In response to a growing need for science and engineering skills, as well as trade-qualified workers, ...

Ahead of hosting the SEA Games the country’s Olympic Committee leader is trying to develop more elite female athletes. This means vaulting a culture barrier that currently keeps many parents from allowing their daughters to play sports. ...

As security forces in Ratanakkiri province continued to seek the arrest yesterday of 32 Montagnards hiding there, villagers and a local rights worker said the harsh conditions had taken their toll on two of the asylum seekers. ...

The death toll is increasing in Battambang’s Roka commune, which has been plagued by a massive HIV outbreak, as health officials confirmed yesterday that two more HIV-positive villagers succumbed to illnesses despite undergoing antiretroviral treatment (ART). The two elderly women, aged 74 and 75, died on ...

Having begun life in an overcrowded cell with nowhere to play, little to eat and surrounded by abuse, when Dara* left prison at nearly 4 years old, he had not yet spoken a single word. According to the report, which was released on Saturday, Dara’s ...

As opposition grew yesterday over plans to remove Areng dam activist Alex Gonzalez-Davidson from the country when his visa expires later this week, analysts said the government was hoping to clear the way to develop the valley. ...

Battambang provincial authorities have ordered nine unlicensed doctors to shut down their home-care practices in the province, including six in Sangke district’s Roka commune, where more than 230 residents have tested positive for HIV over the past three months. ...

While it is true that Cambodia has some women in politics and positions of leadership, a new report says they often lack true power. According to the study, issued by USAID in December, women’s positions in leadership are more symbolic than substantive, and their political influence ...