Social development
Borei Keila evictees turn to Clinton
As the ASEAN summit turns Phnom Penh into a buzz of diplomatic activity, the chance to send a well-timed message has not been lost on the local community. Fifteen representatives of the evicted families of Borei Keila yesterday filed a petition asking US Secretary of State ...
The Kingdom's stubborn problem with food security
While Cambodia has made remarkable gains economically over the past decade and more-the Kingdom’s poverty level fell from 47 percent in 1994 to 25 percent this year-there are still some stubborn areas of underperformance. One is the issue of food security. While in recent years, the country has largely been able to produce ...
45th ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting kicks off
The 45th ASEAN Foreign Ministers Meeting (AMM) kicked off in Phnom Penh on Monday, focusing on politics, security, food and energy security, economics and culture in order to further advance the bloc’s cooperation toward a community by 2015. Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Sen said thatafter 45 years, ...
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/world/2012-07/09/content_15561089.htm
Asean to Release 'Elements' of Rights Accord
The Foreign Affairs Ministry yesterday said Asean would not postpone its plans to approve a controversial human rights declaration for the region by November, and would publicize only “key provisions” of the draft beforehand. Disappointed by the lack of openness and concerned that the declaration will ...
‘Secessionists’ no-show event
A Friday press conference meant to be an act of defiance and a call for justice from the so-called Kratie “secessionists” was conspicuously short on both, as two accused secessionists failed to appear as promised to demand that the government present credible evidence against them. Instead, ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012070957296/National-news/kratie-secessionists-no-show.html
NGOs feel ignored by ASEAN rights council
Despite renewed criticism from civil society and a call for its drafting to be postponed, finalisation of the ASEAN Human Rights Declaration (AHRD) was well under way, officials said yesterday at the beginning of a week of ASEAN meetings. Speaking to reporters after a meeting between ...
Borei Keila evictees plead case
Homeless Borei Keila evictees who have been living in tents surrounded by garbage since authorities bulldozed their homes in January pleaded outside Phnom Penh Municipal Hall for housing yesterday. Representative Chhay Kimhorn said the families could no longer stand living in tents and stairwells infested with ...
Tales of ‘blood-stained’ sugar
The European Union should immediately remove trade preferences it gives to Cambodian sugar companies accused of human-rights violations including land grabs, representatives of the affected communities told a press conference in Phnom Penh yesterday. Community representatives from Koh Kong, Kampong Speu and Oddar Meanchey provinces said ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012070457189/National-news/tales-of-blood-stained-sugar.html
Phnom Penh Asean Meeting Braced for More S China Sea Talks
A dispute over territory in the South China Sea is once again set to hang over talks when China and the U.S. join in on a week of high-level Asean meetings that start in Phnom Penh on Friday. So far, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has ...
Accused secessionists to testify
Two more of the five accused secessionists from Kratie province’s Pro Ma village turned themselves in on Friday, Ministry of Interior officials said, just days after Hun Sen declared that he would drop charges against them if they testified against the plot’s masterminds. [Bun] Ratha ...
Court frees 13 Cambodian land eviction protesters
An appeals court Wednesday ordered the release of 13 women who were jailed for protesting being evicted from their homes without adequate compensation, in a case that had critics had highlighted as an example of injustice. The women cheered in the courtroom, their supporters applauded and ...
Judgment day for B Kak 13
Thirteen Boeung Kak lake women who were sentenced to two and a half years in jail on Thursday following a lawyer-free trial that lasted just three hours will appeal their convictions, their distraught supporters said yesterday. As the reality of the trial, which rights groups have ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012052856427/National-news/boeung-kak-13-to-appeal.html
Radio Station Owner Implicated in 'Secessionist' Movement
Prime Minister Hun Sen yesterday implicated Mam Sonando, owner of the independent Beehive Radio station, in an alleged secessionist movement in Kratie province and announced the government’s intentions to arrest him. “Now, we compete with the ringleader of the Democrats Association, which created the state ...
Prisoners 'utilised' in violent eviction
Twenty convicts in Preah Sihanouk Provincial Prison were employed by military and local authorities to tear apart a nearby village on land slated for a second prison compound, villagers and rights groups alleged yesterday. However, prison authorities denied that any incarcerated people were involved in the ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012062557001/National-news/prisoners-in-eviction.html
Maid’s Death Believed Linked to Abuse
A Cambodian maid who recently returned home from work in Malaysia fell ill and died over the weekend, highlighting ongoing concerns over the treatment of impoverished Southeast Asian women who seek work abroad but are often abused by their employers. Kuy Lyda, 17, died at a ...
Sok Serey
http://www.rfa.org/english/news/cambodia/maid-06252012155226.html
ILO Releases its Report in World Day Against Child Labor
During the celebration of world day against child labor, ILO also released its message about the situation of child labor in Cambodia. June 12th is a very important day for all of us, ILO said, adding that we recognize efforts made to promote children’s rights for the children of this country, and share ...
The Southeast Asia Weekly, P. 10
http://thesoutheastasiaweekly.com/
Two Draft laws of communications
Cambodia also is preparing draft laws on cyber and radio-communication restrictions which will manage the wave of radio frequencies. These bills also strengthen social safety, security and national defense. ...
Despite Maid Abuses, Cambodia Retains Trafficking Ranking
Cambodia held on to its Tier 2 ranking for the third straight year in the U.S. State Depart- ments latest global Trafficking in Persons Report, which praised the country for a rise in prosecutions, but criticized the country over a new sub-decree on migrant labor. In ...
Global death toll of environmental activists rising, report says
In April, Chut Wutty was shot to death in the Cambodian forests he was so outspoken in defending, a slaying that outraged human rights activists suspicious of the conflicting explanations given by police. His death appears to be part of a chilling trend. Growing numbers of activists ...
NGOs Criticize Flouted Land Grant Ban
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen has given approval to grant state-owned land to three private companies despite issuing a temporary ban on land concessions, drawing criticism from local NGOs concerned about increasingly frequent land disputes in the country. Copies of three subdecrees obtained by RFA showed ...
http://www.rfa.org/english/news/cambodia/land-concessions-06202012182023.html
Women slow to climb Cambodia's market
Women’s economic roles in Cambodia have made slower progress than in many other countries in the Asia-Pacific region, World Bank economists said yesterday. The region as a whole has seen tremendous gains in the way of gender equality during the past 20 years, but increasing wages ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012061956865/Business/women-not-on-top-in-market.html
Boeung Kak 13 Vow To Continue Demonstrations
Thirteen Boeung Kak protesters released from jail Wednesday say they will continue their demonstrations until they obtain more land on a real estate development in the capital. Representatives wasted no time in meeting after their release from prison following a decision by the Appeals Court Wednesday. “The ...
Less Power for Cambodian Women, Report Says
Cambodian women have fewer opportunities than men, and less access to economic and political positions of power, a World Bank report says. Women in Cambodiado have more economic access and business ownership than in some Western countries, but they have less power in family ...
http://www.voanews.com/khmer-english/news/Less-Power-for-Cambodian-Women-Report-Says-159439985.html
Cambodia Nothing To Fear From Openness And Competitions: Trade Minister
Cambodia so far has not feared for creating ASEAN economic community 2015 and deeper ASEAN and East Asia regional integration as the region will have free flow of goods, worker mobilization, finance and investment,” trade minister Cham Prasidh said on June 12. His announcement was made during the workshop of ASEAN economic community 2015. “We ...