Government

Opposition party defector Van Sam Oeun yesterday slammed reports that his recent move to the ruling Cambodian People’s Party was due to alleged bankruptcy and that he had been “bought” by Prime Minister Hun Sen. ...

Thousands of garment workers at one Phnom Penh factory, and about 100 more at another, protested Thursday over the new minimum wage set for the garment sector late last year, upset that those already earning higher salaries were overlooked. ...

Military police in Takeo province last night arrested a military general and close aide of ousted Phnom Penh Municipal Court director Ang Mealaktei, who was officially removed from his position Wednesday amid allegations of vast corruption. ...

The Ministry of Education will ask government schools to provide information on toilet numbers, fresh water supply and vegetable gardens as part of efforts to tackle poor sanitation and nutrition discouraging students from attending class. ...

Almost 450 people were rounded up from the capital’s streets last year and sent to the notorious Prey Speu social affairs centre, where in November a man died after being denied medical treatment, according to an annual report from Phnom Penh’s Social Affairs Department. ...

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. ...

Local officials in Ratanakkiri province are actively preventing a team of U.N. workers in the area from making any attempt to reach nearly 40 Montagnard asylum seekers now hiding in the province. ...

Three female garment workers who were shot by former Bavet town governor Chhouk Bandith during a February 2012 factory demonstration called on the government yesterday to imprison the former politician, who has been on the run for three years as of today. ...

In the highest-profile sacking since Prime Minister Hun Sen promised to rid the government of corruption after the CPP’s shock losses in the July 2013 election, the Phnom Penh Municipal Court’s chief judge was removed this week amid claims that millions of dollars had reversed ...

A parliamentary committee will look into allegations of illegal logging and timber exports, where big money and deep corruption have led to conflict, deforestation and tax fraud. Opposition lawmaker Ho Vann, who leads the National Assembly committee, told VOA Khmer he is looking into evidence and ...

The leaders of Japan and five Southeast Asian countries along the Mekong River plan to craft a new strategy in July for Tokyo to contribute to sustainable development of the Mekong region beyond 2015, a senior Japanese official said Thursday. “Taking this opportunity from this ...

Newly released satellite images show a dramatic expansion in China’s construction of artificial islands on disputed South China Sea reefs, the Asian Wall Street Journal reported Thursday. The report said the expansion was “intensifying concerns about Beijing’s territorial ambitions.” ...

On Thursday, at Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, while Cambodia’s Foreign Minister Hor Namhong met with US Ambassador to Cambodia, William E. Todd, reporters and photographers were banned from covering the meeting without any explanation. ...

A woman lured into marriage in China and a group of men forced to work on a Thai fishing boat in Indonesia are the latest Cambodians rescued after being trafficked abroad. ...

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. ...

Former Phnom Penh Municipal Court director Ang Mealaktei, who was ousted Tuesday amid claims of corruption at the court, was granted a new position in the Ministry of Justice during the ceremony to replace him on Wednesday. ...

The Labor Ministry official in charge of garment factory faintings declared Wednesday’s reopening of a Svay Rieng province factory—where 100 workers fainted in the past week due to chemical fumes—a relative success, with only three more women collapsing while working. ...

A senior Phnom Penh Municipal Court official has been accused of threatening a Singaporean businessman in an attempt to pressure him into confessing to a crime he did not commit. ...

More than 100 unofficial lenders have flooded into the National Bank of Cambodia seeking formal registration after the authorities announced a crackdown earlier this month on unrecognised operators. In a joint declaration from the Ministry of Economy and Finance and the NBC on February 2, officials ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen has formed a 20-person committee to plan a sprawling memorial in Phnom Penh’s Chroy Changva district to ensure that his legacy is preserved for generations to come, according to a government order and officials on the committee. ...

Indonesian authorities on Wednesday rescued 17 Cambodian migrants enslaved aboard two Thai vessels illegally fishing the archipelago nation’s waters, according to a statement issued by Cambodia’s Foreign Ministry on Wednesday. ...

Parliament’s Human Rights Commission has asked the Ministry of Justice to suspend a court verdict that could see 20 Koh Kong families, who are holding out against giant Chinese firm Union Development Group, lose their homes. ...

A woman lured into marriage in China and a group of men forced to work on a Thai fishing boat in Indonesia are the latest Cambodians rescued after being trafficked abroad. ...

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. ...