Government
Gov’t called on to save forests
Villagers from forest communities in nine provinces called on the government yesterday to take action after alleging that “the rich and powerful” are causing the “serious destruction” of their livelihoods. The villagers, with the support of two NGOs – the Children’s Development Association and Community Peace-Building ...
Phak Seangly
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/gov%E2%80%99t-called-save-forests
Rights group says US military support breaches Congress bill
U.S.-based advocacy group Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Tuesday released a report claiming that Washington’s ongoing support for Cambodian security forces is inconsistent with U.S. Congress directives regarding aid to Cambodia. HRW charges that last month’s 10-day Angkor Sentinel military exercise, undertaken by members of the ...
Matt Blomberg
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/rights-group-says-us-military-support-breaches-congress-bill-59227/
Union leader details beating by soldiers
Taking the stand for the first time since his arrest at a garment worker protest that turned violent in early January, union leader Vorn Pao told the Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Tuesday that he went to the protest only to make peace and was ...
Eang Mengleng and Khy Sovuthy
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/union-leader-details-beating-by-soldiers-59221/
Defendants cut off as 23’s trial goes on
When union leader Vorn Pov was finally allowed to give testimony yesterday on the third day of the trial of 23 men arrested during a garment strike in January, he found himself cut off by an attorney ordering him to answer only the exact question ...
May Titthara, Buth Reaksmey Kongkea and Sean Teehan
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/defendants-cut-23%E2%80%99s-trial-goes
Future unclear for dormant health center
Nearly three years after it was shut down for supposed renovations, Phnom Penh’s Chamkar Mon Referral Hospital is still not operational and former staff say they have been left out in the cold about what will happen to the site. Commune, district, municipal and national health ...
Khuon Narim
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/future-unclear-for-dormant-health-center-59231/
Three provincial police chiefs shuffle jobs
Three provincial police chiefs will move into different jobs over the next three days due to their retirement or election to council positions, a police official said Tuesday. Kompong Chhnang provincial police chief Brigadier General Ath Khem will be replaced by his deputy, Brigadier General Prak ...
Saing Soenthrith
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/three-provincial-police-chiefs-shuffle-jobs-59237/
As Oz proposal nears, opposition mounting
Opposition to Australia’s proposal to send refugees to Cambodia is growing, with the Australian Greens’ immigration spokeswoman yesterday saying the party would try to block it in the Senate. Sarah Hanson-Young told The Sydney Morning Herald that Cambodia would be “a fundamentally unacceptable place for Australia to dump ...
Cheang Sokha
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/oz-proposal-nears-opposition-mounting
Transparency group to launch anti-graft app
Transparency International Cambodia (T.I.) will next week launch an app for smartphones that allows users to log instances of bribery with the advocacy group. Bribespot, the work of a team of German computer programmers, will encourage users to share details of corrupt activity in real time, ...
Matt Blomberg and Kuch Naren
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/transparency-group-to-launch-anti-graft-app-59242/
Australian media cite Hun Sen Facebook page on refugee deal
A post on a Facebook page that Prime Minister Hun Sen has denied is his own was cited Tuesday by both the Sydney Morning Herald and Australia’s national broadcaster as having officially announced the Cambodian government’s agreement to resettle asylum seekers held by Australia. Mr. Hun ...
Alex Willemyns and Kuch Naren
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/australian-media-cite-hun-sen-facebook-page-on-refugee-deal-59229/
Minister to address beatings
Minister of Information Khieu Kanharith has pledged to meet with Daun Penh District Governor Sok Sambath to discuss the targeting of journalists by hired district security guards, said UNESCO country representative Anne Lemaistre, who met with the minister on Friday. The minister is also keen on ...
Kevin Ponniah and Mom Kunthear
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/minister-address-beatings
Some 2,000 Chinese flee Vietnam to Cambodia: Cambodian deputy PM
Approximately 2,000 Chinese businesspeople and tourists have crossed the Vietnamese border into Cambodia these days to escape anti-China riots in Vietnam, a senior Cambodian official said Tuesday. “Some 2,000 Chinese nationals have fled Vietnam to Cambodia,” Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Sar Kheng told reporters. ...
Xinhuanet News Staff
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/china/2014-05/20/c_133348158.htm
Cambodia sees rise of Asean tourists in Q1
Cambodia received 424,300 visitors from Asean countries in the first quarter of the year, up 4 per cent year-on-year. Data from the Tourism Ministry showed tourist arrivals from Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) accounted for 33 per cent of 1.27 million overseas arrivals from January ...
Bernama News Staff
http://www.bernama.com.my/bernama/v7/wn/newsworld.php?id=1039613
Greens will try to force Senate vote on plans to settle refugees in Cambodia
The Greens will attempt to force a vote in the Senate on plans to resettle in Cambodia refugees whose claims for protection are recognised on Nauru and is challenging Labor to block any deal. The party’s immigration spokesperson, Sarah Hanson-Young, is confident any deal with the ...
Cambodia opposition, ruling party to resume talks
Cambodia’s ruling and opposition parties are preparing to resume negotiations aimed at ending the country’s political crisis following a hiatus for local council elections, party officials said Tuesday. Cambodia’s opposition leader Sam Rainsy said he had contacted Interior Minister Sar Kheng, the top negotiator for Prime ...
Rachel Vandenbrink
http://www.rfa.org/english/news/cambodia/talks-05202014170548.html
Sar Kheng: Japan may help to break the political deadlock
Acting Prime Minister and Interior Minister Sar Kheng hopes that Japan can help the two winning parties CPP and CNRP to break the political deadlock as a Japanese team of experts are visiting Cambodia to study the needs of election reforms. ...
The Cambodia Herald News Staff
http://thecambodiaherald.com/cambodia/detail/1?page=11&token=ZjJkYThjNDkyYjZ
Cambodia's PM Hun Sen confirms controversial agreement to resettle refugees from Australia
Cambodia’s strongman Prime Minister Hun Sen has confirmed his impoverished country will accept refugees from Australia in a controversial agreement condemned by human rights and refugee advocates. In his first public comments on the agreement, Mr Hun Sen said Cambodia will be “heart-felt and generous towards ...
Interview: CICA summit in Shanghai vital to building regional peace, security, stability--Cambodian experts
he upcoming 4th Summit of Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) in Shanghai, China is crucial to building trust, peace, security and stability in Asia, Cambodian experts said. “The conference is vital to building mutual confidence and closer partnerships among countries in ...
Xinhuanet News Staff
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/china/2014-05/20/c_133348417.htm
Benefits for teachers? Not yet
The government has a response to teachers’ request for health insurance: We’ll provide it if you buy it. At a meeting in Takeo province this past weekend, the Cambodian Independent Teachers’ Association (CITA) said an upcoming teacher strike would include health insurance on the list of ...
Laignee Barron and Mom Kunthear
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/benefits-teachers-not-yet
Exports to Japan see a big jump
Cambodia’s exports to Japan increased sharply by 39 per cent over the first three months of 2014 compared to the same period last year, according to data from the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO). Total exports reached more than $178 million at the end of March, ...
May Kunmakara
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/exports-japan-see-big-jump
Land fight in Kampong Speu
Some 250 families in Kampong Speu province’s Phnom Sruoch district have sought intervention from rights group Adhoc to help resolve a land dispute involving a business they allege is headed by the son of former provincial governor Kang Heang. Families from three villages say Heang, who ...
May Titthara
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/land-fight-kampong-speu
Fight to save B’bang heritage finds new allies
When an old building formerly owned by the state was demolished on the outskirts of Battambang City in February, for some, it was the last straw. The giant, freestanding colonial-era mansion with the round windows, the blue shutters and the cracking yellow paint had become one ...
Matt Blomberg and Sek Odom
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/fight-to-save-bbang-heritage-finds-new-allies-59105/
Talk of betrayal as CNRP loses council race in Prey Veng
Anyone passing through Prey Doeum Thnoeng could be forgiven for pinning the tidy little village for a stronghold of the ruling CPP. Just about every second house along the red dirt road through town sports a bright blue banner with a checkmark next to the ...
Zsombor Peter and Hul Reaksmey
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/talk-of-betrayal-as-cnrp-loses-race-in-prey-veng-58973/
Five months on, witnesses recall Muon Sokmean’s beating
Muon Sokmean, a 29-year-old garment worker, scrambled off Veng Sreng Street on January 3 with military police in violent pursuit, brandishing their batons. What had been a militant protest for a $160 minimum wage in the garment sector—with many protesters lobbing rocks and crude Molotov cocktails ...
Mech Dara and Alex Consiglio
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/five-months-on-witnesses-recall-muon-sokmeans-beating-59115/
No criminal charges against hit-and-run officer
Police said Sunday that they will not pursue charges against Ek Sovannara—the son of a former Kandal provincial police chief—whose Lexus SUV on April 12 crashed into a motorbike carrying three men, killing one and causing the other two to have their left legs amputated. The ...
Aun Pheap
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/no-criminal-charges-against-hit-and-run-officer-58992/