International relations

A meeting at the Ministry of Mines and Energy on Friday about plans for a controversial hydropower dam in Koh Kong province failed to assuage fears among those trying to stop the project that construction had already been approved. During Friday’s meeting, officials from the ministry ...

Human Rights Watch says three draft laws on the verge of approval by the National Assembly, intended to assure the independence of Cambodia’s courts, would do just the opposite, and has called on the government to withdraw them. The Council of Ministers approved the trio of ...

U.N. Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights Flavia Pansieri on Friday wrapped up a five-day mission to Cambodia, saying that she was concerned and “deeply saddened” by the violent beating of bystanders and journalists after a May Day gathering near a cordoned-off Freedom Park. In prepared ...

Amnesty International on Friday lambasted a pending deal that would see people seeking asylum in Australia to be resettled in Cambodia. “Australia should be ending its offshore processing and detention of asylum seekers, not looking to outsource its refugee responsibilities to another, much poorer country,” ...

Cambodia and Mongolia on Friday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the establishment of bilateral consultations, aimed at bolstering bilateral ties and cooperation, a Cambodian official said. The deal was inked between Long Visalo, Secretary of State of the Cambodian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and ...

Tourist buses and commercial vehicle operators crossing over the Cambodia-Vietnam border will soon be required by law to have insurance in both countries or risk being denied entry, a bilateral agreement signed on Tuesday states. In an effort to meet requirements stipulated in the ASEAN 2015 ...

The government has created a one-window information service to help would-be workers avoid illegal migration to Thailand as part of a bilateral agreement with Thailand, Labor Minister Ith Sam Heng said Thursday. The quick-service windows will help make sure Cambodian workers enter Thailand legally by facilitating ...

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Wednesday insisted that the Cambodian government has not turned down any of its recommendations for helping thousands of families hurt by a bank-funded project, claiming that talks over how to compensate and support the families were still underway. Last week, ...

The Ministry of Mines and Energy invited the head of an NGO battling to stop construction of a highly criticized dam in a remote area of Koh Kong province to meet with ministry officials Friday. Signed by Mines Minister Suy Sem and dated April 25, the ...

Refugees who are resettled in Cambodia by the Australian government will be unlikely to gain employment rights, get an education or be given permanent residency, according to a peak international development body. The Australian Council for International Development said Australia had entered “uncharted territory” by resettling ...

The Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Hong said that Cambodia is committed and willing to improve the country’s human rights and democracy record. Namhong said during a meeting yesterday with Ms. Flavia Pansieri, the UN Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights, at Ministry of Foreign Affairs and ...

A Senior Cambodian official has said his country has tentatively agreed to accept asylum-seekers who had been seeking to settle in Australia. Foreign Ministry Secretary of State Ouch Borith told reporters there was an agreement in principle to take the asylum-seekers, who are being held in ...

Tea Banh, deputy prime minister and defense minister of the Kingdom of Cambodia, met with Yu Jianwei, deputy political commissar of the Chinese Armed Police Force (APF), in Phnom Penh on Monday. The two sides exchanged views on issues of enhancing communication and cooperation between ...

The government has agreed to review its resettlement agreement with families relocated from railways as part of an Asian Development Bank (ADB)-funded rehabilitation project, but has refused a recommendation to set up a debt-relief scheme for the evictees, according to an action plan released by ...

At least three Cambodians who have travelled to work as maids in Singapore since August last year as part of a pilot scheme have complained to worker welfare groups there about employer abuse and poor working conditions, including molestation and the slapping of a worker. In ...

Cambodian deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Hor Namhong on Tuesday met with two United Nations senior officials to discuss relations and cooperation between Cambodia and UN on social and economic development and human rights.     The two officials are Haoliang Xu, assistant to the UN secretary ...

The Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) revealed its plans Monday for a Phnom Penh to Ho Chi Minh City expressway that will halve travel time between the two cities. At an estimated cost of $2.2 billion, the initial target date for completion of the expressway is ...

The French Agency for Development (AFD) announced yesterday that it will provide $24 million to finance privately owned water and power providers to supply rural areas that state-run utilities cannot reach. During a ceremony held at the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the AFD and the ...

The U.N.’s deputy high commissioner for human rights, Flavia Pansieri—who is on a week­long mission in Cambodia —has been asked to address an arbitrarily enforced ban on public assemblies, which has been in place since January. In a letter dated Monday, Muth Chantha, secretary-general of the ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen said that Cambodia was eager to have Japanese investors to build factories and produce goods for exports to the world market. The premier made comments during his meeting on Sunday with Tishimitsu Gotegi, Minister of Ministry of Economy, Commerce and Industry of ...

The Association of the Southeast Asian Nations, known as ASEAN, has chosen 2015 as the year to realize its economic integration as the ASEAN Economic Community. Yet, there are only several months left, ASEAN doesn’t seem​ to be ready. How can ASEAN realize this goal? Although ...

Garment and footwear industry, Cambodia’s largest income earner, reported a 16 percent surge in exports in the first three months of 2014, the figures of the Ministry of Commerce showed Monday. The Southeast Asian nation exported apparel and footwear products in equivalent to 1.56 billion U.S. ...

More than 100 Cambodians were deported from Thailand yesterday after Thai security forces conducted operations over the weekend aimed at stemming the flow of illegal immigrants. Net Sary, Cambodia’s consul-general in Thailand’s Sa Kaeo province, said yesterday that 120 Cambodians, including four minors, were deported after ...

A little more than two years after signing off on a scheme aimed at improving protection of the critically endangered Irrawaddy dolphin, experts said last week they were concerned that Mekong dams would see wholesale destruction of the population. During a two-day workshop that closed on ...