News

Cambodia has signed off on a draft agreement that would lift a moratorium on sending maids to Malaysia, imposed four years ago amid widespread reports of abuse, and is waiting for the Malaysian government’s approval, a Labor Ministry official said Tuesday. ...

The Stung Treng Provincial Court on Tuesday charged a 25-year-old man with illegal fishing after he allegedly used a grenade to kill fish in a protected stretch of the Mekong River in Thala Barivat district. ...

Following last month’s release of 16 incarcerated women, the government has assembled a team of experts to continue releasing women who are pregnant or have recently given birth. ...

A series of land disputes have shook a pair of communities in Preah Vihear province, resulting in violent scuffles and tense standoffs between government actors and members of the Kuoy ethnic minority. In Rovieng district, more than 140 families living in the Boeung Tonle Mrech community, ...

Sitting in Geneva before a panel of international experts chosen by the UN, Cambodian delegates yesterday did their best to dodge a series of pointed questions regarding the Kingdom’s adherence to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). Phrases such as “I don’t know ...

Officials backed by a small detachment of gendarmerie seconded from the National Military Police are preparing for potentially violent confrontations with security forces employed by illegal mining companies, an official said yesterday. Meng Saktheara, a secretary of state at the Ministry of Mines and Energy, yesterday ...

The Cambodian government is aiming to increase its revenue collection to $3.78 billion for 2015, on the back of strong tax and customs income. A directive signed by Monaster of Economy and Finance Aun Porn Moniroth on Monday says $2.75 billion will be collected via current ...

About 100 villagers from Boeng Chhouk village in Phnom Penh’s Russei Keo district blocked officials and workers on Tuesday from bringing in heavy machinery to begin work on a road expansion that would destroy some of their homes.   ...

About 150 ethnic Kuoy in Preah Vihear province on Tuesday prevented police and a court prosecutor from taking back a pair of bulldozers the villagers seized last year from a Chinese-owned plantation they accuse of encroaching on their farms. ...

A deminer was killed instantly when an anti-personnel mine exploded on Tuesday while he was clearing a field in Pailin province’s Sala Krao district, officials said. ...

Minor political parties have come out swinging at the ruling and opposition political parties for overhauling the election system on a bi-party basis. Two election-related laws that the National Assembly is expected to pass later this week have been negotiated for months solely by the CPP ...

National Police Commissioner Neth Savoeun on Tuesday called on Phnom Penh’s police forces to increase arrest rates in the city to 75 percent of reported crimes and also asked municipal judges to grant bail less frequently.​ . ...

The Ministry of Environment is close to finalising a draft environmental impact analysis (EIA) law for development projects, but NGOs and civil society groups raised concerns that the draft law, as it stands, prevents indigenous people who live on the land from opposing such projects. Speaking ...

Vietnam has agreed to join Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia in a regional trading network aimed at shoring up rubber prices. Thailand has lobbied other rubber-producing countries in the region, including Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar, to form the council. Officials are expected to meet on April ...

Criticism of two draft laws aimed at reforming Cambodia’s electoral system continues to grow. On Tuesday, Human Rights Watch issued a statement saying the draft laws “violate basic human rights and democratic norms and should be substantially revised before being presented to the National Assembly for ...

First Lady Michelle Obama embarks on a five-day Asia trip Wednesday to launch the Obama Administration’s initiative “Let Girls Learn,” promoting the education of millions of girls worldwide. Ahead of her stops in Japan and Cambodia, Obama and her husband said the inability of an ...

Two soldiers in northwest Cambodia’s Battambang province fired assault rifles at two local forestry officials on Friday after the officials reported them to a local opposition party lawmaker for illegal fishing. ...

Italy’s Ministry of Economy and Finance has confirmed the country’s intention to become a member of the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), despite pressure from the US on its western allies not to join. ...

Representatives of 163 families from Phnom Penh’s Sen Sok district submitted a request to the Agriculture Ministry on Monday to meet with Minister Ouk Rabun over his request that the Phnom Penh Municipal Court delay the allocation of nearly a hectare of land the families ...

The Ministry of Justice has established a working group to examine a draft extradition treaty with Russia, the latest step in a process that could ultimately see prominent fugitives deported, a ministry spokesman said yesterday. ...

CNRP Vice President Kem Sokha said in a speech in the U.S. last week that he was unhappy with the opposition party’s decision to end its boycott of the National Assembly last year but was prepared to “swallow gravel and rocks” to maintain unity with ...

Following a directive by Permanent Deputy Prime Minister Keat Chhon to the Ministry of Public Works and Transportation to improve their monitoring of overloaded vehicles, a ministry official said they will build more vehicle scales. ...

The Cambodian government will introduce a food-safety law later this year that would see the Kingdom adopt a set of national food safety standards and ensure greater coordination across ministries, according to a health official. Aing Hoksrun, chief of the food bureau at the Department of ...

Capital police yesterday revealed the identities of five men who had allegedly been posing as Flying Tigers – an elite Ministry of Interior rapid-response unit – and extorting money from victims who believed they were in danger of being jailed. ...