Voice of America (VOA)

Cambodian politicians have begun a public campaign to defend their records on land policies, as they prepare for the run-up to July elections. Politicians from the ruling Cambodian People’s Party, as well as the opposition Sam Rainsy and Human Rights parties, have said they will give ...

Phnom Penh authorities have ordered 12 newspaper kiosks to leave a major road in the capital, saying they need them to relocate for 12 months for construction but giving them no other place to go. Owners of the kiosks, which are popular in the sale of ...

With Thailand threatening to oust undocumented workers, Asean must do more as a region to protect its migrant workers, a leading rights advocate says. More and more workers are crossing the borders between Asean countries, and the region looking to lower trade barriers, so workers need ...

Changes in demography and technology have altered the behavior of Cambodian media consumers, with youth increasingly using social media platforms to share news and information. Pen Sophal, a graduate student in media management at Sweden’s Royal Institute of Technology, says print and electronic media outlets in ...

Thailand is warning it will expel 1.5 million illegal workers from the country, a move that could affect around 160,000 Cambodians. Rights workers in Cambodia say the migrant laborers deserve assistance from both Thai and Cambodian authorities to help them work and travel legally. ...

PHNOM PENH – As more and more Cambodians enter the job market, with a growing population of young people, there still remain plenty of job opportunities with foreign investors at home, according to a new study by the Ministry of Labor. But people either don’t ...

PHNOM PENH – Authorities are searching for three missing construction workers at a Chinese hydroelectric dam in Pursat province, after pipes burst there on Saturday, causing a flash flood. One man, who had been fishing nearby and was thought missing, has been found “safe and alive” ...

WASHINGTON DC – Seven opposition lawmakers say they have found new ways to reduce the national debt and are requesting that the National Assembly’s finance committee meet with them before drafting the 2013 national budget. The lawmakers, from the Sam Rainsy and Human Rights parties, say ...

Two land activists from forced evictions in Phnom Penh will not be released on bail as they await trial on incitement charges widely seen as an attack on free speech. The two women, Yorm Bopha and Tim Sak Mony, were arrested in early September and accused ...

Villagers on Tonle Sap Lake in Cambodia, who depend on fishing for subsistence, say their livelihoods are threatened by illegal commercial fishing, which continues after a government ban. And they say authorities in charge of enforcing the ban are being bribed to look the other ...

The Taiwan Cooperative Bank will become the third bank from Taiwan, which has no diplomatic relations with Cambodia under the “one-China” policy. National Bank of Cambodia officials say the bank has been provisionally approved, but that the central bank needs time to look over the fine ...

New European legislation passed last month could help transparency in the extractive industries, by forcing companies to declare payments to foreign governments rich in resources For resource-rich countries like Cambodia, that means much more transparency, she said. More than 95 percent of the world’s major extractive ...

Cambodia’s aromatic variety of jasmine rice was awarded top prize at the Rice Trader World Rice Conference in Bali, Indonesia, last month Cambodia is now seeking to expand its exports of its jasmine rice and other varieties. Ung Chhengsear, a representative of Cambodian rice export company Lor ...

Boeung Kak and Borei Keila villagers embroiled in longstanding land disputes with two private companies in Phnom Penh say the authorities are protecting business interests over the public, as thousands of families lose their homes under forced evictions. This has turned the protesters and government officials ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen has announced that Cambodia’s total land mass is some 300 square kilometers more than historically stated and wants to put the number in the constitution. His announcement is thought to be a response to political opponents and critics who accuse ...

With national elections less than a year away, ruling party officials have begun a publicity campaign to show they are tackling tough issues facing the country, such as border delineation and land grabs, but opposition leaders say the Cambodian People’s Party cannot claim it has ...

Economists and agriculture officials say Cambodia could export 1 million tons of milled rice by 2015, but that depends on improvements in the sector, along with some global factors out of the control of the country’s farmers and millers. Prime Minister Hun Sen has set the ...

Protesters from both neighborhoods gathered in front of the Phnom Penh Court on Wednesday to demand the release of the three. Phnom Penh Municipal Court is holding two more land protesters, following the detention of one woman on Tuesday. The two activists, from the Borei Keila neighborhood, ...

The US-based Human Rights Watch on Tuesday called on the government to release Beehive Radio owner Mam Sonando and drop all secessionist charges against him. Mam Sonando, 70, was arrested Sunday in Phnom Penh and has been charged with crimes related to sedition, for allegedly running ...

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is in Cambodia where she met with Prime Minister Hun Sen to discuss U.S. investment and Cambodia’s outstanding debt. Cambodia wants the United States to forgive more than $400 million in debt accrued by the US-backed military government of Lon ...

As a delegation of US business owners prepares to travel to Cambodia with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, analysts say they will be tough to court, given Cambodia’s lack of law enforcement. “Investors don’t bring guns, they don’t bring bodyguards—they bring money to invest,” said ...

Keo Kounila is Cambodian blogger who recently attend the Deutsche Welle Global Media Forum in Bonn, Germany. After meeting amid some 1,500 participants, she told VOA Khmer she had garnered new ideas to help develop Cambodia, including organizing seminars to help university students make better use ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen has denied media reports he violated his own ban on economic land concessions, saying he only signed contracts that had been agreed upon prior to his decision. Local media have reported in recent days Hun Sen’s signature on multiple land concessions ...

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 ...