Labor

Eight young girls were placed in the care of the Social Affairs Ministry on Thursday after Thai authorities found them begging and selling flowers in Thailand and sent them back to Cambodia, according to the ministry. ...

A suspected bride broker was arrested on Wednesday for allegedly tricking three Cambodian women into marrying men in China, according to a report filed by Phnom Penh police. ...

Responding to criticism of the eighteen-month jail terms handed down to four unionists who blocked a road at a strike in Svay Rieng province last year, a deputy prosecutor said Wednesday that their actions were as severe as those of former Bavet City governor Chhouk ...

Human rights NGO Amnesty International on Tuesday voted to adopt a policy to “protect the human rights of sex workers”, notably putting forward suggestions to decriminalise the consensual sex trade while safeguarding sex workers from possible exploitation. ...

Cambodia’s garment factories have indicated they will reject demands for an increase in the minimum wage next year, angering unions and risking upheaval in a crucial economic sector for years dogged by unrest. ...

A group of 55 drivers who briefly went on strike last month settled their dispute with the Royal Cambodian Limousine Service over unpaid overtime wages on Monday, agreeing to accept between $600 and $700 per driver, according to a representative of the drivers. Chhay Buntha, ...

Six Cambodian women rescued from allegedly abusive conditions in China and Malaysia were returned home yesterday after the Ministry of Foreign Affairs intervened in their cases, officials said. ...

A majority of members of the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia, which represents the country’s more than 500 exporting garment factories, have voted against any raise to their workers’ minimum wage next year. ...

As Chhouk Bandith yesterday began his 18-month jail term, union leaders praised the arrest of the former Bavet town governor who shot into a crowd of striking garment workers in 2012, though most saw in it no hint of a warming in relations between the ...

About 200 people gathered in Phnom Penh’s Russey Keo district on Sunday demanding the release of two women who were arrested last week for allegedly chaining up their 13-year-old niece and selling her for sex. ...

The families of six Cambodian migrant workers arrested in Thailand for crossing illegally into the country two months ago have appealed to Cambodian authorities to intervene after being informed they need to raise 8,000 baht ($230) per head to bail them out. ...

Union leaders will send yet another request to the Ministry of Labor this week to call for changes to a contentious draft law that critics fear will take power away from labor organizations and benefit factories in Cambodia’s largest industry. ...

Fear of social reprisal may be causing Phnom Penh’s sex workers to seek abortions in the privacy of unregistered private clinics or at home. ...

Sixteen undocumented Vietnamese migrants were arrested yesterday at a construction site in Preah Vihear, the latest in a spate of arrests of workers without papers. This summer has seen a spike in arrests, fines, and deportations of expat workers – with police saying that more ...

A new three-year, U.S.-funded project to promote labor rights was launched Thursday afternoon at Cambodia’s independent labor dispute resolution body in Phnom Penh. ...

Staff of Anco Brother beer company, owed by a senator of the ruling Cambodian People’s Party, barred labor officials from entering the company Wednesday, as workers staged a demonstration outside. ...

The Garment Manufacturers Association of Cambodia says it will push for revisions made on the draft trade union law last week to be changed.During a meeting on July 28, the Ministry of Labour said it had revised a number of provisions in the law, which ...

A group of beer promoters plan to stage a demonstration Wednesday to demand payment for eight women who were fired by a beer company owned by a ruling party senator. ...

More than 40 Capitol Tours bus drivers who were ordered by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Friday to end a nearly two-weeklong strike are refusing to sign a company letter agreeing to new employment conditions. ...

The Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia on Monday urged unions to moderate their demands in current negotiations over next year’s minimum wage for the garment industry, given the low productivity of Cambodian workers and their many paid days off compared with competing countries. ...

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has asked the country’s ambassador to Malaysia, Princess Norodom Arunrasmey, to investigate reports that hundreds of Cambodian migrant workers have been jailed in the country’s Selangor state. ...

Starting in August, the Labor Ministry plans to focus its work permit crackdown on “Western companies.” ...

The Department of Employment (DOE) will allow foreign ship workers to apply as technicians, in a move to deal labor shortages in the fishing industry. ...

Cambodia remains on a watch list at the US State Department, for failing to do enough to combat human trafficking. In its annual Trafficking in Persons report, the State Department kept Cambodia a “tier 2” country. ...