About 50 villagers in Kandal province protested yesterday in an attempt to halt the activities of a Vietnamese sand-dredging company, which they said has caused a huge swath of their land to slide into the Mekong River. Residents of Kien Svay district’s Koh Prak village said lass='cambodia-color'>...

Villagers living in raised houses on the capital’s Boeung Tumpun lake fear their eviction is on the horizon as sand pumping increases at the site, they said yesterday. In recent months, heavy machinery has been at work at the Boeung Tumpun site. Sand pumping has lass='cambodia-color'>...

Despite the recent spate of high-profile arrests and deportations, analysts, attorneys and civil society groups are divided on whether the Kingdom is finally beginning to live down its reputation as a haven for the fugitives and criminals who have long been drawn to the country lass='cambodia-color'>...

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 lass='cambodia-color'>...

About 100 residents embroiled in land disputes in Phnom Penh submitted a petition to the U.S. Embassy yesterday requesting that President Barack Obama raise the issue of evictions and reform of the country’s land concession policy when he visits Cambodia later this month. The plea comes lass='cambodia-color'>...

The convicted ringleader of a so-called secessionist movement in May in Kratie province, who is currently in self-imposed exile to avoid a 30-year prison sentence, has said that he will soon return to Cambodia to organize a large-scale demonstration against the government. Bun Ratha—who was sentenced lass='cambodia-color'>...

Garment worker Ba Chhorvorn stands in the sweltering heat inside the small concrete brick room she calls home in Kandal province. Across the road is her workplace, a supplier to levi’s and Gap, which her boss describes as the “five-star hotel of garment factories”. Worlds apart but lass='cambodia-color'>...

Representatives of 44 families embroiled in a violent land dispute in Banteay Meanchey province say they are living like squatters and haven’t been granted long-promised property in the area. Kao Ty, a defence lawyer for the families, said that his clients are among the more than lass='cambodia-color'>...

High production costs and a lack of government assistance is keeping rice farmers near the poverty line despite unprecedented growth in the sector, according to a new study released by local microfinance institution Intean Poalroath Rongroeurng (IPR). The independent study, conducted by two Cambodian researchers lass='cambodia-color'>...

Am Phalla sits outside the factory gates of apparel maker Shen Zhou (Cambodia) Co. ltd., sharing a lunch of rice, vegetables and fried fish with coworkers. She has been sewing clothes at Shen Zhou for a little less than a year, but is unaware that the lass='cambodia-color'>...

Villagers who allege authorities and armed forces in Preah Vihear province have been burning their houses and clearing farmland of 400 families, to create a social land concession, protested yesterday, calling on intervention from Prime Minister Hun Sen. The 5,557-hectare SlC in Kulen district’s Srayang village lass='cambodia-color'>...

The Government of Cambodia on Friday passed a draft law on fire prevention in order to contribute to maintaining security, social safety, public order, and life and property protection, according to a media statement released after the weekly Cabinet meeting. In the meeting, Hun Sen lass='cambodia-color'>...

Small pig farmers are struggling to stay in business as illegal imports of pigs from neighbouring countries rise, squeezing them out of the market, industry insiders say. Srun Peu, deputy director of the Cambodia Pig Farmers Association, an organisation with 4,000 members, said the increase in lass='cambodia-color'>...

Monks residing in Koh Kong’s remote Areng Valley have begun raising funds online to renovate their local temple, despite plans in store for a large Chinese backed hydropower dam that would leave the site completely inundated. The 108-MW hydropower dam, to be built by lass='cambodia-color'>...

International donors, including the U.S., Australia, the European Union and the World Bank, have urged the Cambo­dian government to redesign a massive hydropower project in Stung Treng province that environmentalists say will deplete fisheries and submit it to the Mekong River Commission (MRC) for consultation. In lass='cambodia-color'>...

A guide to the provinces where the fighting may be fiercest. Siem Reap 6 seats Though Siem Reap has long been a ruling-party stronghold (the CPP won four of six seats here in 2003, increasing their spoils to five of six seats in 2008), if recent opposition rallies lass='cambodia-color'>...

People living along the banks of the Mekong, Bassac and Tonle Sap rivers should exercise caution in the coming days, and be particularly aware of possible riverbank collapses as water levels are rising in Stung Treng province and elsewhere in the country, Prime Minister Hun lass='cambodia-color'>...

Advocacy groups, environmentalists and policy-makers have wrapped up five days of events surrounding Mekong River issues in Washington. “Mekong Days,” a series of talks, films and other forums that ended Tuesday, highlighted issues in the region, where some 60 million people live. The Mekong River, a major lass='cambodia-color'>...

The Cambodian government yesterday warned foreigners to stay away from opposition protests against a hotly disputed election as thousands of riot police practised crowd control in the capital. Authorities and security forces would “avoid potential clashes at all costs” said the government in a statement released lass='cambodia-color'>...

Despite making some gains, Cambodian women continue to fall well short of their male counterparts when it comes to education and position in the labour market, a study released yesterday by the International labor Organization reports. Men account for just five per cent more of Cambodia’s lass='cambodia-color'>...