ODC English Site

Students finishing their secondary education this year are carefully looking at market demand to decide what to study to ensure solid future earnings. Many educators say the recent growth of the construction sector in Cambodia is encouraging parents and students to enroll at the universities of ...

International tourist arrivals into Cambodia have soared in the past year, with arrivals into Siem Reap up 30 per cent in the first eight months of 2012 over the same period the previous year. The tourist industry was hit hard by the global economic crisis in ...

Protester’s from Phnom Penh’s Boeng Kak and Borei Keila communities demonstrated outside the Ministry of Justice yesterday by employing a new tactic: locking themselves up inside a cage. With about 100 people in attendance, two protesters crouched inside a small cage to protest against the detention ...

Villagers accused of incitement in a long-running land dispute with a company owned by the wife of a government minister did not show up for scheduled questioning yesterday at the Kompong Chhnang Provincial Court, officials said. On September 17, KDC Development company, owned by Chea Kheng, the wife of Minister of Industry, ...

The country’s foremost campaigning monk, Loun Sovath, received the Martin Ennals Award in Geneva on Tuesday for his efforts to document the plight of people fighting against eviction in Cambodia. The award, which honors one human rights defender each year, is valued at $21,300, a purse ...

Provincial authorities arrested eight Vietnamese fishermen who illegally crossed into un-demarcated Cambodian waters in Kampot province on Tuesday. The two boats were intercepted by river police in the early morning while they were trawling, Touch Poleak, deputy director of the water border protection department, said.   Sar ...

A group of families in the capital’s Por Sen Chey district gathered in their sludge-filled street yesterday, fearing authorities were moving in to evict them – for a second time. Many of the Andong village residents had taken the day off work; if anyone was coming ...

Activist monk Luon Sovath has been named the recipient of this year’s Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders for his work promoting villagers’ land claims and publicising rights abuses. A familiar figure at protests in Cambodia, including the widely decried May trial of the Boeung Kak 13, ...

The number of strikes in Cambodia’s garment industry could be set to dip and workers could be on their way to free lunches after both sides of the industry signed a two-year memorandum of understanding (MoU) yesterday. The MoU – inked by the Garment Manufacturers Association (GMAC) in ...

Despite the government embarking on a nationwide land-titling program, there is still little space for communities affected by economic land concessions to voice their concerns with the government, members of civil society said at a conference in Phnom Penh yesterday. “We’ve observed that there is limited ...

ក្រសួង​ធនធានទឹក​និង​ឧតុនិយម​កាលពី​ម្សិលមិញ​បាន​ព្រមាន​ថា ​ព្យុះ​ត្រូពិច​ដែល​ត្រូវ​បាន​ព្យាករណ៍​ថា​នឹង​វាយប្រហារ​ឆ្នេរសមុទ្រ​វៀតណាម​នា​ចុង​ស​ប្តា​ហ៍​នេះ​នឹង​ធ្វើ​ឱ្យ​ទឹកជំនន់​កាន់តែ​អាក្រក់​ទៅ​ ៗ​ នៅ​ទូ​ទាំង​ប្រទេស​កម្ពុជា​។​ ...

The salary for Cambodian civil servants has seen an average increase of 540 per cent compared to salaries in 2001, according to a report from the national news agency Agence Kampuchea Presse last Thursday.   Yim Serey Vathanak, national project coordinator on trade unions for social ...

The government has completed the communal land-titling process for three ethnic Bunong communities in Mondolkiri province living on 1,000 hectares of land in Keo Seima district, villagers and a rights group said yesterday. The three new titles-which will bring to six the total number of communal titles granted ...

Cambodia is among the tropical countries whose forests are being cleared using increasingly advanced methods to feed a growing global trade in illegal timber worth at least $30 billion a year, according to a new report. The report, Green carbon, black trade, a joint effort by ...

The recent deluge of comments critical toward the Cambodian government is an attempt to sow political chaos, a senior official said yesterday. At a press conference held at the Council of Ministers, Keo Remy, deputy chairman of the Press and Quick Reaction Unit, blasted several individuals ...

Svay Rieng Provincial Court officials are investigating an employee of the Ministry of Interior who is accused of fraudulently selling his land to someone and not honouring the deal. Ros Sithan, a logistics department officer at the ministry, was arrested on the evening of September 28, ...

Global development group Oxfam on Wednesday called on the World Bank to suspend financing for large-scale land acquisitions to ensure that its practices do not encourage foreign land grabs in developing countries. Oxfam urged Jim Yong Kim, the lender’s new president, to announce a six-month moratorium ...

Families in the capital’s Por Sen Chey district face a tense morning as they prepare for the familiar sound of authorities moving in to evict them. Nineteen families in Andong village were told in a letter from district authorities that today was the deadline for them ...

A UN envoy has called on the international community to pay more attention to human rights issues in Cambodia. The call comes amid ongoing land disputes and legal harassment of activists. Surya Subedi is the United Nations Special Rapporteur on human rights in Cambodia and has submitted ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen said yesterday that there was a lack of staff at the Ministry of Land Management, and suggested that the students in his land measuring program be utilized to rectify the shortage. Mr. Hun Sen made the comments while visiting Pursat province’s Phnom ...

Cambodia will receive most of the income derived from a joint project to exploit promising offshore oil reserves, official sources have confirmed here. Ek Tha, spokesman for the Cabinet Office said that in negotiations with Chevron, the government proposed reaping 70 to 80 percent of the ...

Due to rising water level in Thailand’s reservoirs caused by heavy rainfall, the Thai government announced the opening of a dam in Sa Kaeo province, located about 20 km from the Cambodian border. This decision will potentially affect 10,000 Cambodian families in Poipet, Serei Sophorn ...

Terry Parnell (ODC Planning / Admin) and Heng Huy Eng (Site Coder) attended OKFest in Helsinki in late September! http://okfestival.org If you’d like to hear more about their discussions of ‘Open Development‘ with participants from around the world, feel free to come to the ‘Phnom Penh ...

Thai authorities yesterday opened a dam near the Cambodian border, a move that could worsen flooding and affect thousands of people in Banteay Meanchey province, according to Cambodian officials. Mr. Vanda [vice president of the National Committee for Disaster Management (NCDM)] said the excess water ...