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Abused Workers Back Home
A maid who fled her employer after an attempted rape and was then thrown in a detention centre just two days after she gave birth was one of 26 distressed men and women who make up the latest repatriated abuse victims from Malaysia. Detained for as ...
Sen David and David Boyle, P. 1
Graft claims over mining revenue
Political activists and watchdog organisations say Cambodia’s US$13 million revenue from the mining sector over the last five years is exceedingly low and that the government must be more transparent. The claims come after the Ministry of Mines, Industry and Energy (MIME) released its figures on the mining ...
Rock and a hard place
Sarorn Phi, 39, cautiously stops his moto 20 metres away from the large, signless boom gate blocking his path in Sesan district. He shuffles toward the security guard’s hut at the entrance to a sprawling Chinese rubber plantation and negotiates with the guard to enter ...
Families cling to hope for land
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 ...
Villagers Protest Loss of Local Crematorium to Private Firm
More than 100 villagers in Russei Keo district’s Prek Liep commune protested outside the Pur Thiproek pagoda on Saturday against plans to remove the crematorium, claiming the head monk had agreed to sell the land to a local property company. “That crematorium was built by ...
Preah Vihear Villagers Protest Clearing of Farmland
About 300 villagers living inside a social land concession in Preah Vihear province’s Kulen district protested at Phnom Penh’s Wat Botum yesterday, requesting that Prime Minister Hun Sen stop provincial authorities from clearing their farmland in preparation for the area to be used to house ...
Calls Mount for the Release of Beehive Radio Station Owner
A trio of international NGOs representing lawyers and journalists added their voice last week to the mounting calls for the government to release radio station owner Mam Sonando and drop all charges against him “immediately and unconditionally.” Authorities arrested Mr. Sonando, owner of the independent Beehive ...
Preah Vihear villagers protest soldiers' SLC
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 ...
Lighting the rural night
For Cambodian farmer In Chanthy, illuminating the rural night used to be tiresome task. His village in Svay Rieng province is not connected to the national electricity grid and to light the dark he would have to take car batteries to a station and pay ...
Families stand firm on eviction
A group of families whose homes are in the way of a municipal road-widening project rejected an offer from city hall on Friday to relocate and receive financial compensation, representatives from the community said. Located on the outskirts of Phnom Penh in Tuol Kork district, community ...
Brokers nabbed at airport
Four brokers accused of duping 19 victims out of thousands of dollars for non-existent jobs in South Korea were arrested at Phnom Penh International Airport on Saturday. Keo Thea, chief of Phnom Penh’s anti-human trafficking and juvenile protection department, said Por Sen Chey district police arrested ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012080657832/National-news/brokers-nabbed-at-airport.html
Strike may end if deal holds: union
Workers who have been told they have been sacked for striking at the co-owned Tai Yang and Camwell factories will forget about their seniority bonuses – for now – if they are reinstated, unions and an advocacy group said yesterday. In an attempt to end one ...
Cambodia, ILO Promotes Decent Work for All
PHNOM PENH: The International Labor Organization (ILO) and Ministry of Labor and Vocational Training launched a Decent Work for All Profile for Cambodia which assesses progress in the development of labor market conditions and protection for workers over the past decade on Monday 30th July. “Launching ...
Villagers in Sihanoukville Ordered off Disputed Land
The Preah Sihanouk Provincial Court has ordered villagers living on disputed land in Sihanoukville to leave the area by Thursday, according to a statement released by th the court yesterday. “We wish to inform people living in Muoy commune’s Phuom Bei village that on August 9, ...
Prey Lang ELCs rejected
In a rare victory for those battling to preserve Prey Lang forest, the government has cancelled four economic land concessions in the area totalling more than 40,000 hectares that threatened pristine ecosystems. Another 3,200 hectare ELC in Koh Kong province has also been cancelled, while two ...
Cambodia Needs $100 Million Annual Investment to Develop Energy Projects
Phnom Penh: “Cambodia is needing $ 1 billion over the years or at least 100 million annual investment to develop renewable energy projects for rural electrification in order to reduce its dependence on diesel consumption,” said Mr. Toch Sovanna, Director of Departmemnt of Energy Technique, ...
New home not where the heart is for Xayaburi locals
For the past several days, Boonma and seven other Houay Souy villagers have travelled back to their homes near the Xayaburi Dam building site on the Lao side of the Mekong River. Since the beginning of the year they have been relocated to a new ...
Unions Set to Discuss Agreement on Strikes
After months of standstill, unions and the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC) are expected to convene at the end of the month to discuss an expired memorandum of understanding (MOU) aimed at reducing the amount of strike actions in the country, union leaders said ...
Cambodian soldiers accused of land rights abuse in Prey Trolach forest
Cambodian soldiers and police have been clearing undergrowth with pesticides and using bulldozers to bring down trees in an area of community forest, according to local groups. The alleged land seizure at the 1,335 hectare (3,300 acre) Prey Trolach commune forest, a four-hour drive from the ...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/2012/aug/03/cambodian-soldiers-land-rights-prey-trolach
Koh Kong king bowed out of 'blood sugar' firm
A sugar company originally part-owned by ruling party Senator Ly Yong Phat that has long fought villagers over a land dispute in Koh Kong province is now under the complete control of two foreign-owned companies, statements released by the firms last week reveal. The Mitr Pohl ...
Bounced cheques causing concern
Military police in Siem Reap province arrested a 33-year-old woman this week on accusations of fraudulent activity involving writing a cheque at a local bank. Cheque account usage, an infrequently used service only a few years ago, is gaining traction in the Kingdom. Bank officials said fraudulent cheques ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012080357788/Business/bounced-cheques-causing-concern.html
Unions skirmish using factory as 'battleground'
The setting is familiar – a garment factory in Kandal province that supplies Levi’s and Gap – and so is the number of people involved, but a strike that has raged at Yung Wah Industrial II factory since Monday has a twist: it’s worker versus worker and union versus ...
Despair in Pursat as students begin to exit
Nineteen families from Pursat province’s Prangil commune, plagued by a long-running land dispute with developer Pheapimex, are in despair now that student volunteer surveyors cannot help them reclaim land they say is rightfully theirs. Prime Minister Hun Sen on Wednesday revealed he had revised his ...
Philippines and Cambodia in South China Sea row
The Philippines has summoned Cambodia’s ambassador over comments linked to Manila’s territorial row with Beijing. Hos Sereythonh was asked to explain remarks accusing the Philippines and Vietnam of playing “dirty politics” over the issue of Asean and the South China Sea. [H]e did not turn up on ...