More Migrant Workers Losing Contact, NGOs Say

The number of families claiming to have lost contact with relatives working overseas has seen a significant increase in recent months, three human rights groups said Thursday. Local rights groups Adhoc and Licadho and the legal aid association Cambodian Legal Education Center (CLEC), said that the growing numbers of people seeking help finding their relatives appeared to coincide with the government’s ban on sending Cambodian women to work as maids in Malaysia, and the closure of several companies that had specialized in sending maids abroad. Sam Chankrea, coordinator for rights group Adhoc in Kompong Chhnang province, said his office has received 50 complaints since January about family members losing contact while working overseas, compared with five in the same period last year. …