ព័ត៌មាន
‘Maid brokers’ on the stand
A teenager was one of 13 girls locked inside a recruitment company’s offices in the capital last year after being promised work as a maid in Malaysia, she told the Phnom Penh Municipal Court yesterday. The court yesterday tried three people over alleged illegal detention and human ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012040655461/National-news/maid-brokers-on-the-stand.html
‘New deal’ eyed for migrant workers
Prime Minister Hun Sen’s call on Tuesday to strengthen cooperation among ASEAN members to protect the rights of migrant workers echoed recent comments by rights groups who say further protections are necessary as the 2015 deadline for an integrated economic community looms. As that deadline approaches, ...
Sea dispute still in limbo
A code of Conduct governing the South China Sea remains only an “eventual” prospect, Prime Minister Hun Sen said yesterday, despite it dominating discussions during this week’s ASEAN Summit. From the beginning of Monday’s Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, the question of China’s potential involvement in the drafting ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012040555452/National-news/sea-dispute-still-in-limbo.html
Maid starved to death in Malaysia, police say
Another Cambodian maid died in Malaysia last week, and starvation by her employers is the likely cause, Malaysian police said yesterday. Speaking to the Post by phone, Penang state police chief deputy commissioner Datuk Wira Ayub Yaakob said 24-year-old domestic worker Mey Sichan’s employer had called ...
Maybank Cambodia aims to be in top 5 by 2015
Maybank launched yesterday its locally incorporated company in Cambodia, Maybank (Cambodia) Plc, and will also build a 10-storey corporate office with the aim of becoming one of the top five banks there by 2015. Currently ranked seventh in terms of assets among 33 banks operating ...
Maybank plans Cambodia subsidiary
Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank), one of Malaysia’s largest banks, plans to transition its Cambodian branch into a subsidiary in a bid for larger market share in the Kingdom’s crowded Cambodian banking sector. The bank, which opened as a branch in 1993, received a local incorporation licence ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012040455412/Business/maybank-plans-cambodia-subsidiary.html
Equal rights sought for disabled
Rights groups pushed for increased employment of disabled Cambodians and the ratification of a UN convention on their rights at the launch of the ASEAN Disability Forum yesterday. Ngin Saorath, executive director of the Cambodian Disabled People’s Organisation, said groups will draft a declaration over the ...
Voices divided pre-ASEAN
Protecting human rights, especially those of Cambodian migrant workers traversing borders to countries such as Malaysia, dominated discussions at yesterday’s ASEAN Peoples’ Forum, one of two competing pre-summit forums that claim to be giving a voice to Cambodians. Speaking at yesterday’s forum, Seng Sakda, director-general ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012032955323/National-news/voices-divided-pre-asean.html
More maids missing in Malaysia: parents
Parents of four girls sent to work as maids in Malaysia filed a complaint with Adhoc yesterday in Preah Vihear province saying they had not heard from their daughters for anywhere from two to nearly five years. Prak Leat, 41, said her daughter had left for ...
Women sceptical of ASEAN
Cambodian women have the most to lose from the planned 2015 ASEAN integration, a coalition of more than 100 Cambodian women said yesterday at the Cambodian Women Forum. Because Cambodian women are so poorly educated, when the job market opens up, competition from other countries like ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012032255194/National-news/women-sceptical-of-asean.html
Family’s bleak vigil ends
It was the grimmest of homecomings yesterday for the family of Ouk Sakan as the body of the 40-year-old domestic worker was repatriated from Malaysia, ending a bleak vigil that began with her death more than four months ago. Na Rith said his cousin had worked ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012031955117/National-news/familys-bleak-vigil-ends.html
Maid ‘forced to take drugs’
A mother from Kampong Chhnang’s Rolea Ba’ier district filed a complaint with the rights group Adhoc yesterday, claiming her daughter, a maid in Malaysia, was being forced to take drugs and work without enough food. Im Meoun, 52, said her daughter Phon Sophea, 20, had been ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012031555049/National-news/maid-forced-to-take-drugs.html
Cambodia and Malaysia Swap Proposals on Maid Agreement
The negotiations between Cambodia and Malaysia over a bilateral agreement on improved working conditions for Cambodian migrant maids are slowly progressing as both governments are exchanging draft agreements, according to officials from both countries. Ministry of Labor Secretary of State Othsman Hassan said that Cambodia recently ...
Lucky sells big stake to Asian retail giant
Big Asian retailer Dairy Farm Group has formed a joint venture with Cambodia’s Lucky Market Group, the operator of Lucky Supermarket and Lucky Burger, according to an announcement yesterday. LMG, which opened its first supermarket in 1993, will join a stable of brands already controlled by ...
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 ...
Increasing prices drive Kingdom’s rubber
Rubber production in early 2012 increased 21 per cent when compared to the end of 2011, according to Mak Kim Hong, president of the Cambodian Rubber Association. He said yesterday that the price of one tonne of good-quality rubber rose to US$3,800 in early 2012, ...
Truck Accident Leaves 1 Garment Worker Dead, 30 Badly Injured
One garment worker was killed and 30 others seriously injured on Wednesday when the truck in which they were travelling crashed in Kandal province’s Ang Snuol district, a police official said yesterday. Free Trade Union (FTU) President Chea Mony said all 58 women were workers ...
Report Notes Major Increase in Migrant Workers Abused
The number of migrant workers abused by their foreign employers abroad more than doubled in 2011, rights group Adhoc announced yesterday before calling on the government to improve its efforts to protect both migrant and repatriated workers. “It’s a dangerous sign,” said Adhoc president Thun Saray ...
NGOs Urge Cambodia, Malaysia to Agree on Maid Protection
More than 60 Cambodian and international human rights groups and trade unions yesterday called on Cambodia and Malaysia to reach a bilateral agreement that would guarantee strong labor rights and working conditions for Cambodian maids employed in Malaysia. “The time is ripe for the Cambodian ...
Calls for re-evaluation of short-term workers
Almost 120,000 Cambodians who illegally crossed into neighbouring countries in search of work were repatriated during 2011, new figures from the Ministry of Interior have revealed, prompting a senior ministry official to call for a re-evaluation of how Cambodian workers are treated abroad. Chou Bun Eng, ...
Gov't, NGOs, firms finalize migrant contract
After a year of mounting concern over the treatment of migrant workers both within and outside Cambodia, the Ministry of Labor, NGOs and recruitment agencies yesterday reached an agreement on standardized contracts aimed at minimizing the possibility for exploitation. The groups agreed on a contract between ...
Abby Seiff and Cheng Sokhorng, p.25
Maid's cause of death sparks investigation
Government authorities are investigating the death of a migrant domestic worker in Malaysia after her family and rights groups raised questions about the stated cause of death from a lung infection, a relative of the deceased woman said yesterday. Na Rith, 42, said his cousin Ouk ...
No Malaysia agreement on migrant workers
About 177,000 Cambodian men and women were working abroad as of the end of 2010, and about $180 million was remitted to Cambodia from 126,000 migrant workers in Thailand, Malaysia, Japan and South Korea last year, according to a letter written by Prime Minister Hun ...
Air Asia expands services, flights
Malaysia-based Air Asia will begin offering travel services in Cambodia, and may expand its flights to neighbouring countries, company officials said. The airline launched its first Air Asia Travel and Service Center in Phnom Penh yesterday. Air Asia will partner with tour operator Mekong Discovery. So Mara, ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2011121353316/Business/air-asia-expands-services-flights.html