Gov’t, NGOs, firms finalize migrant contract

28 December 2011
The Cambodia Daily
Informal migration for labor / Labor / Labor policy and administration / Local workers abroad / Offshore recruitment and employment
abuse / anti-human trafficking / contract / domestic migrant workers / exploitation / Ho Vuthy / Human trafficking / labor / labour / maids / Malaysian aid / Migrant Workers / Ministry of Labor / recruitment agencies / rights / UN Women / unionists

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 migrant workers and recruitment agencies, while a second contract between workers and their foreign employers will be finalized Friday. Both contracts will go into effect January 1, 2012, officials and NGOs said. “We are trying not only to find jobs for maids, but to strengthen and protect their rights,” explained Ho Vuthy, deputy director of the Ministry of Labor’s general department of labor, adding that the ministry would issue a directive making the contracts mandatory…

 Abby Seiff and Cheng Sokhorng, p.25