Maids forced into debt bondage in Singapore
In August last year, the government launched a pilot project that sent 220 women to work as maids in Singapore, the first major effort to open up a new market for Cambodia’s domestic workers after the government halted sending maids to Malaysia due to persistent reports of abuse. This week, two of the maids involved in the Singapore pilot returned to Cambodia with stories of forced debt bondage and abusive conditions, once again raising serious doubts about whether the rights of Cambodian migrants can be guaranteed by the well-connected recruitment agencies sending them abroad. Nhem Thida, 31, and Phorn Mao, 24, were lured from their rural homes by Philimore Cambodia—a recruitment agency previously accused of a litany of human rights abuses—with promises of fair salaries and first-world conditions. …
Matt Blomberg and Hul Reaksmey
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/maids-forced-into-debt-bondage-in-singapore-63194/
