S Korean farming industry slammed
Long considered the friendlier and less exploitative option for overseas Cambodian migrants, South Korea is now being slammed by Amnesty International for a number of abuses afflicting its migrant-dominated agriculture sector. The 20,000 foreign workers fuelling South Korea’s farming industry regularly encounter intimidation, violence, excessive working hours, forced labour and no rest days, according to an Amnesty report released yesterday. And because of a “flawed” work permit scheme, the migrants have few options for recourse. … Employers struggling to find national workers can hire foreigners through the government-run system from 15 Asian countries, the top senders being Cambodia, Vietnam and Indonesia, according to government immigration statistics. An estimated 8,800 Cambodian workers were sent to South Korea in 2013, according to Cambodia’s Ministry of Labour. …
Laignee Barron
http://phnompenhpost.com/national/s-korean-farming-industry-slammed
