Population and censuses

Prime Minister Hun Sen on Wednesday blamed the Kingdom’s rising population as a factor contributing to deforestation. He also told government critics who lived on deforested land to return it to the authorities for replanting. ...

A rights group has noticed ongoing illegal migration into Thailand through unofficial border gates in Banteay Meanchey province, citing the lack of market for agricultural products and demand for labour inside the country. ...

Police in Mondulkiri province detained 27 Vietnamese who crossed the border illegally in Sen Monorom city. Deputy provincial police chief Tieng Saoroth said they were detained for questioning on Saturday in Sen Monorom city where they were selling clothes. ...

The Cambodian Embassy in Thailand has warned migrant workers that Thai authorities will begin punishing them in April if they fail to renew their work permits. Holders of temporary documents would need to get them extended by March 31. ...

Nearly 100,000 Cambodians were sent to work overseas last year, an increase of 12.6 percent compared with the previous year that saw about 85,000 workers migrate, according to a Ministry of Labour report. The report, issued yesterday, said that last year Cambodia sent 96,338 labourers ...

About 100,000 foreigners working without permits will be fined after Khmer New Year and potentially face jail time and deportation if they fail to get paperwork or pay their fines, the Ministry of Interior and Ministry of Labour announced yesterday. ...

The government yesterday maintained it was opening a path to citizenship for roughly 70,000 ethnic Vietnamese people living in Cambodia, though many have lived here for generations, and advocates say a current drive to revoke “irregular” government documents is effectively rendering many stateless. ...

Cambodian embassies have recently come to the aid of citizens in three countries, according to a Foreign Affairs Ministry statement yesterday. ...

Cambodian workers may soon be headed to Lebanon, the latest country that the Ministry of Labour is targeting as a destination for thousands of underemployed Cambodians looking for work amid stagnant job opportunities at home. ...

Speaking during the general department of identification’s annual meeting, secretary of state Prum Sokha said the government would continue to help undocumented workers obtain proper documentation.   ...

Interior Minister Sar Kheng yesterday called on the government to amend the law on nationalisation and immigration, while a report from the general department of identification revealed 1,518 foreigners were granted Cambodian nationality from 2014 to 2017. Presiding over the department’s annual meeting, Mr Kheng ...

Japan has spent about $3 million building a centre to train Cambodian nurses how to take care of the elderly before they are sent to Japan. The centre will open in April.Kondo Yoshio, director of Procast Co Ltd, said after meeting with Labour Minister Ith ...

Labour Minister Ith Samheng said yesterday said he plans to increase the number of Cambodian trainees being sent to Japan for study and part-time work, noting that about 6,000 have been working in the country since 2007. ...

Labour officials sent off 14 maids to Hong Kong yesterday in celebration of a pilot program that hopes to funnel up to 1,000 maids to the Asian financial hub despite concerns from rights groups. ...

About 60 Cambodian trainees will be recruited to study and work in Inuyama town in Japan by the Inuyama Chamber of Commerce in Japan, a decision made after the minister of labour met with the chairman of the chamber yesterday. ...

New Thai regulations imposing stiff punishments on undocumented migrants, their brokers and their employers set to come into force on January 1 will likely be delayed by three to six months, according to Cambodian Minister of Labour Ith Sam Heng. ...

The Labour Ministry announced on Friday that the Thai government agreed to extend the deadline for Cambodian officials to complete registration and work permit delivery to Cambodian migrant workers by six months. ...

Nine Cambodians deported from the US arrived yesterday in Phnom Penh, days after a US judge temporarily blocked a flight set to carry more than 50 Cambodian deportees to the Kingdom. ...

The government’s crackdown on illegal immigrants has resulted in more than 2,300 being deported and barred permanently from the kingdom so far this year. ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen expressed hopes of sending Cambodians to Japan to work in nursing homes yesterday as part of a larger scheme to increase the number of Cambodian migrant workers. ...

Out of four Southeast Asian countries, migrant workers from Cambodia have the worst experiences, with eight in 10 experiencing labour rights abuses while abroad and more than two-thirds reporting mental or physical health problems upon return, according to a study released by ILO and IOM ...

Interior Minister Sar Kheng said yesterday that authorities have failed to quell illegal border crossings by migrant workers. ...

A memorandum of understanding meant to beef up protections for Cambodian maids in Malaysia is still on hold after Malaysia’s human resources minister said he was not aware of the agreement, according to Malaysian media. ...

The process of revoking documents from ethnic Vietnamese people, many of whom have been living in Cambodia for generations, is halfway complete in Kampong Chhnang province, according to the provincial director of immigration. ...