Mom Kunthear
Phnom Penh Post
A MEANCHEY district man pursuing a criminal complaint against a woman he says botched an abortion procedure that killed his wife expressed frustration yesterday that no charge had been brought in the case despite the fact that he has been questioned by court clerks seven times.
Hiv Leng said he appeared yesterday at the court along with two witnesses as well as documents that he said proved the midwife’s guilt.
“I went to the court and brought two witnesses for questioning, but the court officials asked me to bring more witnesses,” he said. Hiv Leng said he already had five other witnesses in mind.
He also said the clerk, Heng Rami, had encouraged him to drop the case and accept a compensation payment from the midwife’s family. The family has previously proposed a payment of US$2,000.
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Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Misbehaving mystic charged with sex assault
Mom Kunthear
Phnom Penh Post
A “HOLY man” in Kampong Cham province has been arrested for allegedly duping a woman into meditating at his home without clothes on and then sexually assaulting her.
An Kim Sry, deputy police chief of Kampong Cham’s Chamkar Leu district, said the 24-year-old victim visited Ouk Sovanny, 26, last Thursday in the hope of finding a cure for her seriously ill husband.
When the couple arrived, the holy man said the woman had an “evil mole” on her body that was causing her husband’s illness, An Kim Sry said. The guru allegedly advised her to step into a separate room, strip naked and meditate silently.
“He told her that if she did not do this, her husband would not get better,” An Kim Sry said.
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Phnom Penh Post
A “HOLY man” in Kampong Cham province has been arrested for allegedly duping a woman into meditating at his home without clothes on and then sexually assaulting her.
An Kim Sry, deputy police chief of Kampong Cham’s Chamkar Leu district, said the 24-year-old victim visited Ouk Sovanny, 26, last Thursday in the hope of finding a cure for her seriously ill husband.
When the couple arrived, the holy man said the woman had an “evil mole” on her body that was causing her husband’s illness, An Kim Sry said. The guru allegedly advised her to step into a separate room, strip naked and meditate silently.
“He told her that if she did not do this, her husband would not get better,” An Kim Sry said.
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Five more flee labour firm, group reports
Mom Kunthear and Khuon Leakhana
Phnom Penh Post
LABOUR advocates say five more workers have fled from a recruitment firm’s training centre this month after they were denied permission to leave the facility.
The new report comes on the heels of multiple cases of alleged abuse forwarded to rights workers, who in response have raised fresh concerns regarding the country’s rapidly expanding labour export industry.
Huy Pichsovann, a labour programme officer at the Community Legal Education Centre, said CLEC staffers interviewed five women yesterday who said they fled the Phnom Penh training centre run by PMP Company on August 16.
“I met the workers and asked why they fled the company, and they said because the company detained them without having freedom, not enough food to eat and they were forced to sleep among too many workers,” Huy Pichsovann said.
He said that CLEC investigators would ask for an explanation from the company.
Phat Samol, PMP’s executive director, yesterday contradicted the women’s claims.
“Those five workers escaped because they didn’t want to work in Malaysia,” he said.
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Phnom Penh Post
LABOUR advocates say five more workers have fled from a recruitment firm’s training centre this month after they were denied permission to leave the facility.
The new report comes on the heels of multiple cases of alleged abuse forwarded to rights workers, who in response have raised fresh concerns regarding the country’s rapidly expanding labour export industry.
Huy Pichsovann, a labour programme officer at the Community Legal Education Centre, said CLEC staffers interviewed five women yesterday who said they fled the Phnom Penh training centre run by PMP Company on August 16.
“I met the workers and asked why they fled the company, and they said because the company detained them without having freedom, not enough food to eat and they were forced to sleep among too many workers,” Huy Pichsovann said.
He said that CLEC investigators would ask for an explanation from the company.
Phat Samol, PMP’s executive director, yesterday contradicted the women’s claims.
“Those five workers escaped because they didn’t want to work in Malaysia,” he said.
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Labour agency investigated
Kim Yuthana and Mom Kunthear
Phnom Penh Post
POLICE in Phnom Penh raided a labour recruitment training centre yesterday after a man complained that its director had refused to release his wife.
Chamkarmon district police officers dropped in on the training centre run by the firm APMN in the morning, said deputy district police chief Heang Tharet.
“We talked with the company staff about the complaint,” he said. “We told them that we cannot allow the woman to stay in this centre any longer because a man asked us to help his wife get out.”
The complainant, Prom Nai, said his wife, Kin Ya, had started training with the firm in July in the hope of becoming a domestic worker in
Malaysia.
But he said she wanted to quit because she was not permitted to leave the facility. The company, however, refused.
“The centre asked for US$975 from me if I wanted my wife to leave, but I don’t have that much money,” Prom Nai said.
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Phnom Penh Post
POLICE in Phnom Penh raided a labour recruitment training centre yesterday after a man complained that its director had refused to release his wife.
Chamkarmon district police officers dropped in on the training centre run by the firm APMN in the morning, said deputy district police chief Heang Tharet.
“We talked with the company staff about the complaint,” he said. “We told them that we cannot allow the woman to stay in this centre any longer because a man asked us to help his wife get out.”
The complainant, Prom Nai, said his wife, Kin Ya, had started training with the firm in July in the hope of becoming a domestic worker in
Malaysia.
But he said she wanted to quit because she was not permitted to leave the facility. The company, however, refused.
“The centre asked for US$975 from me if I wanted my wife to leave, but I don’t have that much money,” Prom Nai said.
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Two men hurt in acid attack; toll rises to 30
Brooke Lewis and Mom Kunthear
Phnom Penh Post
AT least 30 people have been injured by acid attacks this year, as an assault this weekend saw two men hospitalised.
Activists warn that the number of people affected by acid violence so far in 2010 has likely already eclipsed last year’s total.
The Saturday attack happened in Russey Keo district’s Tuol Sangke commune, said Chan Sahuth, the deputy district police chief.
“We are searching to arrest the suspect but we don’t clearly know the reasons behind the attack,” he said.
He identified the two victims, both construction workers, as 30-year-old Hin Seng and 26-year-old Chhang Nab.
Chhun Sophea, programme manager at the Cambodian Acid Survivors Charity, said the two men had been riding a motorbike when they were attacked.
CASC staff members visited the men at Calmette Hospital on Saturday, she said.
She said that Hin Seng had told her he believed he was the target of the attack, but that he could not identify the assailant.
Hin Seng’s injuries are the more serious of the two, she said – the 30-year-old suffered severe burns on half of his body.
The attack brings the number of reported acid attack victims up to 30 this year, just short of the 33 survivors recorded by CASC last year.
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Phnom Penh Post
AT least 30 people have been injured by acid attacks this year, as an assault this weekend saw two men hospitalised.
Activists warn that the number of people affected by acid violence so far in 2010 has likely already eclipsed last year’s total.
The Saturday attack happened in Russey Keo district’s Tuol Sangke commune, said Chan Sahuth, the deputy district police chief.
“We are searching to arrest the suspect but we don’t clearly know the reasons behind the attack,” he said.
He identified the two victims, both construction workers, as 30-year-old Hin Seng and 26-year-old Chhang Nab.
Chhun Sophea, programme manager at the Cambodian Acid Survivors Charity, said the two men had been riding a motorbike when they were attacked.
CASC staff members visited the men at Calmette Hospital on Saturday, she said.
She said that Hin Seng had told her he believed he was the target of the attack, but that he could not identify the assailant.
Hin Seng’s injuries are the more serious of the two, she said – the 30-year-old suffered severe burns on half of his body.
The attack brings the number of reported acid attack victims up to 30 this year, just short of the 33 survivors recorded by CASC last year.
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Military officer linked to wildlife smuggling
Mom Kunthear and Thet Sambath
Phnom Penh Post
RATANAKKIRI provincial authorities have identified a military officer as the owner of an abandoned car that was found near the Vietnamese border last week carrying more than 300 kilograms of protected wildlife.
Nov Dara, deputy chief of the provincial Bureau for Combating Economic Crime, yesterday identified the car’s owner as as Prum Saream, a military border officer based in Ratanakkiri.
“We sent a report and the car to the provincial Forestry Department in order for them to investigate this case,” he said. “I have handed over details of this person’s identity, such as his name and position, to forestry officials already.”
Pen Bonnar, provincial coordinator for the rights group Adhoc, said that so far, the military official was denying involvement.
“Prum Saream said it is his car, but that his friend borrowed it from him and he did not know it was being loaded with wildlife,” he said. Pen Bonnar said the officer would not face punishment if he was able to provide evidence to support his alibi.
On Monday last week, provincial authorities discovered the car abandoned near the Vietnamese border and confiscated 354 kilograms of protected wildlife, including snakes, turtles, civets and newts.
Pen Bonnar said wildlife trafficking was not uncommon in Ratanakkiri.
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Phnom Penh Post
RATANAKKIRI provincial authorities have identified a military officer as the owner of an abandoned car that was found near the Vietnamese border last week carrying more than 300 kilograms of protected wildlife.
Nov Dara, deputy chief of the provincial Bureau for Combating Economic Crime, yesterday identified the car’s owner as as Prum Saream, a military border officer based in Ratanakkiri.
“We sent a report and the car to the provincial Forestry Department in order for them to investigate this case,” he said. “I have handed over details of this person’s identity, such as his name and position, to forestry officials already.”
Pen Bonnar, provincial coordinator for the rights group Adhoc, said that so far, the military official was denying involvement.
“Prum Saream said it is his car, but that his friend borrowed it from him and he did not know it was being loaded with wildlife,” he said. Pen Bonnar said the officer would not face punishment if he was able to provide evidence to support his alibi.
On Monday last week, provincial authorities discovered the car abandoned near the Vietnamese border and confiscated 354 kilograms of protected wildlife, including snakes, turtles, civets and newts.
Pen Bonnar said wildlife trafficking was not uncommon in Ratanakkiri.
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Acid attack suspect at large
Kim Samath and Mom Kunthear
Phnom Penh Post
POLICE said yesterday that they are still searching for a factory worker suspected of injuring four people in an acid attack in Phnom Penh’s Dangkor district on Wednesday morning.
One woman was critically injured and three others suffered minor burns in the attack outside Chantex garment factory, in which a young man doused a female factory worker with acid outside a sugarcane juice stand, splashing three bystanders in the process.
Keo Savorn, a 23-year-old worker who was badly burned in the attack, said she had recognised the perpetrator and knew he worked in the laundry department of the factory.
Born Samath, Dangkor district police chief, said yesterday that police had identified a suspect but had been so far unable to make an arrest because the man had gone into hiding.
“We are searching for him and we already know his name, age and identity,” Born Samath said. “He is escaping and hiding from us, but we will arrest him and punish him through the law for what he did.”
He said that the investigation had been aided by cooperation from the victims, who had all filed complaints.
Keo Savorn’s father said yesterday that his daughter had been moved from Calmette Hospital, where she had been taken immediately after the attack, to the Cambodian Acid Survivors Charity, which offers victims free medical treatment and rehabilitation.
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Phnom Penh Post
POLICE said yesterday that they are still searching for a factory worker suspected of injuring four people in an acid attack in Phnom Penh’s Dangkor district on Wednesday morning.
One woman was critically injured and three others suffered minor burns in the attack outside Chantex garment factory, in which a young man doused a female factory worker with acid outside a sugarcane juice stand, splashing three bystanders in the process.
Keo Savorn, a 23-year-old worker who was badly burned in the attack, said she had recognised the perpetrator and knew he worked in the laundry department of the factory.
Born Samath, Dangkor district police chief, said yesterday that police had identified a suspect but had been so far unable to make an arrest because the man had gone into hiding.
“We are searching for him and we already know his name, age and identity,” Born Samath said. “He is escaping and hiding from us, but we will arrest him and punish him through the law for what he did.”
He said that the investigation had been aided by cooperation from the victims, who had all filed complaints.
Keo Savorn’s father said yesterday that his daughter had been moved from Calmette Hospital, where she had been taken immediately after the attack, to the Cambodian Acid Survivors Charity, which offers victims free medical treatment and rehabilitation.
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Four injured in acid attack
Mom Kunthear and Kim Samath
Phnom Penh Post
ONE woman was critically injured and three others suffered mild burns in an acid attack outside a garment factory in the capital’s Dangkor district yesterday morning.
Keo Savorn, a 23-year-old garment factory worker who was badly burned in the attack, said she was leaving the Chantex Garment Company building to buy refreshments during a lunch break at 11:45am when a man poured a half-litre of acid over her face.
“When I was walking to buy sugarcane juice I saw the man walking in front of me carrying a bottle of acid,” she said from her bed at Calmette Hospital, her face shrouded in plasters and bandages.
“I thought it was pure water because all workers always carry a water bottle in their hands when they leave work,” she added.
Keo Savorn said she had noticed the man shortly before he attacked her and knew that he worked in the laundry department at the Chentex factory.
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Phnom Penh Post
ONE woman was critically injured and three others suffered mild burns in an acid attack outside a garment factory in the capital’s Dangkor district yesterday morning.
Keo Savorn, a 23-year-old garment factory worker who was badly burned in the attack, said she was leaving the Chantex Garment Company building to buy refreshments during a lunch break at 11:45am when a man poured a half-litre of acid over her face.
“When I was walking to buy sugarcane juice I saw the man walking in front of me carrying a bottle of acid,” she said from her bed at Calmette Hospital, her face shrouded in plasters and bandages.
“I thought it was pure water because all workers always carry a water bottle in their hands when they leave work,” she added.
Keo Savorn said she had noticed the man shortly before he attacked her and knew that he worked in the laundry department at the Chentex factory.
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Police bust up engagement celebration
Mom Kunthear and Christy Choi
Phnom Penh Post
POLICE broke up an engagement party for seven Cambodian-Korean couples in Tuol Kork district on Tuesday morning, suspecting that the pairs were getting married without following proper procedure.
Hy Prou, deputy chief of the Phnom Penh municipal police, said police received a tip-off on Tuesday that the couples were being married through a marriage broker in violation of Cambodian law.
“We stopped the party because they threw the party without asking permission from the authorities and they didn’t respect the [law],” he said.
Hy Prou said the couples were released with just a warning after it was found the women had not been forced to attend and because the couples maintained that they were just being “introduced” to each other.
In November 2008, following a spike in marriages between Korean men and Cambodian women, the government banned brokers from arranging foreign marriages.
A blanket ban on foreign marriages followed in March 2010, because of concerns for women who were migrating overseas.
When the ban was lifted in late April, the government introduced requirements that foreigners looking to marry Cambodians appear in person to submit applications to the relevant authorities.
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Phnom Penh Post
POLICE broke up an engagement party for seven Cambodian-Korean couples in Tuol Kork district on Tuesday morning, suspecting that the pairs were getting married without following proper procedure.
Hy Prou, deputy chief of the Phnom Penh municipal police, said police received a tip-off on Tuesday that the couples were being married through a marriage broker in violation of Cambodian law.
“We stopped the party because they threw the party without asking permission from the authorities and they didn’t respect the [law],” he said.
Hy Prou said the couples were released with just a warning after it was found the women had not been forced to attend and because the couples maintained that they were just being “introduced” to each other.
In November 2008, following a spike in marriages between Korean men and Cambodian women, the government banned brokers from arranging foreign marriages.
A blanket ban on foreign marriages followed in March 2010, because of concerns for women who were migrating overseas.
When the ban was lifted in late April, the government introduced requirements that foreigners looking to marry Cambodians appear in person to submit applications to the relevant authorities.
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Wild animals found in car near border
Mom Kunthear
Phnom Penh Post
RATANAKKIRI provincial authorities have seized 300 kilograms of protected wildlife after searching a car that was abondoned near the Vietnamese border, officials said yesterday.
Nov Dara, deputy police chief of the provincial bureau for combating economic crime, said that police and forestry officials intercepted the car in O’Yadav district on Monday night, but that the driver and any accomplices had bailed out of the vehicle and escaped.
“We followed them in a car and forced them to stop their car, but we were unlucky because we could not arrest the businessmen.
“They escaped but left the car and wild animals at the place,” he said.
He said it was likely that the car was bound for Vietnam, where the live animals would be offered up for sale.
“I don’t know exactly how many people escaped because it was nighttime, but we confiscated all the wild animals and their car,” he said.
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Phnom Penh Post
RATANAKKIRI provincial authorities have seized 300 kilograms of protected wildlife after searching a car that was abondoned near the Vietnamese border, officials said yesterday.
Nov Dara, deputy police chief of the provincial bureau for combating economic crime, said that police and forestry officials intercepted the car in O’Yadav district on Monday night, but that the driver and any accomplices had bailed out of the vehicle and escaped.
“We followed them in a car and forced them to stop their car, but we were unlucky because we could not arrest the businessmen.
“They escaped but left the car and wild animals at the place,” he said.
He said it was likely that the car was bound for Vietnam, where the live animals would be offered up for sale.
“I don’t know exactly how many people escaped because it was nighttime, but we confiscated all the wild animals and their car,” he said.
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Recruitment director on run
Mom Kunthear
Phnom Penh Post
THE director of a labour firm accused of mistreating its trainees is on the run after evading an arrest attempt by city police yesterday, an official said.
Police began investigating the head of the VC Manpower training centre in Sen Sok district after a woman filed a complaint against the man on August 2, saying he had prevented her daughter from leaving the facility during a three-month training period.
Pol Khemra, deputy director of the Department of Police at the Interior Ministry, said yesterday that the Phnom Penh Municipal Court issued a warrant for the man’s arrest last week, but that police officials had wanted more time to investigate and had been “too busy” to make the arrest until today, when they discovered they were too late.
“The ministry officials and the authorities planned to go to the company in order to arrest the company director, but he escaped,” he said.
He said that police did not have any leads as to the man’s whereabouts, but would continue to investigate the case.
VC Manpower, which trains young women to work abroad as domestic servants, first came under scrutiny last month when a woman fled one of its training centres and said she had been held against her will. Days later, authorities announced they had found 24 underage girls being trained by the company. The Labour Ministry initially barred the firm from recruiting clients, but then absolved it of wrongdoing soon after.
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Phnom Penh Post
THE director of a labour firm accused of mistreating its trainees is on the run after evading an arrest attempt by city police yesterday, an official said.
Police began investigating the head of the VC Manpower training centre in Sen Sok district after a woman filed a complaint against the man on August 2, saying he had prevented her daughter from leaving the facility during a three-month training period.
Pol Khemra, deputy director of the Department of Police at the Interior Ministry, said yesterday that the Phnom Penh Municipal Court issued a warrant for the man’s arrest last week, but that police officials had wanted more time to investigate and had been “too busy” to make the arrest until today, when they discovered they were too late.
“The ministry officials and the authorities planned to go to the company in order to arrest the company director, but he escaped,” he said.
He said that police did not have any leads as to the man’s whereabouts, but would continue to investigate the case.
VC Manpower, which trains young women to work abroad as domestic servants, first came under scrutiny last month when a woman fled one of its training centres and said she had been held against her will. Days later, authorities announced they had found 24 underage girls being trained by the company. The Labour Ministry initially barred the firm from recruiting clients, but then absolved it of wrongdoing soon after.
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Corrupt officials: Drivers told to report tax extortion
Mom Kunthear
Phnom Penh Post
A civil society organisation will today begin distributing 10,000 leaflets designed to advise people of how to blow the whistle on corrupt road-tax collectors, an official said yesterday.
San Chey, a network fellow for the Cambodian branch of the Affiliated Network for Social Accountability in East Asia and the Pacific, said the leaflets, to be distributed nationwide, would encourage people to provide information to assist investigations into complaints from drivers, who say they are routinely overcharged by tax collectors from the Ministry of Economy and Finance.
“We do this because there are some tax officials who charge more than the cost of the road tax,” he said.
According to ministry guidelines, he said, motorbike drivers should be charged between 3,000 and 4,500 riels (US$0.70 to $1.05) in road taxes each year.
He said that in the last week alone, he had recieved at least 15 complaints from motorbike-taxi drivers who claim to have been charged too much by tax officials.
Ministry officials could not be reached for comment yesterday.
Phnom Penh Post
A civil society organisation will today begin distributing 10,000 leaflets designed to advise people of how to blow the whistle on corrupt road-tax collectors, an official said yesterday.
San Chey, a network fellow for the Cambodian branch of the Affiliated Network for Social Accountability in East Asia and the Pacific, said the leaflets, to be distributed nationwide, would encourage people to provide information to assist investigations into complaints from drivers, who say they are routinely overcharged by tax collectors from the Ministry of Economy and Finance.
“We do this because there are some tax officials who charge more than the cost of the road tax,” he said.
According to ministry guidelines, he said, motorbike drivers should be charged between 3,000 and 4,500 riels (US$0.70 to $1.05) in road taxes each year.
He said that in the last week alone, he had recieved at least 15 complaints from motorbike-taxi drivers who claim to have been charged too much by tax officials.
Ministry officials could not be reached for comment yesterday.
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Philimore case dropped
Mom Kunthear and Khuon Leakhana
Phnom Penh Post
THE mother of a woman who says she was abused while working in Malaysia as a domestic helper said yesterday that she had decided not to pursue legal action against the Cambodian labour-recruitment firm that sent her daughter abroad, after the company agreed to an out-of-court-settlement.
Nun Phar says her 24-year-old daughter, Moeung Sophat, fell ill after being overworked while in Malaysia and needed to be hospitalised upon her return to Cambodia late last month, when she looked pale and thin and was no longer menstruating. Shortly after her daughter came back, Nun Phar threatened to file complaints against Philimore, the government-sanctioned recruitment firm that sent Moeung Sophat abroad, unless it agreed to pay US$1,000 in compensation.
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Phnom Penh Post
THE mother of a woman who says she was abused while working in Malaysia as a domestic helper said yesterday that she had decided not to pursue legal action against the Cambodian labour-recruitment firm that sent her daughter abroad, after the company agreed to an out-of-court-settlement.
Nun Phar says her 24-year-old daughter, Moeung Sophat, fell ill after being overworked while in Malaysia and needed to be hospitalised upon her return to Cambodia late last month, when she looked pale and thin and was no longer menstruating. Shortly after her daughter came back, Nun Phar threatened to file complaints against Philimore, the government-sanctioned recruitment firm that sent Moeung Sophat abroad, unless it agreed to pay US$1,000 in compensation.
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Wednesday, August 11, 2010
State clamps down on labour recruiters
Mom Kunthear and Brooke Lewis
Phnom Penh Post
THE Labour Ministry announced yesterday that an inter-ministerial panel had been created to amend rules governing firms that recruited and trained workers to be sent abroad.
The move follows a spate of complaints accusing government-sanctioned training centres of mistreating and abusing recruits.
Speaking at the launch of a new set of industry guidelines yesterday, Hou Vudthy, deputy director of the ministry’s Employment and Manpower Department, said a 1995 sub-decree would be amended to ensure that “the workers have more rights and more understanding” of their rights.
“We are rewriting Sub-decree No 57 on the sending of Khmer workers to work abroad ... and it is an important thing,” he said.
Last month, officials investigated three sanctioned recruitment firms after trainees said they were illegally detained. Officials reported finding more than 60 underage girls in facilities run by the three and accused one of housing trainees in overcrowded and squalid conditions.
An Bunhak, chairman of the Association of Cambodian Recruitment Agencies, said yesterday that the old sub-decree had been too broad to be effective. “We have had a lot of problems, and we had no regulations to help us,” he said. “The last sub-decree is two or three pages; the new one is about 30 or 40 pages.”
Whereas the old sub-decree merely required firms to register with the Commerce Ministry, he said, the new one would regulate conditions at training centres, occupancy limits and recruitment practices.
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Phnom Penh Post
THE Labour Ministry announced yesterday that an inter-ministerial panel had been created to amend rules governing firms that recruited and trained workers to be sent abroad.
The move follows a spate of complaints accusing government-sanctioned training centres of mistreating and abusing recruits.
Speaking at the launch of a new set of industry guidelines yesterday, Hou Vudthy, deputy director of the ministry’s Employment and Manpower Department, said a 1995 sub-decree would be amended to ensure that “the workers have more rights and more understanding” of their rights.
“We are rewriting Sub-decree No 57 on the sending of Khmer workers to work abroad ... and it is an important thing,” he said.
Last month, officials investigated three sanctioned recruitment firms after trainees said they were illegally detained. Officials reported finding more than 60 underage girls in facilities run by the three and accused one of housing trainees in overcrowded and squalid conditions.
An Bunhak, chairman of the Association of Cambodian Recruitment Agencies, said yesterday that the old sub-decree had been too broad to be effective. “We have had a lot of problems, and we had no regulations to help us,” he said. “The last sub-decree is two or three pages; the new one is about 30 or 40 pages.”
Whereas the old sub-decree merely required firms to register with the Commerce Ministry, he said, the new one would regulate conditions at training centres, occupancy limits and recruitment practices.
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Ministry advocates migration
Mom Kunthear and Brooke Lewis
Phnom Penh Post
DESPITE expressing concerns over a recent spate of reports concerning the alleged mistreatment of migrant worker trainees, Labour Ministry officials yesterday extolled the benefits of working abroad as they launched a report detailing a new set of guidelines designed to bolster worker protections.
The report, which outlines the ministry’s new labour migration policy, states that youth unemployment levels are “becoming critical”, and points to foreign labour markets as “a cornerstone for alleviation of unemployment, income enhancement and poverty
reduction”.
About 250,000 young job-seekers will enter the labour market annually over the next few years, according to estimates in the report, which notes that employment opportunities in the Kingdom have become limited because “economic growth and employment in Cambodia have been narrowly concentrated in the agricultural, garment, construction and tourism sectors”.
The authors of the report, dated June, conclude that expanding the migrant workforce can benefit young workers by providing more opportunities, so long as more stringent protections are in place. “Thus, the current Ministerial Strategic Plan sets out the following main interventions: improved management of foreign employment; expanded protection of migrant workers; strong inter-ministerial coordination; and intimate international cooperation,” the report says.
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Phnom Penh Post
DESPITE expressing concerns over a recent spate of reports concerning the alleged mistreatment of migrant worker trainees, Labour Ministry officials yesterday extolled the benefits of working abroad as they launched a report detailing a new set of guidelines designed to bolster worker protections.
The report, which outlines the ministry’s new labour migration policy, states that youth unemployment levels are “becoming critical”, and points to foreign labour markets as “a cornerstone for alleviation of unemployment, income enhancement and poverty
reduction”.
About 250,000 young job-seekers will enter the labour market annually over the next few years, according to estimates in the report, which notes that employment opportunities in the Kingdom have become limited because “economic growth and employment in Cambodia have been narrowly concentrated in the agricultural, garment, construction and tourism sectors”.
The authors of the report, dated June, conclude that expanding the migrant workforce can benefit young workers by providing more opportunities, so long as more stringent protections are in place. “Thus, the current Ministerial Strategic Plan sets out the following main interventions: improved management of foreign employment; expanded protection of migrant workers; strong inter-ministerial coordination; and intimate international cooperation,” the report says.
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Tuesday, August 10, 2010
VC Manpower director to be questioned later
Popular TV soap takes on issue of acid attacks
Mom Kunthear and Brooke Lewis
Phnom Penh Post
THE last time we saw her, Ana, formerly a glamourous young celebrity with a penchant for other women’s husbands, was lying in a hospital bed, stripped of her beauty after being attacked by two jealous wives who poured 5 litres of acid over her face and body.
Fortunately, Ana is a fictional character in a Cambodian soap opera, and she is being touted by the show’s producer as the first television protagonist to become the victim of an acid attack.
Poan Phoung Bopha, producer of Women Tricks, a popular primetime soap opera, said yesterday that she wanted to use Ana to foster a discussion among viewers about acid violence, as the issue is rarely raised in popular culture.
“I want to show the real situation of what happens in our society,” she said.
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Phnom Penh Post
THE last time we saw her, Ana, formerly a glamourous young celebrity with a penchant for other women’s husbands, was lying in a hospital bed, stripped of her beauty after being attacked by two jealous wives who poured 5 litres of acid over her face and body.
Fortunately, Ana is a fictional character in a Cambodian soap opera, and she is being touted by the show’s producer as the first television protagonist to become the victim of an acid attack.
Poan Phoung Bopha, producer of Women Tricks, a popular primetime soap opera, said yesterday that she wanted to use Ana to foster a discussion among viewers about acid violence, as the issue is rarely raised in popular culture.
“I want to show the real situation of what happens in our society,” she said.
Read More
Monday, August 9, 2010
Pork sales crash on import ban
Mom Kunthear
Phnom Penh Post
PLUMMETING demand following a ban on Thai and Vietnamese pig imports has driven half the pork vendors in Kampong Thom’s market to suspend sales.
Heng Sophal, 40, a pork seller at Kampong Thom market, said she had suspended selling the meat after sales dropped significantly following Prime Minister Hun Sen’s ban of pig imports, to contain the spread of “blue ear” disease.
“Before I sold 200 kilograms per day, but during the past week I could not sell even 10 kilograms,” she said, as buyers are opting for other meats over pork to avoid getting sick, despite government officials’ saying the disease was not transferable to humans.
She said the cost of diseased pork had dropped to 2,000 riels per kilogram, but that ordinary pork maintained its average cost of 15,000 riels per kilogram.
Srun Pov, head of the Cambodian Pig Raisers Association, said yesterday that the outbreak of “blue ear” or porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome was under control after border authorities blocked imports from Vietnam and Thailand.
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Phnom Penh Post
PLUMMETING demand following a ban on Thai and Vietnamese pig imports has driven half the pork vendors in Kampong Thom’s market to suspend sales.
Heng Sophal, 40, a pork seller at Kampong Thom market, said she had suspended selling the meat after sales dropped significantly following Prime Minister Hun Sen’s ban of pig imports, to contain the spread of “blue ear” disease.
“Before I sold 200 kilograms per day, but during the past week I could not sell even 10 kilograms,” she said, as buyers are opting for other meats over pork to avoid getting sick, despite government officials’ saying the disease was not transferable to humans.
She said the cost of diseased pork had dropped to 2,000 riels per kilogram, but that ordinary pork maintained its average cost of 15,000 riels per kilogram.
Srun Pov, head of the Cambodian Pig Raisers Association, said yesterday that the outbreak of “blue ear” or porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome was under control after border authorities blocked imports from Vietnam and Thailand.
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Labour firm director faces court queries
Mom Kunthear
Phnom Penh Post
THE director of a training centre owned by recruitment firm VC Manpower is scheduled to appear for questioning at Phnom Penh Municipal Court today following accusations that a trainee under his care was mistreated, a police official said yesterday.
Long Sakan filed a complaint on August 2, claiming that the director of a VC Manpower centre in the capital’s Sen Sok district had prevented her daughter from leaving the centre during a three-month training period.
Pol Khemra, deputy director of the Department of Police at the Interior Ministry, said yesterday that the director of the centre had been summoned to appear for questioning today, but that it was unclear whether he would face charges.
“He can be arrested if his answers have something suspect,” he said.
The accused could not be reached for comment yesterday, but Sen Ly, the director of a seperate VC Manpower training centre, confirmed yesterday that “a company representative” would appear in court today for questioning.
“We are not afraid to appear at the court, and we are happy to appear at the court in order for us to respond to accusations against our company,” he said.
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Phnom Penh Post
THE director of a training centre owned by recruitment firm VC Manpower is scheduled to appear for questioning at Phnom Penh Municipal Court today following accusations that a trainee under his care was mistreated, a police official said yesterday.
Long Sakan filed a complaint on August 2, claiming that the director of a VC Manpower centre in the capital’s Sen Sok district had prevented her daughter from leaving the centre during a three-month training period.
Pol Khemra, deputy director of the Department of Police at the Interior Ministry, said yesterday that the director of the centre had been summoned to appear for questioning today, but that it was unclear whether he would face charges.
“He can be arrested if his answers have something suspect,” he said.
The accused could not be reached for comment yesterday, but Sen Ly, the director of a seperate VC Manpower training centre, confirmed yesterday that “a company representative” would appear in court today for questioning.
“We are not afraid to appear at the court, and we are happy to appear at the court in order for us to respond to accusations against our company,” he said.
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Sunday, August 8, 2010
Botched abortion: Case against midwife prepared
Mom Kunthear
Phnom Penh Post
A MAN who appeared at Phnom Penh Municipal Court yesterday in connection with his complaint accusing a midwife of botching an abortion procedure that killed his wife said he had enough evidence to prove the woman’s guilt.
Hiv Leng has accused the midwife of performing the procedure in her home in late June, despite being untrained and unregistered. He said his wife, 40-year-old Khem Tha, became ill shortly after the abortion and visited a string of doctors who had said it was “too late to help her ”. She died on July 20.
Yesterday, Hiv Leng said he would call upon the doctors to give evidence.
“I already have evidence and witnesses, like the doctors from the clinics that I sent my wife to for treatment after she fell seriously sick,” he said, and added that he could also produce health reports and call on neighbours as witnesses.
Heng Rami, a municipal court clerk, said yesterday that the midwife was expected to appear in court for questioning on Monday. “I cannot say whether the suspect will be arrested at the time or not,” he said.
Phnom Penh Post
A MAN who appeared at Phnom Penh Municipal Court yesterday in connection with his complaint accusing a midwife of botching an abortion procedure that killed his wife said he had enough evidence to prove the woman’s guilt.
Hiv Leng has accused the midwife of performing the procedure in her home in late June, despite being untrained and unregistered. He said his wife, 40-year-old Khem Tha, became ill shortly after the abortion and visited a string of doctors who had said it was “too late to help her ”. She died on July 20.
Yesterday, Hiv Leng said he would call upon the doctors to give evidence.
“I already have evidence and witnesses, like the doctors from the clinics that I sent my wife to for treatment after she fell seriously sick,” he said, and added that he could also produce health reports and call on neighbours as witnesses.
Heng Rami, a municipal court clerk, said yesterday that the midwife was expected to appear in court for questioning on Monday. “I cannot say whether the suspect will be arrested at the time or not,” he said.
Third suit targets labour firm
Mom Kunthear and Kim Samath
Phnom Penh Post
A LICENCED labour recruitment firm in Phnom Penh is under police investigation for at least the third time in the last month, after a woman claimed her daughter was mistreated while undergoing training.
However, a representative from the firm, VC Manpower Co, insisted the allegations were baseless.
Pol Khemra, the deputy director of the Department of Police at the Interior Ministry, said officers dropped by a VC Manpower training facility in the capital’s Sen Sok district yesterday to investigate the woman’s complaint.
He said officials spoke briefly with the company’s director, but that the director later fled while they were speaking with other staff members.
“It is difficult for us to summon the director because we don’t know his identity,” Pol Khemra said. “I have to talk to the prosecutor to see whether we have to arrest him or not.”
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Phnom Penh Post
A LICENCED labour recruitment firm in Phnom Penh is under police investigation for at least the third time in the last month, after a woman claimed her daughter was mistreated while undergoing training.
However, a representative from the firm, VC Manpower Co, insisted the allegations were baseless.
Pol Khemra, the deputy director of the Department of Police at the Interior Ministry, said officers dropped by a VC Manpower training facility in the capital’s Sen Sok district yesterday to investigate the woman’s complaint.
He said officials spoke briefly with the company’s director, but that the director later fled while they were speaking with other staff members.
“It is difficult for us to summon the director because we don’t know his identity,” Pol Khemra said. “I have to talk to the prosecutor to see whether we have to arrest him or not.”
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Accused midwife to countersue
Mom Kunthear
Phnom Penh Post
A MAN who filed a complaint over the weekend against a midwife whom he accused of botching an abortion procedure that killed his wife said yesterday that he had been threatened with a defamation countersuit.
Hiv Leng has accused the woman of performing the procedure at her home in late June despite being both unregistered and untrained. His wife, 40-year-old Khem Tha, died on July 20.
He said yesterday that his neighbours had warned him that the family of the accused was collecting thumbprints to be used as evidence in a defamation case against him.
“My neighbours told me when they were asked to print their thumb, but I told them that I do not care about that. I will still keep suing the midwife,” he said.
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Phnom Penh Post
A MAN who filed a complaint over the weekend against a midwife whom he accused of botching an abortion procedure that killed his wife said yesterday that he had been threatened with a defamation countersuit.
Hiv Leng has accused the woman of performing the procedure at her home in late June despite being both unregistered and untrained. His wife, 40-year-old Khem Tha, died on July 20.
He said yesterday that his neighbours had warned him that the family of the accused was collecting thumbprints to be used as evidence in a defamation case against him.
“My neighbours told me when they were asked to print their thumb, but I told them that I do not care about that. I will still keep suing the midwife,” he said.
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Union group threatens to strike
Mom Kunthear
Phnom Penh Post
A COALITION of 13 union leaders sent a letter to the Ministry of Labour and the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia yesterday threatening to organise strikes unless talks are scheduled by August 15 to renegotiate the sector’s newly established minimum wage.
The leaders reiterated their objection to a decision last month by the Labour Advisory Committee, a body made up of government officials and industry representatives, to raise the minimum monthly wage for garment workers by US$11 to $61. Some in the labour movement had been calling for the wage to be increased to as much as $93 per month.
“We don’t want conflict, but we want to find justice for the workers who work hard but receive low wages,” said Cambodian Labour Confederation President Ath Thun.
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Phnom Penh Post
A COALITION of 13 union leaders sent a letter to the Ministry of Labour and the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia yesterday threatening to organise strikes unless talks are scheduled by August 15 to renegotiate the sector’s newly established minimum wage.
The leaders reiterated their objection to a decision last month by the Labour Advisory Committee, a body made up of government officials and industry representatives, to raise the minimum monthly wage for garment workers by US$11 to $61. Some in the labour movement had been calling for the wage to be increased to as much as $93 per month.
“We don’t want conflict, but we want to find justice for the workers who work hard but receive low wages,” said Cambodian Labour Confederation President Ath Thun.
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Court set to investigate abortion complaint
Mom Kunthear
Phnom Penh Post
PHNOM Penh Municipal Court has launched an investigation into a complaint filed by a man who says his wife died as a result of an abortion performed by an unregistered and untrained midwife, a court official said yesterday.
Heng Rami, a court clerk, said he had questioned the complainant, Hiv Leng, yesterday, and that the accused was expected to attend questioning later in the week.
“I will summon the suspect on Friday this week to respond to this case,” he said. Heng Rami said he would not know whether or not the suspect would face charges until after that meeting.
Hiv Leng, 50, said yesterday that he had reiterated his original complaint, filed over the weekend, in which he accused a neighbour of performing an illegal abortion on his wife, 40-year-old Khem Tha, who had been three months pregnant at the time of the procedure.
He said his wife had died on July 20, one month after the abortion, because “her placenta and some parts of her stomach were rotten in her uterus”.
“I told the court clerk that I did not withdraw the complaint, and that I wish the suspect to be sentenced through the law,” and he requested “at least” US$10,000 in compensation, he said.
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Phnom Penh Post
PHNOM Penh Municipal Court has launched an investigation into a complaint filed by a man who says his wife died as a result of an abortion performed by an unregistered and untrained midwife, a court official said yesterday.
Heng Rami, a court clerk, said he had questioned the complainant, Hiv Leng, yesterday, and that the accused was expected to attend questioning later in the week.
“I will summon the suspect on Friday this week to respond to this case,” he said. Heng Rami said he would not know whether or not the suspect would face charges until after that meeting.
Hiv Leng, 50, said yesterday that he had reiterated his original complaint, filed over the weekend, in which he accused a neighbour of performing an illegal abortion on his wife, 40-year-old Khem Tha, who had been three months pregnant at the time of the procedure.
He said his wife had died on July 20, one month after the abortion, because “her placenta and some parts of her stomach were rotten in her uterus”.
“I told the court clerk that I did not withdraw the complaint, and that I wish the suspect to be sentenced through the law,” and he requested “at least” US$10,000 in compensation, he said.
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Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Labour firm says it’s law-abiding
Mom Kunthear and Kim Samath
Phnom Penh Post
THE director of a recruitment agency accused of illegally detaining trainees has defended his business practices two weeks after Labour Ministry officials began an investigation of the firm.
Sen Ly, the director of VC Manpower Co, said yesterday that the firm treats clients well.
“They came here because they need us to help them find a job, so when we accept them we have to take care of them because their parents come to meet us and ask us to look after their children,” Sen Ly said in an interview at the company’s Sen Sok district training centre.
The firm, one of at least 28 licensed by the Ministry of Labour to train and send workers abroad, was thrust into the public spotlight last month after a 24-year-old woman leaped from the second storey of the centre. She later said that she and other women had been corralled into tiny rooms and prevented from leaving.
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Phnom Penh Post
THE director of a recruitment agency accused of illegally detaining trainees has defended his business practices two weeks after Labour Ministry officials began an investigation of the firm.
Sen Ly, the director of VC Manpower Co, said yesterday that the firm treats clients well.
“They came here because they need us to help them find a job, so when we accept them we have to take care of them because their parents come to meet us and ask us to look after their children,” Sen Ly said in an interview at the company’s Sen Sok district training centre.
The firm, one of at least 28 licensed by the Ministry of Labour to train and send workers abroad, was thrust into the public spotlight last month after a 24-year-old woman leaped from the second storey of the centre. She later said that she and other women had been corralled into tiny rooms and prevented from leaving.
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Court set to investigate abortion complaint
Mom Kunthear
Phnom Penh Post
PHNOM Penh Municipal Court has launched an investigation into a complaint filed by a man who says his wife died as a result of an abortion performed by an unregistered and untrained midwife, a court official said yesterday.
Heng Rami, a court clerk, said he had questioned the complainant, Hiv Leng, yesterday, and that the accused was expected to attend questioning later in the week.
“I will summon the suspect on Friday this week to respond to this case,” he said. Heng Rami said he would not know whether or not the suspect would face charges until after that meeting.
Hiv Leng, 50, said yesterday that he had reiterated his original complaint, filed over the weekend, in which he accused a neighbour of performing an illegal abortion on his wife, 40-year-old Khem Tha, who had been three months pregnant at the time of the procedure.
He said his wife had died on July 20, one month after the abortion, because “her placenta and some parts of her stomach were rotten in her uterus”.
“I told the court clerk that I did not withdraw the complaint, and that I wish the suspect to be sentenced through the law,” and he requested “at least” US$10,000 in compensation, he said.
He said he had refused an out-of-court settlement that had been offered by the suspect’s husband and father after they learned of his complaint.
Under the 1997 Law on Abortion, untrained abortion providers who perform a procedure that results in a woman’s death can face up to 10 years in prison.
Phnom Penh Post
PHNOM Penh Municipal Court has launched an investigation into a complaint filed by a man who says his wife died as a result of an abortion performed by an unregistered and untrained midwife, a court official said yesterday.
Heng Rami, a court clerk, said he had questioned the complainant, Hiv Leng, yesterday, and that the accused was expected to attend questioning later in the week.
“I will summon the suspect on Friday this week to respond to this case,” he said. Heng Rami said he would not know whether or not the suspect would face charges until after that meeting.
Hiv Leng, 50, said yesterday that he had reiterated his original complaint, filed over the weekend, in which he accused a neighbour of performing an illegal abortion on his wife, 40-year-old Khem Tha, who had been three months pregnant at the time of the procedure.
He said his wife had died on July 20, one month after the abortion, because “her placenta and some parts of her stomach were rotten in her uterus”.
“I told the court clerk that I did not withdraw the complaint, and that I wish the suspect to be sentenced through the law,” and he requested “at least” US$10,000 in compensation, he said.
He said he had refused an out-of-court settlement that had been offered by the suspect’s husband and father after they learned of his complaint.
Under the 1997 Law on Abortion, untrained abortion providers who perform a procedure that results in a woman’s death can face up to 10 years in prison.
Botched abortion kills woman
Mom Kunthear
Phnom Penh Post
A RESIDENT of Meanchey district said yesterday that he had filed a complaint at Phnom Penh Municipal Court against a woman who he said caused his wife’s death by botching an abortion.
Hiv Leng, 50, said his wife, 40-year-old Khem Tha, died on July 20, one month to the day after she underwent the abortion without consulting anyone beforehand. She was three months pregnant.
“My wife did not tell me about the abortion until she already did it, because she was afraid I would be angry with her,” he said.
“My wife told me that she did not want to have this child because she is old, but I told her that it is OK, please keep it. She did not listen to me, and now I regret the loss of her life and what she did.”
He said that in the weeks after the procedure, he ushered his wife to a handful of clinics, but was told by doctors that nothing could be done to save her.
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Phnom Penh Post
A RESIDENT of Meanchey district said yesterday that he had filed a complaint at Phnom Penh Municipal Court against a woman who he said caused his wife’s death by botching an abortion.
Hiv Leng, 50, said his wife, 40-year-old Khem Tha, died on July 20, one month to the day after she underwent the abortion without consulting anyone beforehand. She was three months pregnant.
“My wife did not tell me about the abortion until she already did it, because she was afraid I would be angry with her,” he said.
“My wife told me that she did not want to have this child because she is old, but I told her that it is OK, please keep it. She did not listen to me, and now I regret the loss of her life and what she did.”
He said that in the weeks after the procedure, he ushered his wife to a handful of clinics, but was told by doctors that nothing could be done to save her.
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Saturday, July 31, 2010
Acid victims given prospects
Mom Kunthear and Will Baxter
Phnom Penh Post
Kandal province
AS a boy, Van Sopheak hoped to be a doctor. When he was in Grade 9, however, the Kampong Cham province native was attacked in his sleep by an unknown assailant who splashed acid over his face and torso.
The reasons for the attack remain unknown, but its effects were both serious and obvious. Fearful of discrimination from his peers, he stopped going to school and has had trouble finding work ever since.
“I wished to be a good doctor when I graduated, but everything failed. My plan melted away,” he said yesterday. “I started to look for a job after my wounds were treated, but I could not find a good one – only as a construction worker.”
Two weeks ago, Van Sopheak, now 27, became the first acid attack victim to sign up for an agriculture livelihoods programme run by the Cambodian Acid Survivors Charity. This week, the charity held a two-day workshop in Kandal province where survivors were invited to join the programme, which is intended to foster skills that might otherwise be difficult to acquire because of the social stigma related to their injuries.
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Phnom Penh Post
Kandal province
AS a boy, Van Sopheak hoped to be a doctor. When he was in Grade 9, however, the Kampong Cham province native was attacked in his sleep by an unknown assailant who splashed acid over his face and torso.
The reasons for the attack remain unknown, but its effects were both serious and obvious. Fearful of discrimination from his peers, he stopped going to school and has had trouble finding work ever since.
“I wished to be a good doctor when I graduated, but everything failed. My plan melted away,” he said yesterday. “I started to look for a job after my wounds were treated, but I could not find a good one – only as a construction worker.”
Two weeks ago, Van Sopheak, now 27, became the first acid attack victim to sign up for an agriculture livelihoods programme run by the Cambodian Acid Survivors Charity. This week, the charity held a two-day workshop in Kandal province where survivors were invited to join the programme, which is intended to foster skills that might otherwise be difficult to acquire because of the social stigma related to their injuries.
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Thursday, July 29, 2010
Kampot men summoned in land spat
Mom Kunthear
Phnom Penh Post
TWO villagers involved in a land dispute in Kampot province have been called to answer questions today about attempted murder and defamation allegations lodged against them by the chief of Dop Sralao village, in Teuk Chhou district’s Trapong Pring commune.
Soung Sorn filed a complaint against Chean Sorn and Phan Sareth shortly after a June 16 altercation in which villagers accosted employees of Phnom Penh businesswoman Heav Lon and tried to stop them from clearing 58 hectares of disputed land.
A group of 26 former Khmer Rouge families claim to have lived on the land since 1983 after receiving a concession from the government, but in 2005 Heav Lon accused villagers who were farming the land of destroying her private property.
Chean Sorn said yesterday that he did not know the basis of the complaint against him, but that he had merely gone to the site three days after the altercation to take pictures of the employees clearing the land. “I went down to the land dispute on June 19 to shoot some pictures only,” he said.
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Phnom Penh Post
TWO villagers involved in a land dispute in Kampot province have been called to answer questions today about attempted murder and defamation allegations lodged against them by the chief of Dop Sralao village, in Teuk Chhou district’s Trapong Pring commune.
Soung Sorn filed a complaint against Chean Sorn and Phan Sareth shortly after a June 16 altercation in which villagers accosted employees of Phnom Penh businesswoman Heav Lon and tried to stop them from clearing 58 hectares of disputed land.
A group of 26 former Khmer Rouge families claim to have lived on the land since 1983 after receiving a concession from the government, but in 2005 Heav Lon accused villagers who were farming the land of destroying her private property.
Chean Sorn said yesterday that he did not know the basis of the complaint against him, but that he had merely gone to the site three days after the altercation to take pictures of the employees clearing the land. “I went down to the land dispute on June 19 to shoot some pictures only,” he said.
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CITA head to file report on exam bribery
Khouth Sophak Chakrya and Mom Kunthear
Phnom Penh Post
HE head of the Cambodian Independent Teachers Association plans to file a report to the Education Ministry on the issue of “corruption during Grade 12 national exams” in physics and mathematics.
Rong Chhun, the president of CITA, said yesterday that the group had received reports from invigilators in Phnom Penh, Kampong Cham, Svay Rieng and Preah Sihanouk provinces that the mathematics exam was leaked on the night before yesterday’s test, and was being sold nationwide yesterday morning.
He added that supervisers and inspectors were still accepting bribes from candidates, some of whom were paying as much as 30,000 riels (US$7) to avoid punishment for cheating and copying.
“According to the education law, the results of these exams should be nullified and students must re-sit the exam if any test has been made public,” he said.
He said that the CITA report would be submitted sometime this weekend.
On Tuesday, Rong Chhun accused the chief inspector at the Hun Sen Saang exam centre in Kandal province of ordering all exam supervisors to take money from students sitting for exams this week.
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Phnom Penh Post
HE head of the Cambodian Independent Teachers Association plans to file a report to the Education Ministry on the issue of “corruption during Grade 12 national exams” in physics and mathematics.
Rong Chhun, the president of CITA, said yesterday that the group had received reports from invigilators in Phnom Penh, Kampong Cham, Svay Rieng and Preah Sihanouk provinces that the mathematics exam was leaked on the night before yesterday’s test, and was being sold nationwide yesterday morning.
He added that supervisers and inspectors were still accepting bribes from candidates, some of whom were paying as much as 30,000 riels (US$7) to avoid punishment for cheating and copying.
“According to the education law, the results of these exams should be nullified and students must re-sit the exam if any test has been made public,” he said.
He said that the CITA report would be submitted sometime this weekend.
On Tuesday, Rong Chhun accused the chief inspector at the Hun Sen Saang exam centre in Kandal province of ordering all exam supervisors to take money from students sitting for exams this week.
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Man gets prison for posing as late prince
Mom Kunthear
Phnom Penh Post
A 66-YEAR-OLD man was sentenced to three years in jail at Kampot provincial court on Wednesday for extorting money and gifts from local residents on the pretence that he was the late Prince Norodom Naradipo.
Kampot provincial deputy prosecutor Seang Sok said that although the province had seen similar cases of fraud in the past, appropriating the identity of a member of the royal family was particularly egregious. Prince Naradipo, a son of King Father Norodom Sihanouk and half-brother of King Norodom Sihamoni, was born in 1946 and died under the Khmer Rouge regime.
“This man impersonated the King’s relative in order to cheat the villagers and convince them to give him money,” Seang Sok said. “This could affect the King’s reputation, so the court charged the man with fraud.”
Tep Vanna, head of the Kampot provincial military police, said police had apprehended the suspect, Prum Sokkak, after receiving complaints about him from local residents. Prum Sokkak, who had apparently been running similar schemes throughout the country, was thwarted when his wife arrived and identified him, he added.
Prince Sisowath Thomico, assistant to the King Father, said in an email that Prum Sokkak was “not the first” fraudster to impersonate the late Prince Naradipo.
“The identity problems in Cambodia is in fact a direct and lasting consequence of the Khmer Rouge regime,” Prince Thomico said. “Thousands of people have since changed their names or have taken other persons’ identities. To my knowledge, there is no law to deal with this problem.”
Phnom Penh Post
A 66-YEAR-OLD man was sentenced to three years in jail at Kampot provincial court on Wednesday for extorting money and gifts from local residents on the pretence that he was the late Prince Norodom Naradipo.
Kampot provincial deputy prosecutor Seang Sok said that although the province had seen similar cases of fraud in the past, appropriating the identity of a member of the royal family was particularly egregious. Prince Naradipo, a son of King Father Norodom Sihanouk and half-brother of King Norodom Sihamoni, was born in 1946 and died under the Khmer Rouge regime.
“This man impersonated the King’s relative in order to cheat the villagers and convince them to give him money,” Seang Sok said. “This could affect the King’s reputation, so the court charged the man with fraud.”
Tep Vanna, head of the Kampot provincial military police, said police had apprehended the suspect, Prum Sokkak, after receiving complaints about him from local residents. Prum Sokkak, who had apparently been running similar schemes throughout the country, was thwarted when his wife arrived and identified him, he added.
Prince Sisowath Thomico, assistant to the King Father, said in an email that Prum Sokkak was “not the first” fraudster to impersonate the late Prince Naradipo.
“The identity problems in Cambodia is in fact a direct and lasting consequence of the Khmer Rouge regime,” Prince Thomico said. “Thousands of people have since changed their names or have taken other persons’ identities. To my knowledge, there is no law to deal with this problem.”
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Parents accept cash from labour agency
Mom Kunthear
Phnom Penh Post
THE parents of a young woman who allegedly died due to poor living conditions at a labour recruitment firm in Phnom Penh said yesterday that they would not pursue a criminal case after accepting 1.2 million riels (US$283) in compensation.
Prim Mao said the VC Manpower Co gave her family the money last week after her daugher, Yun Mab, 21, died at one of its training centres.
“They told us to keep this case quiet and don’t tell anyone about this,” she said.
Yun Mab died in hospital on July 20 after falling ill. She had spent three months at the centre in Sen Sok district.
The woman’s parents say poor living conditions contributed to her death. But company officials and local authorities contend that Yun Mab died from a previously undiagnosed case of leukemia.
Ream Vy, the woman’s father, said the family does not believe the daughter had leukemia because she had been in good health when she started her training course.
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Phnom Penh Post
THE parents of a young woman who allegedly died due to poor living conditions at a labour recruitment firm in Phnom Penh said yesterday that they would not pursue a criminal case after accepting 1.2 million riels (US$283) in compensation.
Prim Mao said the VC Manpower Co gave her family the money last week after her daugher, Yun Mab, 21, died at one of its training centres.
“They told us to keep this case quiet and don’t tell anyone about this,” she said.
Yun Mab died in hospital on July 20 after falling ill. She had spent three months at the centre in Sen Sok district.
The woman’s parents say poor living conditions contributed to her death. But company officials and local authorities contend that Yun Mab died from a previously undiagnosed case of leukemia.
Ream Vy, the woman’s father, said the family does not believe the daughter had leukemia because she had been in good health when she started her training course.
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Monday, July 26, 2010
Union president plans rally despite City Hall’s objection
Mom Kunthear and Tep Nimol
Phnom Penh Post
CITY officials ruled yesterday that a planned rally of garment workers scheduled for this Sunday will not be allowed, a local labour leader said, setting the stage for a confrontation between workers and local authorities.
Ath Thun, president of the Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers Democratic Union and head of the Cambodian Labour Confederation, said yesterday that city officials had deemed a planned public forum in Daun Penh district’s Wat Botum Park a threat to “security and social order”. The forum is intended to foster discussion of the newly established minimum wage for garment workers.
Ath Thun, however, pledged to hold the event regardless.
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Phnom Penh Post
CITY officials ruled yesterday that a planned rally of garment workers scheduled for this Sunday will not be allowed, a local labour leader said, setting the stage for a confrontation between workers and local authorities.
Ath Thun, president of the Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers Democratic Union and head of the Cambodian Labour Confederation, said yesterday that city officials had deemed a planned public forum in Daun Penh district’s Wat Botum Park a threat to “security and social order”. The forum is intended to foster discussion of the newly established minimum wage for garment workers.
Ath Thun, however, pledged to hold the event regardless.
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Underage girls freed in labour crackdown
Mom Kunthear
Phnom Penh Post
MORE than 30 girls believed to be underage have been discovered at two government-sanctioned labour-recruitment firms, accused of forcing clients to live in squalid conditions and denying them permission to leave, officials said yesterday.
The father of a 21-year-old woman who died during a training programme run by one of the firms said poor conditions had caused her sudden demise on Tuesday.
Nhem Kimhouy, a Ministry of Labour official, said authorities found 24 of the underage girls during a Tuesday raid on a centre in Sen Sok district run by the VC Manpower Co. Seven other girls were found during a raid last week on a second company, the Champa Manpower Group, he said.
The director of VC Manpower told authorities he had no idea underage workers were employed by his firm, which is licensed to train and send Cambodians to work as domestic helps in Malaysia, Nhem Kimhuoy said. “He said he already checked their forms to make sure they were not underage,” Nhem Kimhuoy said.
Officials at both companies could not be reached yesterday.
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Phnom Penh Post
MORE than 30 girls believed to be underage have been discovered at two government-sanctioned labour-recruitment firms, accused of forcing clients to live in squalid conditions and denying them permission to leave, officials said yesterday.
The father of a 21-year-old woman who died during a training programme run by one of the firms said poor conditions had caused her sudden demise on Tuesday.
Nhem Kimhouy, a Ministry of Labour official, said authorities found 24 of the underage girls during a Tuesday raid on a centre in Sen Sok district run by the VC Manpower Co. Seven other girls were found during a raid last week on a second company, the Champa Manpower Group, he said.
The director of VC Manpower told authorities he had no idea underage workers were employed by his firm, which is licensed to train and send Cambodians to work as domestic helps in Malaysia, Nhem Kimhuoy said. “He said he already checked their forms to make sure they were not underage,” Nhem Kimhuoy said.
Officials at both companies could not be reached yesterday.
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Duch’s neighbours reflect on his life
Sebastian Strangio and May Titthara
Phnom Penh Post
Kampong Thom province
THESE days, life in Chaoyot village, a collection of stilt houses nestled along the banks of the Stoung river, proceeds in much the same way it did 68 years ago, when Kaing Guek Eav, alias Duch, was born to parents of Khmer-Chinese extraction. It was here, in a small concrete home shaded by bamboo groves and mango trees, that Duch spent his childhood years, cycling each day the short distance to the local primary school.
The rustling palms and rutted village track are worlds away from Tuol Sleng, or S-21, the secret Khmer Rouge facility that Duch moulded into an efficient machine of interrogation, torture and death. As head of the prison, Duch is thought to have overseen the torture and killing of as many as 16,000 people, creating a nihilistic whirlwind from which only 14 or so emerged alive.
As the Khmer Rouge tribunal prepares to deliver its verdict against the 68-year old today – perhaps the only one it will ever issue – the proceedings have not gone unnoticed in Chaoyot. But the desire to see justice served means different things to different residents; whereas some are unsure how to relate Duch’s crimes to the abuses they personally endured during the regime, others seem to feel their effects acutely.
More than six decades since his birth, Duch has left only a faint trace in Chaoyot. His neat family home, currently occupied by his nephew Kim Luon, still stands, surrounded by a well-tended yard that abuts the road. Dy Thy, 63, one of Duch’s old neighbours, said she heard nothing from him during the 1975-1979 rule of the Khmer Rouge, and that she found it hard to square the quiet young student she remembers with the horrors of Tuol Sleng.
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Phnom Penh Post
Kampong Thom province
THESE days, life in Chaoyot village, a collection of stilt houses nestled along the banks of the Stoung river, proceeds in much the same way it did 68 years ago, when Kaing Guek Eav, alias Duch, was born to parents of Khmer-Chinese extraction. It was here, in a small concrete home shaded by bamboo groves and mango trees, that Duch spent his childhood years, cycling each day the short distance to the local primary school.
The rustling palms and rutted village track are worlds away from Tuol Sleng, or S-21, the secret Khmer Rouge facility that Duch moulded into an efficient machine of interrogation, torture and death. As head of the prison, Duch is thought to have overseen the torture and killing of as many as 16,000 people, creating a nihilistic whirlwind from which only 14 or so emerged alive.
As the Khmer Rouge tribunal prepares to deliver its verdict against the 68-year old today – perhaps the only one it will ever issue – the proceedings have not gone unnoticed in Chaoyot. But the desire to see justice served means different things to different residents; whereas some are unsure how to relate Duch’s crimes to the abuses they personally endured during the regime, others seem to feel their effects acutely.
More than six decades since his birth, Duch has left only a faint trace in Chaoyot. His neat family home, currently occupied by his nephew Kim Luon, still stands, surrounded by a well-tended yard that abuts the road. Dy Thy, 63, one of Duch’s old neighbours, said she heard nothing from him during the 1975-1979 rule of the Khmer Rouge, and that she found it hard to square the quiet young student she remembers with the horrors of Tuol Sleng.
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Garment workers rally over minimum wage
Mom Kunthear
Phnom Penh Post
HUNDREDS of garment workers took advantage of their day off yesterday to gather in front of the National Assembly to protest against a recent increase in the industry’s minimum wage that they say is inadequate.
The rally, originally scheduled to be held in Daun Penh district’s Wat Botum Park, was moved to the National Assembly after police blocked some workers from entering the park. Organisers estimated that between 3,500 and 4,500 workers attended, though the total number massed in front of the Assembly at any one time did not appear to exceed 1,000.
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Phnom Penh Post
HUNDREDS of garment workers took advantage of their day off yesterday to gather in front of the National Assembly to protest against a recent increase in the industry’s minimum wage that they say is inadequate.
The rally, originally scheduled to be held in Daun Penh district’s Wat Botum Park, was moved to the National Assembly after police blocked some workers from entering the park. Organisers estimated that between 3,500 and 4,500 workers attended, though the total number massed in front of the Assembly at any one time did not appear to exceed 1,000.
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Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Labour firm to halt recruiting
Irwin Loy and Mom Kunthear
Phnom Penh Post
A LABOUR recruitment firm accused of forcing employees to live in cramped, squalid conditions will be ordered to temporarily stop enlisting new clients, an industry official said yesterday.
An Bunhak, chairman of the Association of Cambodian Recruitment Agencies, said a Ministry of Labour committee met Monday to discuss the case of the Champa Manpower Group, which has been accussed of corralling 200 would-be migrants into three villas in Russey Keo district.
He said the decision had been reached by officials at the meeting.
“It means the ministry will not allow this company to recruit until inspectors find out they have applied the requirements of the Ministry of Labour and other authorities,” said An Bunhak, whose organisation represents 16 companies.
He added that he believed the decision marked the first time the ministry had taken such an action against a recruitment firm licensed by the government to train and send workers abroad.
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Phnom Penh Post
A LABOUR recruitment firm accused of forcing employees to live in cramped, squalid conditions will be ordered to temporarily stop enlisting new clients, an industry official said yesterday.
An Bunhak, chairman of the Association of Cambodian Recruitment Agencies, said a Ministry of Labour committee met Monday to discuss the case of the Champa Manpower Group, which has been accussed of corralling 200 would-be migrants into three villas in Russey Keo district.
He said the decision had been reached by officials at the meeting.
“It means the ministry will not allow this company to recruit until inspectors find out they have applied the requirements of the Ministry of Labour and other authorities,” said An Bunhak, whose organisation represents 16 companies.
He added that he believed the decision marked the first time the ministry had taken such an action against a recruitment firm licensed by the government to train and send workers abroad.
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Bail for mum accused of child abuse
Mom Kunthear
Phnom Penh Post
A KOH Kong woman accused of beating her 12-year-old stepson with electrical wire and bamboo has been released on bail and given custody of the boy again, officials said yesterday.
Chhin Chamroeun, a monitor with rights group Adhoc, said the provincial court decided to release the woman on bail on June 23, less than two weeks after she was arrested and charged with battery.
“The woman made a promise with the court and NGOs not to fight her stepson anymore, and she has to look after him carefully,” she said.
Meas Vanthana, Koh Kong provincial court’s deputy director, confirmed that the woman had been released on bail.
Court procedure allows suspects charged with misdemeanour crimes to be released on bail even if an investigation is under way, Meas Vanthana said. No court date has been set in the case.
Chhin Chamroeun said Adhoc staff observed no signs of abuse during a recent visit with the woman and the boy.
“We did not see any more new wounds on the boy’s body, and he has new clothes to wear to school,” she said.
She said she thought the decision to release the mother on bail could be a positive step, allowing the woman to change her behaviour and become a good mother.
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Phnom Penh Post
A KOH Kong woman accused of beating her 12-year-old stepson with electrical wire and bamboo has been released on bail and given custody of the boy again, officials said yesterday.
Chhin Chamroeun, a monitor with rights group Adhoc, said the provincial court decided to release the woman on bail on June 23, less than two weeks after she was arrested and charged with battery.
“The woman made a promise with the court and NGOs not to fight her stepson anymore, and she has to look after him carefully,” she said.
Meas Vanthana, Koh Kong provincial court’s deputy director, confirmed that the woman had been released on bail.
Court procedure allows suspects charged with misdemeanour crimes to be released on bail even if an investigation is under way, Meas Vanthana said. No court date has been set in the case.
Chhin Chamroeun said Adhoc staff observed no signs of abuse during a recent visit with the woman and the boy.
“We did not see any more new wounds on the boy’s body, and he has new clothes to wear to school,” she said.
She said she thought the decision to release the mother on bail could be a positive step, allowing the woman to change her behaviour and become a good mother.
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Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Investigation begins into a second labour agency
Mom Kunthear
Phnom Penh Post
OFFICIALS have launched an investigation into a labour firm after one of its clients leaped from the second floor of a training centre in Sen Sok district and said she had been held there against her will.
The incident made VC Manpower Co the second firm registered with the Ministry of Labour to face scrutiny in a week.
Leng Sokleap said yesterday that she had tried to escape from the training centre on Sunday because staff members had refused to allow her to visit her family.
“The company owner does not allow anyone in the company to leave because he is afraid the workers won’t come back,” she said.
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Phnom Penh Post
OFFICIALS have launched an investigation into a labour firm after one of its clients leaped from the second floor of a training centre in Sen Sok district and said she had been held there against her will.
The incident made VC Manpower Co the second firm registered with the Ministry of Labour to face scrutiny in a week.
Leng Sokleap said yesterday that she had tried to escape from the training centre on Sunday because staff members had refused to allow her to visit her family.
“The company owner does not allow anyone in the company to leave because he is afraid the workers won’t come back,” she said.
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Monday, July 19, 2010
Migrants freed after deportation
Mom Kunthear
Phnom Penh Post
STUNG Treng province officials released 19 Cambodians who were deported from Laos last week, and the man accused of attempting to smuggle them into Thailand has been sent to the provincial court for investigation, officials said yesterday.
Sun Leang, chief of the provincial Anti-Human Trafficking and Juvenile Protection Bureau, said the 19 would-be migrant workers, who each paid the broker 50,000 riels (US$11.80) to ensure their safe passage, were re-educated before their release.
He added that a further seven Cambodians remained on the run and had perhaps already made it to Thailand. “Cambodian and Lao authorities are searching for them to bring back to Cambodia,” he said.
He said provincial officials arrested a broker allegedly engaging in similar practices earlier in the month, along with another in May. He added that he believed migrants were increasingly being routed through Laos in response to steeper bribes charged by officials at the Poipet crossing in Banteay Meanchey province.
“Now, most people change their behaviour when crossing the border,” he said. “Before, they travelled through Poipet, but they have to spend more money.”
Hou Sam Ol, provincial monitor for the rights group Adhoc, said the 19 Cambodians likely had no other employment options apart from those
in Thailand, and called on officials to create more jobs in Cambodia.
Phnom Penh Post
STUNG Treng province officials released 19 Cambodians who were deported from Laos last week, and the man accused of attempting to smuggle them into Thailand has been sent to the provincial court for investigation, officials said yesterday.
Sun Leang, chief of the provincial Anti-Human Trafficking and Juvenile Protection Bureau, said the 19 would-be migrant workers, who each paid the broker 50,000 riels (US$11.80) to ensure their safe passage, were re-educated before their release.
He added that a further seven Cambodians remained on the run and had perhaps already made it to Thailand. “Cambodian and Lao authorities are searching for them to bring back to Cambodia,” he said.
He said provincial officials arrested a broker allegedly engaging in similar practices earlier in the month, along with another in May. He added that he believed migrants were increasingly being routed through Laos in response to steeper bribes charged by officials at the Poipet crossing in Banteay Meanchey province.
“Now, most people change their behaviour when crossing the border,” he said. “Before, they travelled through Poipet, but they have to spend more money.”
Hou Sam Ol, provincial monitor for the rights group Adhoc, said the 19 Cambodians likely had no other employment options apart from those
in Thailand, and called on officials to create more jobs in Cambodia.
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Garment workers in capital wind up strikes
Mom Kunthear
Phnom Penh Post
More than 2,000 workers from the United Imperial Cambodia garment factory in Sen Sok district will return to work today following a two-day strike after factory managers reinstated four union leaders fired earlier this month, workers said. “The factory officials fired four of us without any reason,” said Sous Chantha, one of the terminated workers. Around 8,000 workers from at least two factories also restarted work yesterday after striking for two days while demanding increased wages. Chea Mony, president of the Free Trade Union, said he will meet with the Garment Manufacturers’ Association in Cambodia to discuss their concerns today.
Phnom Penh Post
More than 2,000 workers from the United Imperial Cambodia garment factory in Sen Sok district will return to work today following a two-day strike after factory managers reinstated four union leaders fired earlier this month, workers said. “The factory officials fired four of us without any reason,” said Sous Chantha, one of the terminated workers. Around 8,000 workers from at least two factories also restarted work yesterday after striking for two days while demanding increased wages. Chea Mony, president of the Free Trade Union, said he will meet with the Garment Manufacturers’ Association in Cambodia to discuss their concerns today.
Ex-garment workers at risk in sex industry
Daniel Pordes and Mom Kunthear
Phnom Penh Post
LAID-OFF garment factory workers who have entered the entertainment sector are at increased risk of on-the-job violence, alcohol abuse and HIV/AIDS, according to a new study assessing the impact of the global economic downturn on the Cambodian garment industry.
The study, released yesterday by the International Labour Organisation, is based on interviews with 16 ex-factory workers who were laid off during the economic crisis and took jobs as hostesses and sex workers in Phnom Penh to supplement their income.
“All women interviewed had experienced some form of workplace abuse – ranging from verbal abuse to serious physical and sexual assault,” the report states.
One of the interviewees, identified as Sotha, a 23-year-old from Prey Veng province, said that as a waitress she was threatened at gunpoint by a customer who wanted to have sex with her. Despite this, Sotha said she was not deterred from eventually moving into sex work.
After losing her job in 2009 another woman, 26-year-old Battambang native Phary, found work in a karaoke bar and soon started supplementing her income with prostitution, which allowed her to help pay for her mother’s medical treatment.
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Phnom Penh Post
LAID-OFF garment factory workers who have entered the entertainment sector are at increased risk of on-the-job violence, alcohol abuse and HIV/AIDS, according to a new study assessing the impact of the global economic downturn on the Cambodian garment industry.
The study, released yesterday by the International Labour Organisation, is based on interviews with 16 ex-factory workers who were laid off during the economic crisis and took jobs as hostesses and sex workers in Phnom Penh to supplement their income.
“All women interviewed had experienced some form of workplace abuse – ranging from verbal abuse to serious physical and sexual assault,” the report states.
One of the interviewees, identified as Sotha, a 23-year-old from Prey Veng province, said that as a waitress she was threatened at gunpoint by a customer who wanted to have sex with her. Despite this, Sotha said she was not deterred from eventually moving into sex work.
After losing her job in 2009 another woman, 26-year-old Battambang native Phary, found work in a karaoke bar and soon started supplementing her income with prostitution, which allowed her to help pay for her mother’s medical treatment.
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Thursday, July 15, 2010
Laos repatriated Cambodian pair
Mom Kunthear
Phnom Penh Post
LAOTIAN authorities have repatriated two Cambodian men who were arrested on suspicion of crossing the border illegally into Laos’s Champasak province and attacking a group of border guards, Cambodian officials said yesterday.
Hang Hau, 29, and Sim Soeun, 34, were detained by Laotian authorities after crossing the border in April. Another man, Preaing Sokha, 27, was shot and killed in the crossing.
Laos arrested four Cambodians in March, also for crossing the border illegally, but they were immediately released.
Stung Treng provincial Governor Loy Sophat said in April that all seven men had committed “an illegal act” by crossing into Laos. “They brought along some illegal drugs and machetes, as well.”
Deputy provincial police Chief Phiv Vongdoeun said yesterday that the two men were sent back to Cambodia in “early June” as a result of negotiations between the two countries.
“Laotian authorities agreed to return the two Cambodian men without receiving any money for sending them back,” he said.
“There are no Cambodian people detained in Laos anymore, and provincial authorities have urged people not to cross the border to cut trees.”
Phnom Penh Post
LAOTIAN authorities have repatriated two Cambodian men who were arrested on suspicion of crossing the border illegally into Laos’s Champasak province and attacking a group of border guards, Cambodian officials said yesterday.
Hang Hau, 29, and Sim Soeun, 34, were detained by Laotian authorities after crossing the border in April. Another man, Preaing Sokha, 27, was shot and killed in the crossing.
Laos arrested four Cambodians in March, also for crossing the border illegally, but they were immediately released.
Stung Treng provincial Governor Loy Sophat said in April that all seven men had committed “an illegal act” by crossing into Laos. “They brought along some illegal drugs and machetes, as well.”
Deputy provincial police Chief Phiv Vongdoeun said yesterday that the two men were sent back to Cambodia in “early June” as a result of negotiations between the two countries.
“Laotian authorities agreed to return the two Cambodian men without receiving any money for sending them back,” he said.
“There are no Cambodian people detained in Laos anymore, and provincial authorities have urged people not to cross the border to cut trees.”
Expansion of labour firm OK’d after raid
Mom Kunthear
Phnom Penh Post
A LABOUR-RECRUITMENT firm that was the target of a raid earlier this week has been given permission to expand in order to better accommodate its clients, officials said yesterday.
Police in Russey Keo district’s Chroy Changvar commune on Monday discovered 232 women and girls crammed into three villas belonging to the Champa Manpower Group.
On Tuesday, Deputy District Governor Ly Rosami called for an investigation of the firm, saying its clients – who had paid to participate in three months of training for jobs as domestic helpers in Malaysia – had been corralled into unsanitary rooms and denied freedom of movement.
A company representative said, however, that only a few women who had threatened to break their contracts had been prohibited from leaving.
Officials from City Hall, the Labour Ministry and the Interior Ministry’s Anti-Human Trafficking Bureau visited the villas yesterday and determined that the company’s facilities were far too small.
“We will give the company owner a chance to make the place bigger, and I will come back to check it again,” said Keo Thea, director of the municipal Anti-Human Trafficking and Juvenile Protection Bureau. “If he does what he’s promised and expands the house, we will not close the company.”
Keo Thea added that the company had a licence to send workers overseas. Workers who decide not to go abroad, he said, will be permitted to leave the villas once they reimburse the company for the expense of securing them visas for Malaysia and feeding them during the training.
Phnom Penh Post
A LABOUR-RECRUITMENT firm that was the target of a raid earlier this week has been given permission to expand in order to better accommodate its clients, officials said yesterday.
Police in Russey Keo district’s Chroy Changvar commune on Monday discovered 232 women and girls crammed into three villas belonging to the Champa Manpower Group.
On Tuesday, Deputy District Governor Ly Rosami called for an investigation of the firm, saying its clients – who had paid to participate in three months of training for jobs as domestic helpers in Malaysia – had been corralled into unsanitary rooms and denied freedom of movement.
A company representative said, however, that only a few women who had threatened to break their contracts had been prohibited from leaving.
Officials from City Hall, the Labour Ministry and the Interior Ministry’s Anti-Human Trafficking Bureau visited the villas yesterday and determined that the company’s facilities were far too small.
“We will give the company owner a chance to make the place bigger, and I will come back to check it again,” said Keo Thea, director of the municipal Anti-Human Trafficking and Juvenile Protection Bureau. “If he does what he’s promised and expands the house, we will not close the company.”
Keo Thea added that the company had a licence to send workers overseas. Workers who decide not to go abroad, he said, will be permitted to leave the villas once they reimburse the company for the expense of securing them visas for Malaysia and feeding them during the training.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Union leader to seek permission for rally
Mom Kunthear and Chrann Chamroeun
Phnom Penh Post
A PROMINENT union leader said yesterday that he would submit an official request to City Hall for permission to hold a large-scale gathering of workers concerned about a recently approved rise in the minimum wage.
Ath Thun, president of the Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers Democratic Union and head of the Cambodian Labour Confederation, said the letter would be sent this morning, and that the gathering was expected to take place on July 25 in the park near Wat Botum.
Last Thursday, the Labour Advisory Committee voted to increase the minimum wage of garment workers by US$5 and to incorporate a $6 cost of living supplement into the basic wage, thereby raising it from $50 to $61.
Despite having criticised the decision when it was announced, union leader Chea Mony, who earlier called for a three-day sit-down strike over the minimum wage issue, said on Sunday that he would not organise a strike.
Ath Thun said he planned to distribute 100,000 fliers in advance of the July 25 meeting, which he said he hoped would allow him to gauge how workers felt about the Labour Advisory Committee decision.
If enough of them find the proposed minimum wage insufficient, he will organise a strike himself, he said.
“I haven’t set the date for a strike yet because I don’t know how many of the workers agree and how many don’t agree,” he said.
Interior Ministry spokesman Khieu Sopheak said City Hall is empowered to permit or forbid the proposed large-scale gathering. “If the municipality allows it, our police officials will not have any motive to crack down on a peaceful demonstration,” he said.
Phnom Penh Post
A PROMINENT union leader said yesterday that he would submit an official request to City Hall for permission to hold a large-scale gathering of workers concerned about a recently approved rise in the minimum wage.
Ath Thun, president of the Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers Democratic Union and head of the Cambodian Labour Confederation, said the letter would be sent this morning, and that the gathering was expected to take place on July 25 in the park near Wat Botum.
Last Thursday, the Labour Advisory Committee voted to increase the minimum wage of garment workers by US$5 and to incorporate a $6 cost of living supplement into the basic wage, thereby raising it from $50 to $61.
Despite having criticised the decision when it was announced, union leader Chea Mony, who earlier called for a three-day sit-down strike over the minimum wage issue, said on Sunday that he would not organise a strike.
Ath Thun said he planned to distribute 100,000 fliers in advance of the July 25 meeting, which he said he hoped would allow him to gauge how workers felt about the Labour Advisory Committee decision.
If enough of them find the proposed minimum wage insufficient, he will organise a strike himself, he said.
“I haven’t set the date for a strike yet because I don’t know how many of the workers agree and how many don’t agree,” he said.
Interior Ministry spokesman Khieu Sopheak said City Hall is empowered to permit or forbid the proposed large-scale gathering. “If the municipality allows it, our police officials will not have any motive to crack down on a peaceful demonstration,” he said.
Employment firm under scrutiny
Mom Kunthear
Phnom Penh Post
A DISTRICT official said yesterday that she plans to ask City Hall and the Labour Ministry to investigate a company accused of forcing more than 200 would-be migrant workers to live in squalid conditions in Russey Keo district.
Police discovered the 232 women and girls, who were being trained to work as domestic helpers in Malaysia, during a police raid on three villas in Chroy Changvar commune owned by the Champa Manpower Group.
District Deputy Chief Ly Rosami said local authorities were tipped off to the presence of the workers by people living next to the villas, who said they had found a note dropped out of a window by one of the allegedly detained workers. “There were 232 workers locked in the rooms in the three different houses,” Ly Rosami said.
She added that although the company was legally registered to train and send workers to Malaysia, it might have broken the law.
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Phnom Penh Post
A DISTRICT official said yesterday that she plans to ask City Hall and the Labour Ministry to investigate a company accused of forcing more than 200 would-be migrant workers to live in squalid conditions in Russey Keo district.
Police discovered the 232 women and girls, who were being trained to work as domestic helpers in Malaysia, during a police raid on three villas in Chroy Changvar commune owned by the Champa Manpower Group.
District Deputy Chief Ly Rosami said local authorities were tipped off to the presence of the workers by people living next to the villas, who said they had found a note dropped out of a window by one of the allegedly detained workers. “There were 232 workers locked in the rooms in the three different houses,” Ly Rosami said.
She added that although the company was legally registered to train and send workers to Malaysia, it might have broken the law.
Read More
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Labour leader calls off strike
Mom Kunthear and Kim Yuthana
Phnom Penh PostLABOUR leader Chea Mony announced yesterday that he was abandoning plans for a three-day strike against a newly approved garment sector minimum wage increase.
In a meeting of 125 worker representatives of the Free Trade Union of Workers of the Kingdom of Cambodia, Chea Mony, the union’s president, said the planned strike, which was to start tomorrow, would not go forward.
Last Thursday, he slammed the decision by the Labour Advisory Committee to institute what amounted to an $11 bump in the minimum wage – an increase that some union leaders have said was not enough to meet workers’ needs.
Yesterday, however, he said he found the increase acceptable.
“I agreed with the government’s decision to approve a minimum wage increase for workers,” Chea Mony said Sunday. “My workers can accept this wage as well.”
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Panel puts off delivery of draft acid law
Mom Kunthear
Phnom Penh Post
A GOVERNMENT committee tasked with formulating a law to curb acid crimes decided to delay sending its final draft to the Council of Ministers, its deputy director said yesterday.
Ouk Kimlek, who is also an undersecretary of state at the Interior Ministry, said last month that he expected the committee to finalise the draft law and send it to the Council of Ministers before July 1. Yesterday, however, he said that although the draft had been completed, committee members wanted more time to reconsider specific provisions before sending it off.
In particular, he said the committee wanted to make sure the stiff sentences outlined in the draft – early versions of which called for maximum sentences of life imprisonment for serious acid crimes – were defensible. “To have a good law, we cannot spend a short time to do it because we don’t want to see this law have problems after it is approved, maybe because it lacks some points or it is not a complete law,” he said.
He cited as an example the proposed sentence of 10 years for intentional battery with acid, which is eight years longer than the current baseline sentence for intentional battery.
“Why is this law different from the others when it is the same charge? So that’s why we need to develop good reasons to support our law in order to protect it,” he said.
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Phnom Penh Post
A GOVERNMENT committee tasked with formulating a law to curb acid crimes decided to delay sending its final draft to the Council of Ministers, its deputy director said yesterday.
Ouk Kimlek, who is also an undersecretary of state at the Interior Ministry, said last month that he expected the committee to finalise the draft law and send it to the Council of Ministers before July 1. Yesterday, however, he said that although the draft had been completed, committee members wanted more time to reconsider specific provisions before sending it off.
In particular, he said the committee wanted to make sure the stiff sentences outlined in the draft – early versions of which called for maximum sentences of life imprisonment for serious acid crimes – were defensible. “To have a good law, we cannot spend a short time to do it because we don’t want to see this law have problems after it is approved, maybe because it lacks some points or it is not a complete law,” he said.
He cited as an example the proposed sentence of 10 years for intentional battery with acid, which is eight years longer than the current baseline sentence for intentional battery.
“Why is this law different from the others when it is the same charge? So that’s why we need to develop good reasons to support our law in order to protect it,” he said.
Read More
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Minimum wage ruling set to spark garment protests
Mom Kunthear
Phnom Penh Post
LABOUR officials have voted to boost the monthly minimum wage for garment workers by US$11, a figure that falls far short of what some major unions were demanding – prompting fresh warnings that a large-scale strike will be held next week.
During a meeting of the Labour Advisory Committee on Thursday, a panel of officials, factory representatives and union leaders voted to increase the minimum wage by $5. They also endorsed a plan to meld the existing $6 cost of living supplement into the basic wage, thereby raising the minimum wage from $50 per month to $61.
Labour Minister Vong Soth said the new wage would go into effect in October and remain in place until 2014.
“It was not approved only by the government, but agreed on by employees and unions,” he said.
Going into the meeting, some unionists had demanded wages ranging from $70 to $93. Last month, Chea Mony, head of the Free Trade Union of Workers of the Kingdom of Cambodia, threatened to stage a three-day strike starting July 13 if his demand of $70 was not met.
After the decision Thursday, Chea Mony said the strike plan remained in place.
“I cannot accept the $61 that the government approved,” he said. “My stance is the same. I will hold a protest strike on the same day to demand a minimum wage increase to $70.”
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Phnom Penh Post
LABOUR officials have voted to boost the monthly minimum wage for garment workers by US$11, a figure that falls far short of what some major unions were demanding – prompting fresh warnings that a large-scale strike will be held next week.
During a meeting of the Labour Advisory Committee on Thursday, a panel of officials, factory representatives and union leaders voted to increase the minimum wage by $5. They also endorsed a plan to meld the existing $6 cost of living supplement into the basic wage, thereby raising the minimum wage from $50 per month to $61.
Labour Minister Vong Soth said the new wage would go into effect in October and remain in place until 2014.
“It was not approved only by the government, but agreed on by employees and unions,” he said.
Going into the meeting, some unionists had demanded wages ranging from $70 to $93. Last month, Chea Mony, head of the Free Trade Union of Workers of the Kingdom of Cambodia, threatened to stage a three-day strike starting July 13 if his demand of $70 was not met.
After the decision Thursday, Chea Mony said the strike plan remained in place.
“I cannot accept the $61 that the government approved,” he said. “My stance is the same. I will hold a protest strike on the same day to demand a minimum wage increase to $70.”
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Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Elephants set for travel
Sam Rith
Phnom Penh Post
CAMBODIA is to officially hand over two elephants to South Korea today, a move one official said was intended to express Prime Minister Hun Sen’s appreciation of the two countries’ friendship.
Chheng Kim Sun, director of the Forestry Administration, said the elephants would be given to South Korea during a ceremony at Phnom Tamao Wildlife Rescue Centre in Kandal province.
“This is the first time we have offered elephants to South Korea,” he said, and added that a sign would be displayed at the zoo stating that the pachyderms “are a present from Samdech Hun Sen to South Korea for friendship and for all children”.
Phnom Penh Post
CAMBODIA is to officially hand over two elephants to South Korea today, a move one official said was intended to express Prime Minister Hun Sen’s appreciation of the two countries’ friendship.
Chheng Kim Sun, director of the Forestry Administration, said the elephants would be given to South Korea during a ceremony at Phnom Tamao Wildlife Rescue Centre in Kandal province.
“This is the first time we have offered elephants to South Korea,” he said, and added that a sign would be displayed at the zoo stating that the pachyderms “are a present from Samdech Hun Sen to South Korea for friendship and for all children”.
Six-month Indian ordeal ends for migrant workers
Mom Kunthear
Phnom Penh Post
EIGHT Cambodian men believed to have been trafficked to India arrived at Phnom Penh International Airport yesterday morning after spending six months in an Indian detention centre.
The workers reportedly left Cambodia last September to find jobs in Thailand, having struck a deal with a broker who promised them fake Thai visas, passage across the border and construction work on the other side.
“I was cheated,” one of the returned workers, 19-year-old Song Pheakdey, said yesterday. “We were kept on the boat in Thailand for 28 days before we were brought illegally to India.”
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Phnom Penh Post
EIGHT Cambodian men believed to have been trafficked to India arrived at Phnom Penh International Airport yesterday morning after spending six months in an Indian detention centre.
The workers reportedly left Cambodia last September to find jobs in Thailand, having struck a deal with a broker who promised them fake Thai visas, passage across the border and construction work on the other side.
“I was cheated,” one of the returned workers, 19-year-old Song Pheakdey, said yesterday. “We were kept on the boat in Thailand for 28 days before we were brought illegally to India.”
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Tuesday, July 6, 2010
VN beautician charged over botched surgery
Mom Kunthear
Phnom Penh Post
Phnom Penh Municipal Court has charged an unlicensed Vietnamese beautician with intentional battery after one of his clients accused him of botching a skin-whitening procedure, a police official said on Sunday. Huot Chanyaran, the police chief of Tuol Kork district, said 26-year-old Veng Vuththai, who was arrested last week, had been sent to Prey Sar prison after the court processed him. “We sent him to the court last week, and the court already charged him with intentional battery. He has been sent to Prey Sar prison,” he said. The complaint filed by the victim accused Veng Vuththai of giving her injections of “skin-whitening cream” that had caused her face to become swollen and painful. Court officials could not be reached yesterday.
Phnom Penh Post
Phnom Penh Municipal Court has charged an unlicensed Vietnamese beautician with intentional battery after one of his clients accused him of botching a skin-whitening procedure, a police official said on Sunday. Huot Chanyaran, the police chief of Tuol Kork district, said 26-year-old Veng Vuththai, who was arrested last week, had been sent to Prey Sar prison after the court processed him. “We sent him to the court last week, and the court already charged him with intentional battery. He has been sent to Prey Sar prison,” he said. The complaint filed by the victim accused Veng Vuththai of giving her injections of “skin-whitening cream” that had caused her face to become swollen and painful. Court officials could not be reached yesterday.
Factory closes down as workers pass out
Mom Kunthear
Phnom Penh Post
AUTHORITIES ordered the temporary closure of a garment factory in the capital’s Meanchey district yesterday after 47 of its employees fainted while working.
Tep Bora, the chief of Boeung Tumpun commune, said 22 workers at the Pine Great (Cambodia) Garments factory collapsed on Friday, followed by 25 more on Saturday.
“We have decided to postpone [the operations of] the Pine Great factory for a period until they find the reason those workers fainted,” he said yesterday.
He added that a further 50 workers had reported headaches after shifts at the factory.
Tep Bora said that those who suffered fainting spells recovered after being sent to the Cambodian-Russian Friendship Hospital and were resting at home.
“We do not know for sure whether they fainted because of the chemicals that preserve the clothes, because we are still investigating,” he said.
Pok Vanthat, director of the Occupational Health Department at the Ministry of Labour, said yesterday that his department had yet to investigate the incident, but denied chemicals were a likely cause.
“It could be caused by a variety of different reasons, such as the bad environment in the factory, shock from seeing other workers faint or not eating enough food with enough vitamins,” he said.
Factory managers and affected workers could not be reached for comment yesterday.
Phnom Penh Post
AUTHORITIES ordered the temporary closure of a garment factory in the capital’s Meanchey district yesterday after 47 of its employees fainted while working.
Tep Bora, the chief of Boeung Tumpun commune, said 22 workers at the Pine Great (Cambodia) Garments factory collapsed on Friday, followed by 25 more on Saturday.
“We have decided to postpone [the operations of] the Pine Great factory for a period until they find the reason those workers fainted,” he said yesterday.
He added that a further 50 workers had reported headaches after shifts at the factory.
Tep Bora said that those who suffered fainting spells recovered after being sent to the Cambodian-Russian Friendship Hospital and were resting at home.
“We do not know for sure whether they fainted because of the chemicals that preserve the clothes, because we are still investigating,” he said.
Pok Vanthat, director of the Occupational Health Department at the Ministry of Labour, said yesterday that his department had yet to investigate the incident, but denied chemicals were a likely cause.
“It could be caused by a variety of different reasons, such as the bad environment in the factory, shock from seeing other workers faint or not eating enough food with enough vitamins,” he said.
Factory managers and affected workers could not be reached for comment yesterday.
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Film gives Brother Number 2 a voice
James O'Toole
Phnom Penh Post
WHEN did you realise that villagers were being killed?” an elderly Nuon Chea is asked, sitting at his home in Pailin province.
“I can’t really remember the exact moment,” he responds. “I just went on with my work and didn’t jot it down.”
These remarks come in Enemies of the People, a new documentary set to premiere in Cambodia this month, and they are typical of the filmmakers’ interviews with Nuon Chea.
The candour and unapologetic tone with which the former Democratic Kampuchea Brother No 2 discusses his role in the regime are among the most striking elements of the film, and some observers say they may alter the course of proceedings against him in the Khmer Rouge tribunal’s second case.
Enemies of the People has been showing at film festivals around the world for the past few months to critical acclaim, winning the Nestor Almendros Award for courage in filmmaking at the Human Rights Watch Film Festival in New York last month. Cambodian Co-director Thet Sambath, who also works as a senior reporter for the Post, says it is set to premiere at Phnom Penh’s Meta House gallery on July 21, just five days before the reading of the verdict in Case 001, that of Tuol Sleng prison chief Kaing Guek Eav.
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Phnom Penh Post
WHEN did you realise that villagers were being killed?” an elderly Nuon Chea is asked, sitting at his home in Pailin province.
“I can’t really remember the exact moment,” he responds. “I just went on with my work and didn’t jot it down.”
These remarks come in Enemies of the People, a new documentary set to premiere in Cambodia this month, and they are typical of the filmmakers’ interviews with Nuon Chea.
The candour and unapologetic tone with which the former Democratic Kampuchea Brother No 2 discusses his role in the regime are among the most striking elements of the film, and some observers say they may alter the course of proceedings against him in the Khmer Rouge tribunal’s second case.
Enemies of the People has been showing at film festivals around the world for the past few months to critical acclaim, winning the Nestor Almendros Award for courage in filmmaking at the Human Rights Watch Film Festival in New York last month. Cambodian Co-director Thet Sambath, who also works as a senior reporter for the Post, says it is set to premiere at Phnom Penh’s Meta House gallery on July 21, just five days before the reading of the verdict in Case 001, that of Tuol Sleng prison chief Kaing Guek Eav.
Read More
Guards thwart Pursat jailbreak
Mom Kunthear and May Titthara
Phnom Penh Post
A GROUP of 10 inmates has attempted to escape from a new prison in Pursat province that operates a vocational training programme aimed at teaching inmates agricultural skills, its director said Thursday.
Hin Sophal said the incident marked the second escape attempt at Correctional Centre 4 since it opened last year as part of a broader initiative to combat prison overcrowding. In March, the facility – designed to house 2,500 prisoners on 846 hectares of land – began growing sugarcane, rubber trees and potatoes as part of the vocational programme, which has been hailed as a potential model for reducing recidivism.
On Sunday, Hin Sophal said, the 10 prisoners – all of whom are between 19 and 23 and serving sentences for robbery or theft – began “to fight each other without reason” in their shared cell. Prison guards eventually broke up the fight and locked the prisoners in a room together.
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Phnom Penh Post
A GROUP of 10 inmates has attempted to escape from a new prison in Pursat province that operates a vocational training programme aimed at teaching inmates agricultural skills, its director said Thursday.
Hin Sophal said the incident marked the second escape attempt at Correctional Centre 4 since it opened last year as part of a broader initiative to combat prison overcrowding. In March, the facility – designed to house 2,500 prisoners on 846 hectares of land – began growing sugarcane, rubber trees and potatoes as part of the vocational programme, which has been hailed as a potential model for reducing recidivism.
On Sunday, Hin Sophal said, the 10 prisoners – all of whom are between 19 and 23 and serving sentences for robbery or theft – began “to fight each other without reason” in their shared cell. Prison guards eventually broke up the fight and locked the prisoners in a room together.
Read More
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Domestic violence ‘tolerated’: survey
Brooke Lewis and Mom Kunthear
Phnom Penh Post
MORE than half of Cambodian men and women believe a husband would be justified in shooting, stabbing or throwing acid at his wife if she were disrespectful or argumentative, according to a survey released Tuesday by the Ministry of Women’s Affairs.
The Violence Against Women: 2009 Follow-up Survey was conducted to assess how the level of awareness of domestic violence issues has changed since a baseline survey was conducted in 2005. The new survey draws from interviews with 3,040 “members of the general public” – a population selected to be nationally representative – as well as 311 police officers and local officials.
Samantha Ferrell, young professional for the promotion of women’s rights at the German Technical Cooperation (GTZ), a German-funded aid group that contributed to the survey, said the results pointed to some improvements, but that domestic violence “is still widely accepted, justified and tolerated”.
One particularly encouraging finding, she said, was that “almost all” respondents were aware of the Law on the Prevention of Domestic Violence and the Protection of Victims. “This is a very big success,” she said.
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Phnom Penh Post
MORE than half of Cambodian men and women believe a husband would be justified in shooting, stabbing or throwing acid at his wife if she were disrespectful or argumentative, according to a survey released Tuesday by the Ministry of Women’s Affairs.
The Violence Against Women: 2009 Follow-up Survey was conducted to assess how the level of awareness of domestic violence issues has changed since a baseline survey was conducted in 2005. The new survey draws from interviews with 3,040 “members of the general public” – a population selected to be nationally representative – as well as 311 police officers and local officials.
Samantha Ferrell, young professional for the promotion of women’s rights at the German Technical Cooperation (GTZ), a German-funded aid group that contributed to the survey, said the results pointed to some improvements, but that domestic violence “is still widely accepted, justified and tolerated”.
One particularly encouraging finding, she said, was that “almost all” respondents were aware of the Law on the Prevention of Domestic Violence and the Protection of Victims. “This is a very big success,” she said.
Read More
Skin Scare: Unlicenced beautician questioned
Mom Kunthear
Phnom Penh Post
A 26-year-old Vietnamese unlicenced beautician was questioned at Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Wednesday morning after one of his clients accused him of botching a skin-whitening procedure, a police official said. Sin Bunri, the police chief of Sen Sok district’s Toek Thla commune, said his officers arrested the man on Monday after the woman filed a complaint with them. The complaint said the man had given her injections of “skin-whitening cream”, and that her face had then become swollen and painful. The victim said she had consented to the procedure in the hope of whitening her complexion and concealing a bruise, he added. “When we arrested the man, we found two injection needles, cream and some products on him,” Sun Bunri said. “We asked him what kind of products he used, but he would not tell us because he was afraid that we would copy him and go into business.” In early March, a 23-year-old woman in Banteay Meanchey province died after overusing a skin-whitening cream made in Vietnam. Shorly thereafter, Prime Minister Hun Sen urged women to avoid such products and to preserve their “natural beauty”.
Phnom Penh Post
A 26-year-old Vietnamese unlicenced beautician was questioned at Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Wednesday morning after one of his clients accused him of botching a skin-whitening procedure, a police official said. Sin Bunri, the police chief of Sen Sok district’s Toek Thla commune, said his officers arrested the man on Monday after the woman filed a complaint with them. The complaint said the man had given her injections of “skin-whitening cream”, and that her face had then become swollen and painful. The victim said she had consented to the procedure in the hope of whitening her complexion and concealing a bruise, he added. “When we arrested the man, we found two injection needles, cream and some products on him,” Sun Bunri said. “We asked him what kind of products he used, but he would not tell us because he was afraid that we would copy him and go into business.” In early March, a 23-year-old woman in Banteay Meanchey province died after overusing a skin-whitening cream made in Vietnam. Shorly thereafter, Prime Minister Hun Sen urged women to avoid such products and to preserve their “natural beauty”.
Acid Rumour: Police free accused mother
Mom Kunthear
Phnom Penh Post
Military police in Banteay Meanchey province’s Poipet town on Wednesday released a woman who an official said had been wrongly accused of pouring acid on her 2-year-old son. The 36-year-old woman was allowed to return home after being arrested on Tuesday at a market close to the Thai border and detained overnight for questioning by police, said Ork Borin, deputy provincial military police commander. “There was a rumour that the mother had doused acid on her child, but in fact her son had the burn mark from an unrelated injury suffered a year ago,” he said.
Phnom Penh Post
Military police in Banteay Meanchey province’s Poipet town on Wednesday released a woman who an official said had been wrongly accused of pouring acid on her 2-year-old son. The 36-year-old woman was allowed to return home after being arrested on Tuesday at a market close to the Thai border and detained overnight for questioning by police, said Ork Borin, deputy provincial military police commander. “There was a rumour that the mother had doused acid on her child, but in fact her son had the burn mark from an unrelated injury suffered a year ago,” he said.
Monday, June 28, 2010
Police arrest a peeping-tom monk
Chhay Channyda and Mom Kunthear
Phnom Penh Post
DAUN Penh district authorities have arrested a monk who allegedly recorded videos of naked women in the public shower of a pagoda and distributed them via Bluetooth and his mobile phone, police said.
Neth Kai, 35, was arrested on Saturday following a complaint from one of the victims, who accused the monk of secretly recording a video of her while she was showering at Srah Chak pagoda in Daun Penh district, said Sok Penhvuth, the deputy district governor.
Police searched the monk’s quarters at the pagoda, he said, and “found a lot of evidence to prove that he had recorded video clips of innocent naked ladies”.
“The suspect admitted that since 2008 he had secretly recorded videos of about 20 women using two mobile-phone cameras … one hidden in the shower’s ceiling and one hidden in a can of incense sticks,” he said.
Among the confiscated pieces of evidence were two mobile phones, about 80 pornographic VCDs, a computer and more than US$5,000, he added.
Sok Penhvuth said the suspect would be charged at Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Monday, and he encouraged more victims to come forward with evidence relevant to the case.
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Phnom Penh Post
DAUN Penh district authorities have arrested a monk who allegedly recorded videos of naked women in the public shower of a pagoda and distributed them via Bluetooth and his mobile phone, police said.
Neth Kai, 35, was arrested on Saturday following a complaint from one of the victims, who accused the monk of secretly recording a video of her while she was showering at Srah Chak pagoda in Daun Penh district, said Sok Penhvuth, the deputy district governor.
Police searched the monk’s quarters at the pagoda, he said, and “found a lot of evidence to prove that he had recorded video clips of innocent naked ladies”.
“The suspect admitted that since 2008 he had secretly recorded videos of about 20 women using two mobile-phone cameras … one hidden in the shower’s ceiling and one hidden in a can of incense sticks,” he said.
Among the confiscated pieces of evidence were two mobile phones, about 80 pornographic VCDs, a computer and more than US$5,000, he added.
Sok Penhvuth said the suspect would be charged at Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Monday, and he encouraged more victims to come forward with evidence relevant to the case.
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Sunday, June 27, 2010
Island project sparks concerns
Brooke Lewis and Mom Kunthear
Phnom Penh Post
A CONSERVATION NGO collaborating with an investment firm told residents of an island off the coast of Preah Sihanouk province this week that they would be restricted to a 12.3-hectare piece of land in order to make way for a development project, Paul Ferber, the founder of Marine Conservation Cambodia (MCC), said.
Ferber said the meetings between the residents of Koh Rung Sangleum and representatives of Fauna and Flora International (FFI) took place on Monday and Tuesday. He noted that the size of the land could be subject to change.
Toby Eastoe, project manager for FFI, confirmed that the meetings had taken place, and said his organisation was working with the Hong Kong-based investment company Lime Tree Capital on the development project. He said the size of the land for villagers and the details of the development project had yet to be finalised.
MCC, an ecotourism business based on the island, has criticised the restriction that could be imposed on the 92 families who stand to be affected by the project, saying it would constitute an unnecessary impingement on their rights.
“FFI, even with knowledge about the reduction of community land, seems happy to support a concessionaire that has created a master plan without any local consultation, regardless of the effects to the community,” Ferber said by email Thursday.
He said the restriction, which has yet to be approved by the Council for the Development of Cambodia (CDC), would leave “absolutely no room for the village to grow”.
But Eastoe defended FFI’s work with Lime Tree Capital, saying they were working together to mitigate the potential effects of the project on both the environment and the local community.
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Phnom Penh Post
A CONSERVATION NGO collaborating with an investment firm told residents of an island off the coast of Preah Sihanouk province this week that they would be restricted to a 12.3-hectare piece of land in order to make way for a development project, Paul Ferber, the founder of Marine Conservation Cambodia (MCC), said.
Ferber said the meetings between the residents of Koh Rung Sangleum and representatives of Fauna and Flora International (FFI) took place on Monday and Tuesday. He noted that the size of the land could be subject to change.
Toby Eastoe, project manager for FFI, confirmed that the meetings had taken place, and said his organisation was working with the Hong Kong-based investment company Lime Tree Capital on the development project. He said the size of the land for villagers and the details of the development project had yet to be finalised.
MCC, an ecotourism business based on the island, has criticised the restriction that could be imposed on the 92 families who stand to be affected by the project, saying it would constitute an unnecessary impingement on their rights.
“FFI, even with knowledge about the reduction of community land, seems happy to support a concessionaire that has created a master plan without any local consultation, regardless of the effects to the community,” Ferber said by email Thursday.
He said the restriction, which has yet to be approved by the Council for the Development of Cambodia (CDC), would leave “absolutely no room for the village to grow”.
But Eastoe defended FFI’s work with Lime Tree Capital, saying they were working together to mitigate the potential effects of the project on both the environment and the local community.
Read More
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Testing of KR history expanded in schools
Mom Kunthear and Brooke Lewis
Phnom Penh Post
THE question, appearing on a history exam administered nationwide to Grade 12 students on Wednesday morning, was simple: Who were the leaders of the Khmer Rouge regime?
But for those who have been pressing for a fuller, franker presentation of the Democratic Kampuchea period in Cambodian classrooms, its inclusion marked a significant step forward.
Prior to this year, high school history tests drew from a government-approved textbook that gave short shrift to the regime and its history, omitting some of the most basic facts about it.
“The government never included the names of the leaders in their textbook,” said Youk Chhang, director of the Documentation Centre of Cambodia.
Terith Chy, team leader of DC-Cam’s Victim Participation Project, said the old material likely reflected the fear that identifying high-ranking regime officials – many of whom were unknown to the general public – would compromise national reconciliation efforts.
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Phnom Penh Post
THE question, appearing on a history exam administered nationwide to Grade 12 students on Wednesday morning, was simple: Who were the leaders of the Khmer Rouge regime?
But for those who have been pressing for a fuller, franker presentation of the Democratic Kampuchea period in Cambodian classrooms, its inclusion marked a significant step forward.
Prior to this year, high school history tests drew from a government-approved textbook that gave short shrift to the regime and its history, omitting some of the most basic facts about it.
“The government never included the names of the leaders in their textbook,” said Youk Chhang, director of the Documentation Centre of Cambodia.
Terith Chy, team leader of DC-Cam’s Victim Participation Project, said the old material likely reflected the fear that identifying high-ranking regime officials – many of whom were unknown to the general public – would compromise national reconciliation efforts.
Read More
KR Education: KR history slogans to be in schools
Mom Kunthear
Phnom Penh Post
The Education Ministry has approved two slogans concerning the importance of Khmer Rouge history lessons that are set to be displayed in high schools nationwide, officials said Monday. According to an unofficial translation, the slogans, which were suggested by the Documentation Centre of Cambodia (DC-Cam) and amended by the Education Ministry, read: “To study life in the Khmer Rouge period is to learn about reconciling and educating children to be tolerant and forgive each other,” and,“To learn about the history of Democratic Kampuchea means to learn to prevent other genocidal regimes from happening”. Ton Sa Im, an undersecretary of state and head of Khmer Rouge studies at the Education Ministry, said the slogans would be posted in schools to ‘‘remind all people to know and remember our history”. DC-Cam director Youk Chhang said the ministry approved the phrases on Thursday, and that he expects them to appear in schools early next year.
Phnom Penh Post
The Education Ministry has approved two slogans concerning the importance of Khmer Rouge history lessons that are set to be displayed in high schools nationwide, officials said Monday. According to an unofficial translation, the slogans, which were suggested by the Documentation Centre of Cambodia (DC-Cam) and amended by the Education Ministry, read: “To study life in the Khmer Rouge period is to learn about reconciling and educating children to be tolerant and forgive each other,” and,“To learn about the history of Democratic Kampuchea means to learn to prevent other genocidal regimes from happening”. Ton Sa Im, an undersecretary of state and head of Khmer Rouge studies at the Education Ministry, said the slogans would be posted in schools to ‘‘remind all people to know and remember our history”. DC-Cam director Youk Chhang said the ministry approved the phrases on Thursday, and that he expects them to appear in schools early next year.
Kampot police eye allegations of child abuse
Mom Kunthear and Khoun Leakhana
Phnom Penh Post
POLICE in Kampot province have launched an investigation into a woman accused of beating her 16-year-old niece, officials said Monday.
The girl was removed from her aunt’s custody last Tuesday, after neighbours told police and the rights group Adhoc that she had been abused for around six years. Officials investigating the case said they found more than 20 wounds on the girl’s body, some old and some fresh.
Chin Oav, chief of the provincial anti-human trafficking department, said Monday that he had asked neighbours of the suspect to assist with the investigation, but that so far only one witness had come forward.
“They are afraid the woman will seek revenge because she is very cruel,” he said, and added that a witness interviewed Monday had alleged that the suspect used a range of objects to beat the girl, and that beatings had taken place “almost every day”.
He said he was planning to interview the suspect today.
“I will send her case to the court if I find her answers and the witness’s answers are the same,” he said.
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Phnom Penh Post
POLICE in Kampot province have launched an investigation into a woman accused of beating her 16-year-old niece, officials said Monday.
The girl was removed from her aunt’s custody last Tuesday, after neighbours told police and the rights group Adhoc that she had been abused for around six years. Officials investigating the case said they found more than 20 wounds on the girl’s body, some old and some fresh.
Chin Oav, chief of the provincial anti-human trafficking department, said Monday that he had asked neighbours of the suspect to assist with the investigation, but that so far only one witness had come forward.
“They are afraid the woman will seek revenge because she is very cruel,” he said, and added that a witness interviewed Monday had alleged that the suspect used a range of objects to beat the girl, and that beatings had taken place “almost every day”.
He said he was planning to interview the suspect today.
“I will send her case to the court if I find her answers and the witness’s answers are the same,” he said.
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Forestry officials picked for NW
Tep Nimol and Mom Kunthear
PhnomPenh Post
THREE forestry officials have been appointed to lead new administrative zones in Cambodia’s northwest, the director of the Forestry Administration said Monday.
Chheng Kim Son said the three officials were sworn in Monday morning and will be in charge of newly created cantonments in Siem Reap, Banteay Meanchey and Oddar Meanchey.
Previously, all three provinces fell under the watch of a central cantonment based in Siem Reap town, and officials had difficulty covering such a large area, he said.
“They will start their work in each province now after they were sworn into their positions,” the director said. He declined to name the new officials or discuss the issue at length.
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PhnomPenh Post
THREE forestry officials have been appointed to lead new administrative zones in Cambodia’s northwest, the director of the Forestry Administration said Monday.
Chheng Kim Son said the three officials were sworn in Monday morning and will be in charge of newly created cantonments in Siem Reap, Banteay Meanchey and Oddar Meanchey.
Previously, all three provinces fell under the watch of a central cantonment based in Siem Reap town, and officials had difficulty covering such a large area, he said.
“They will start their work in each province now after they were sworn into their positions,” the director said. He declined to name the new officials or discuss the issue at length.
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Sunday, June 20, 2010
Eviction site to become gym
Mom Kunthear and Will Baxter
Phnom Penh Post
LOCAL developer 7NG Group has begun construction of an employee fitness centre on the former site of the Dey Krahorm community in Chamkarmon district, a company official said Thursday.
Srey Chanthou, managing director of 7NG Group, said Thursday that company employees would soon have an exclusive gym where they could “play” in their free time.
“The building of the fitness centre will be complete next month, and all 7NG Group staff will be free to play different kinds of sports: football, tennis, volleyball, etc,” he said. “But we won’t allow other people to come in.”
He added that there was no clear development plan in place for the rest of the site.
On January 24 last year, police and construction workers employed by 7NG Group forcibly evicted Dey Krahorm’s remaining families and levelled their homes. Residents and housing rights groups say 144 families were still living at the site at the time of the eviction.
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Phnom Penh Post
LOCAL developer 7NG Group has begun construction of an employee fitness centre on the former site of the Dey Krahorm community in Chamkarmon district, a company official said Thursday.
Srey Chanthou, managing director of 7NG Group, said Thursday that company employees would soon have an exclusive gym where they could “play” in their free time.
“The building of the fitness centre will be complete next month, and all 7NG Group staff will be free to play different kinds of sports: football, tennis, volleyball, etc,” he said. “But we won’t allow other people to come in.”
He added that there was no clear development plan in place for the rest of the site.
On January 24 last year, police and construction workers employed by 7NG Group forcibly evicted Dey Krahorm’s remaining families and levelled their homes. Residents and housing rights groups say 144 families were still living at the site at the time of the eviction.
Read More
GMAC meets over garment wage increase
Mom Kunthear and Brooke Lewis
Phnom Penh Post
THE Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia held a meeting on Thursday to discuss a proposed 40 percent increase in the minimum wage for garment workers, two days after a trade union representing more than 80,000 workers announced plans to hold a three-day strike next month.
Ken Loo, the secretary general of GMAC, said it was too early to comment on how the body views the proposed increase.
“We have a position on minimum wage, but we are not ready to disclose it to the media,” he said.
In a letter sent to the Interior Ministry Tuesday, Chea Mony, head of the Free Trade Union of Workers of the Kingdom of Cambodia (FTU), said he planned to organise a three-day sit-down strike beginning July 13 to press his demand that the monthly minimum wage be raised from US$50 to $70. The announcement came less than two weeks after the Labour Ministry urged unionists to hold off on strikes so that negotiations could go forward.
Under a 2006 agreement, the minimum wage is set to be discussed at some point this year, but Chea Mony has in recent weeks demanded
immediate action.
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Phnom Penh Post
THE Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia held a meeting on Thursday to discuss a proposed 40 percent increase in the minimum wage for garment workers, two days after a trade union representing more than 80,000 workers announced plans to hold a three-day strike next month.
Ken Loo, the secretary general of GMAC, said it was too early to comment on how the body views the proposed increase.
“We have a position on minimum wage, but we are not ready to disclose it to the media,” he said.
In a letter sent to the Interior Ministry Tuesday, Chea Mony, head of the Free Trade Union of Workers of the Kingdom of Cambodia (FTU), said he planned to organise a three-day sit-down strike beginning July 13 to press his demand that the monthly minimum wage be raised from US$50 to $70. The announcement came less than two weeks after the Labour Ministry urged unionists to hold off on strikes so that negotiations could go forward.
Under a 2006 agreement, the minimum wage is set to be discussed at some point this year, but Chea Mony has in recent weeks demanded
immediate action.
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Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Koh Kong stepmother charged in child abuse
Mom Kunthear and Khuon Leakhana
Phnom Penh Post
A KOH Kong woman accused of beating her 12-year-old stepson has been charged with intentional battery, a provincial court official said Tuesday.
Under the UNTAC criminal code, the woman, who was arrested Friday, faces a potential jail term of between two months and five years if found guilty, depending on the extent of her stepson’s injuries.
Rights workers say she forced the boy to earn money by collecting rubbish and selling the scraps. When he didn’t earn enough money, he was beaten, and when he earned too much, the stepmother also beat him, they said.
Meas Vanthana, deputy director of the Koh Kong provincial court, on Tuesday confirmed that the woman has been charged and is being held in pretrial detention.
“We charged her on Saturday with intentional battery of her 12-year-old stepson, and now she is in temporary custody pending further investigation,” he said.
Chhin Chamroeun, a provincial monitor for the rights group Adhoc, said on Tuesday that the boy needed a new place to live. “We are taking measures to find a new home for the boy because we are afraid that his father is not a good person and cannot feed or take care of him,” she said, and added that the boy’s father has “a drinking problem”.
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Phnom Penh Post
A KOH Kong woman accused of beating her 12-year-old stepson has been charged with intentional battery, a provincial court official said Tuesday.
Under the UNTAC criminal code, the woman, who was arrested Friday, faces a potential jail term of between two months and five years if found guilty, depending on the extent of her stepson’s injuries.
Rights workers say she forced the boy to earn money by collecting rubbish and selling the scraps. When he didn’t earn enough money, he was beaten, and when he earned too much, the stepmother also beat him, they said.
Meas Vanthana, deputy director of the Koh Kong provincial court, on Tuesday confirmed that the woman has been charged and is being held in pretrial detention.
“We charged her on Saturday with intentional battery of her 12-year-old stepson, and now she is in temporary custody pending further investigation,” he said.
Chhin Chamroeun, a provincial monitor for the rights group Adhoc, said on Tuesday that the boy needed a new place to live. “We are taking measures to find a new home for the boy because we are afraid that his father is not a good person and cannot feed or take care of him,” she said, and added that the boy’s father has “a drinking problem”.
Read More
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Rare crocodiles hatch in cardamoms
Mom Kunthear
Phnom Penh Post
Conservation NGO Fauna and Flora International (FFI) announced Thursday that 13 baby Siamese crocodiles were hatched in the Cardamom Mountains last week. Sam Han, a national field coordinator for FFI, said researchers initially found 22 eggs of the critically endangered reptile in a nest in the Areng Valley in Koh Kong province. “We are very happy because we try our best to protect this endangered animal, because they are rarely found in other countries,” he said. “There are only around 2,000 Siamese crocodiles left in the wild in Cambodia.”
Phnom Penh Post
Conservation NGO Fauna and Flora International (FFI) announced Thursday that 13 baby Siamese crocodiles were hatched in the Cardamom Mountains last week. Sam Han, a national field coordinator for FFI, said researchers initially found 22 eggs of the critically endangered reptile in a nest in the Areng Valley in Koh Kong province. “We are very happy because we try our best to protect this endangered animal, because they are rarely found in other countries,” he said. “There are only around 2,000 Siamese crocodiles left in the wild in Cambodia.”
Effects of rains on AWD unclear
Brooke Lewis and Mom Kunthear
Phnom Penh Post
FOR months, officials in provinces afflicted with outbreaks of acute watery diarrhoea, or AWD, have pointed to a longer-than-usual dry season – and the resulting lack of clean water – as a factor behind the mounting cases.
The corollary to that argument has been that the illness should begin to abate with the first rains of the wet season, which came to some provinces in May but have not yet hit everywhere.
Few officials are hoping this holds true more than Dr Chhneang Sovutha, the director of the Health Department in Kratie province, the location of at least 10 deaths from AWD or cholera this year as officials have treated roughly 2,000 cases of AWD.
Last year, Chhneang Sovutha said, there were fewer than 1,000 recorded AWD cases.
“Normally, the diarrhoea cases happen more in the dry season, and this year there have been more cases than last year,” Chhneang Sovutha said Monday.
“The biggest outbreaks of diarrhoea were in March and May, when there was a dry season like I have never seen before in Kratie province.”
But as reports of AWD continue to come in – three men were said to have died last Friday in Mondulkiri province, and 24 fell ill over the weekend in Pursat – some experts say the wet season might not necessarily lead to a drop in cases, and one noted that it could even make things worse, albeit temporarily.
Dr Nima Asgari, a public health specialist for the World Health Organisation, said there was insufficient information to determine how AWD cases fluctuate with the seasons.
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Phnom Penh Post
FOR months, officials in provinces afflicted with outbreaks of acute watery diarrhoea, or AWD, have pointed to a longer-than-usual dry season – and the resulting lack of clean water – as a factor behind the mounting cases.
The corollary to that argument has been that the illness should begin to abate with the first rains of the wet season, which came to some provinces in May but have not yet hit everywhere.
Few officials are hoping this holds true more than Dr Chhneang Sovutha, the director of the Health Department in Kratie province, the location of at least 10 deaths from AWD or cholera this year as officials have treated roughly 2,000 cases of AWD.
Last year, Chhneang Sovutha said, there were fewer than 1,000 recorded AWD cases.
“Normally, the diarrhoea cases happen more in the dry season, and this year there have been more cases than last year,” Chhneang Sovutha said Monday.
“The biggest outbreaks of diarrhoea were in March and May, when there was a dry season like I have never seen before in Kratie province.”
But as reports of AWD continue to come in – three men were said to have died last Friday in Mondulkiri province, and 24 fell ill over the weekend in Pursat – some experts say the wet season might not necessarily lead to a drop in cases, and one noted that it could even make things worse, albeit temporarily.
Dr Nima Asgari, a public health specialist for the World Health Organisation, said there was insufficient information to determine how AWD cases fluctuate with the seasons.
Read More
Monday, June 14, 2010
Arrest made in Koh Kong abuse case
Mom Kunthear and Khoun Leakhana
Phnom Penh Post
A KOH KONG woman accused of beating her 12-year-old stepson was questioned at the provincial court on Friday after her arrest one day earlier, a police official said.
Tat Koynor, the police chief of Khemarak Phoumin town, confirmed Sunday that the woman had been taken into police custody. “This woman did not beat the boy to make him be a good child. She beat him like he was her enemy,” he said.
“I think it is better if this kind of person is sent to prison to make a point that other people should not follow her example.”
The boy’s stepmother forced him to earn money for the family by collecting rubbish and selling the scraps. When he didn’t earn enough money, he was beaten, and when he earned too much, the stepmother also beat him, accusing him of stealing, said Chhin Chamroeun, a provincial monitor for rights group Adhoc.
“It is a good lesson for other mothers not to beat their children seriously,” she said.
Tob Chhun Heng, Koh Kong provincial prosecutor, could not be reached for comment on Sunday.
Meanwhile, in Kampot province’s Kampong Trach district, an Adhoc monitor filed a complaint to police on Tuesday, alleging that a 16-year-old girl has received similar abuse from her aunt since age 10.
“The police, local authorities and I called the girl in so that we could check over her body, and we found more than 20 wounds, both old and new, on her body,” said Sim Sorphea, head of Adhoc’s women’s rights programme in Kampot.
Read More
Phnom Penh Post
A KOH KONG woman accused of beating her 12-year-old stepson was questioned at the provincial court on Friday after her arrest one day earlier, a police official said.
Tat Koynor, the police chief of Khemarak Phoumin town, confirmed Sunday that the woman had been taken into police custody. “This woman did not beat the boy to make him be a good child. She beat him like he was her enemy,” he said.
“I think it is better if this kind of person is sent to prison to make a point that other people should not follow her example.”
The boy’s stepmother forced him to earn money for the family by collecting rubbish and selling the scraps. When he didn’t earn enough money, he was beaten, and when he earned too much, the stepmother also beat him, accusing him of stealing, said Chhin Chamroeun, a provincial monitor for rights group Adhoc.
“It is a good lesson for other mothers not to beat their children seriously,” she said.
Tob Chhun Heng, Koh Kong provincial prosecutor, could not be reached for comment on Sunday.
Meanwhile, in Kampot province’s Kampong Trach district, an Adhoc monitor filed a complaint to police on Tuesday, alleging that a 16-year-old girl has received similar abuse from her aunt since age 10.
“The police, local authorities and I called the girl in so that we could check over her body, and we found more than 20 wounds, both old and new, on her body,” said Sim Sorphea, head of Adhoc’s women’s rights programme in Kampot.
Read More
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