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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Tuesday, August 31, 2010
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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