Cambodia Restores Opposition Chief's Immunity [-The CPP only knows the law of the jungle]
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Wednesday March 11st, 2009
The politician was stripped of his protection last month after accusing the Cambodian People's Party, or CPP, of corruption during elections last year and then failing to pay a $2,500 fine.
His Sam Rainsy Party eventually paid the fine to the country's National Election Committee hours after his immunity was lifted.
Lawmaker Cheam Yeap said the parliamentary permanent committee had voted Tuesday to restore parliamentary protection to Sam Rainsy.
"Immunity of Sam Rainsy has been restored," Cheam Yeap said.
The opposition leader, who is abroad, had called the removal his immunity "unconstitutional," saying under Cambodia's charter, at least two-thirds of lawmakers were needed to approve stripping legal protection of a parliamentarian.
However Cheam Yeap said the decision was made in accordance with the law.
The CPP took 90 seats of the 123 up for grabs in the July ballot, while the Sam Rainsy Party received 26 seats.
Hun Sen: Factory workers can live without jobs [-Is the good Dr. Hun Xen becoming completely blind to Cambodia’s economy?]
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(Photo: Bloomberg)10 March 2009
By Hassan
Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by Socheata
"Houses in Cambodia are not put into the auction block yet, unlike other countries that are facing financial crisis in 1997, therefore we are still continuing to develop" - Dr Hun Sen, PhD from Hanoi and the Irish International UniversityIt turns out that the economy in small countries which, economists professed that it allows these countries to become independent from foreign aid, starts to be affected by the economic crisis occurring in developed nations, and Cambodian government officials start to recognize this fact as well.
In the past, Cambodian government officials used to say that economic crisis in Western countries will not seriously affect Cambodia’s economy because Cambodia’s economy is small.
In the garment sector, the World Bank issued a report on Sunday, indicating that Cambodia lost more than 30,000 jobs in this sector because factories are closing their door in Cambodia. The reason for these closures is because of the drop in foreign garment orders.
The World Bank wrote that 94 of the 116 countries on the verge of development are facing economic slowdown.
Nevertheless, Prime minister Hun Sen believes that Cambodian factory workers can still live even if they are jobless. Hun Sen said: “Compared to factory closures other countries, factory closures in Cambodia are very bad, but when compared to other countries, the closing of factories in those country leads to more danger than us, why? This is very easy to understand in Cambodia: these factories are newly opened, some are 4-5 years old, and some of the factories in Kampong Speu are only 2-3 years old. Therefore, when workers are jobless, they can return back to their villages right away. Since they just left their farming not too long ago, their rice fields are waiting for them, as well their parents, their families. Their families, their parents live on those lands, those houses.”
Hun Sen is not concerned about Cambodia’s economy
When the world is facing with an economic crisis, their leaders are looking for means to pull it up so that investors have confidence and are willing to invest in the businesses. In doing so, these investors are creating more jobs for people, and bringing income for people to spend.
In the US for example, the government is spending billions of dollars to provide help to companies that are facing major losses. The government is also helping their citizens cope with the situation by lowering income taxes, as well as providing stimulus funds to each family.
On the other hand, in Cambodia, if people are jobless, the government does provide any safety net to help these jobless workers live for a while at all.
In his comparison between the Cambodian and the foreign economies on Monday, Hun Sen seems to indicate that there is no issue of concerns for him. Hun Sen said: “The industry is pushing forward so that the factories and the companies that are working will also move forward. In the construction sector, even though there is some drop, but there is no construction sites that are abandoned. The construction of row houses and large buildings is still moving forward, the construction of hotels is still continuing, additional (grading) trucks are added in the construction sector. They said that the economy is slowing down, but if you go buy a house, they wouldn’t lower the price for you. Houses in Cambodia are not put into the auction block yet, unlike other countries that are facing financial crisis in 1997, therefore we are still continuing to develop.”
Female garment factory workers protest slashed wages at a factory in Takhmao in January. (Photo by: TRACEY SHELTON)
Female workers protesting a wage cut at a Takhmao factory in January. (Photo by: TRACEY SHELTON)Tuesday, 10 March 2009
Written by Khuon Leakhana
The Phnom Penh Post
World economic crisis hurting gender equality at home, civil society groups say.
FOLLOWING the celebration of the 99th annual International Women's Day Sunday, civil society groups have lamented the lack of progress made by Cambodian women, saying their social and economic standing have been set back by the global economic downturn.Chea Mony, president of the Free Trade Union of Cambodia, said that whenever factories have closed, many young female workers have been forced to look for jobs in restaurants, karaoke parlours and nightclubs.
"We have no idea what other jobs [these women] can find and where," he said.
According to a report by the Free Trade Union, the Kingdom's garment sector employed around 350,000 mostly female workers across 450 garment factories in 2007.
But in 2008, 20,000 workers lost their jobs due to factory closures and in the first two months of 2009, the union estimates a further 10,000 people faced unemployment.
He went on to say that although Women's Day is internationally recognised, women in Cambodia - especially jobless women - still lack basic rights and access.
"Women's rights in Cambodia are still low. As a result, jobless women will not be happy to participate in the discussions about women's rights this year," he said.
Chea Mony added that jobless women, especially, lack the knowledge to contribute to the economy.
"We think that the celebration of March 8 is just a routine event, but that in practice respect for women's rights has never been fulfilled."
Cambodian women facing job losses are also looking abroad for work opportunities in countries like Thailand, Malaysia and Korea.
According to an annual report issued by the Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training last week, approximately 74,400 labourers went abroad to work during 2004-08, most of whom went to Thailand, Malaysia, South Korea and Japan.
Ya Navuth, executive director for Coordination of Action Research on AIDS and Mobility, agreed that the loss of jobs would certainly impact women and that many would be exposed to exploitation working in the Kingdom's nightclubs or for employers abroad.
"Because they have no choice and no hope of finding new jobs, [some women] decide to work at nightclubs or karaoke parlours," he said.
He said also that women working overseas could be open to exploitation by their employers, and that the Cambodian government should take actions to ensure foreign investment and employment opportunities for women inside the country.
"The government should stop sending Cambodian labourers to other countries where their rights are not properly respected," he said.
Sy Define, a secretary of state at the Ministry of Women's Affairs, told the Post that this year's International Women's Day was centred around "women's participation in economic and social development", a suitable focus given the current economic crisis.
"We selected the theme in order to show the ability and efforts of women both in and out of the labour system, and to encourage them," she said.
"Every job has value so long as it doesn't involve stealing and cheating."
"We also want to remind people of Cambodian women's rights and are working hard every day to extinguish violations of women's rights and freedoms."
She added that the ministry had promoted laws to protect victims, especially vulnerable women who face sexual harassment and rights violations in the informal sector.
"We want to tell jobless women, and those who have jobs in places like nightclubs and karaoke parlours, that every job has value so long as it does not involve stealing and cheating," she said.
Valuable contributions
But Oum Mean, a secretary of state at the Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training, dismissed reports the factory layoffs had swollen the ranks of nightclub and karaoke workers.
"We are sure that some workers who have left garment factories returned home or tried to find a job in another factory, as they are already skilled, while others looked for work in the industrial sites that are Cambodia's main growth potential," he said.
He admitted that a number of workers did end up in informal service occupations, but said that whatever their occupation, women were contributing towards the development of the economy and were an important part of Cambodian society.
"It depends on the individuals themselves, and whether they value or devalue themselves," he said.
"Such work does not show whether a person is of value or not."
Oum Mean said that the government was promoting the involvement of women in government and making attempts to attract more foreign investment, and hence create more jobs.
"The Council for the Development of Cambodia is trying to contact foreign investors, including the European Union, which is looking for investment opportunities in Cambodia," he said, adding that Japan had also expressed interest in setting up a local car factory.
"So please don't get confused that only the garment sector can help develop Cambodia's economy."
Am Sam Ath, a technical supervisor for local rights group Licadho, said the government should find "better solutions" to the increasing factory closures, since women finding replacement jobs in bars and clubs were looked down upon by many Cambodians.
"Anybody who works in informal service positions is not considered in a good light by Cambodian society, which devalues the rights and morality of Cambodian women who take up these kind of jobs," he said, adding that the day's celebration should focus more on those women who are not participating rather than those who are.
"The topic for this year's event seems to be in contrast to the real situation in Cambodia. Instead, we should raise real problems women in Cambodia are facing rather than just talking about their participation in society."
Motive of Gambling Crackdown Questioned
By Sok Khemara, VOA Khmer
Washington
10 March 2009
Hun Sen last month ordered the closure of the popular sports betting company CamboSix, a move that followed stricter measures against gambling machines in hotels.
While the move against gambling, which Seng Theary called a worm that corrupted morality and split families, was welcome, it should have been done through legal procedures, she said.
She also questioned why the largest casino, Naga, in Phnom Penh, wasn’t closed. “Why just close the small gambling sites?” she asked.
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