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The Mirror, Vol. 13, No. 594

“Cambodia is a base and a target country for victims of human trafficking. Women and children are trafficked to Thailand and to Malaysia for sexual exploitation. Some Cambodian men migrating on their own to Thailand in order to find jobst fall into a situation where they are forced to do hard labor on fishing boats, at construction sites, and in the agro-industry. Cambodian women and children are trafficked to Thailand to work in exploitative conditions as household servants, and some are forced to serve as prostitutes. Some Cambodian men migrate to seek jobs, but when they returned from India, South Korea, or Malaysia, they said that they were forced to do hard labor and fell into dept bondage. Children are trafficked to Thailand and to Vietnam to work as beggars, candy sellers, flower sellers, and shoes-shine boys.

“Some Khmer women migrated to Taiwan to get married through international marriage brokers, but at the end, they were trafficked to work as prostitutes. Trafficking of woman and girls, also affecting Vietnamese people, happens also at the Cambodian border, from rural areas to Phnom Penh, to Siem Reap, and to Sihanoukville. Cambodia is a targeted country to send Vietnamese girls to work as prostitutes. Cambodia is targeted also by foreign sex tourists who want to have sex with children, and there are more and more Asian men traveling to Cambodia to have sex with underage virgin girls.

“Even though the highest standards for the elimination of trafficking have not been reached, the government is making remarkable efforts to fight such trafficking. Now [in the Trafficking in Persons Report 2008 that had been released by the US Department of State on 4 June 2008], Cambodia was ranked for the first time since 2004 on the Tier 2 Watch List [of three tiers], because the government stepped up cooperation to fight human trafficking in the previous year. The government created a special working group against human trafficking on the national level in order to improve the possibility to respond better as an international agency against trafficking, to improve coordination with civil society, to increase law enforcement activities against traffickers and colluding officials, and to increase protecting activities. In February 2008, a new Cambodian law to crack down on human trafficking and sex exploitation was promulgated and came into force. This law provides power to the police to investigate all forms of trafficking, and it is a strong measure to bring human traffickers to prosecutions. High ranking officials of the government publicly announced a ‘no tolerance’ policy for officials benefiting from or colluding with human trafficking.

“The report pointed out that the Cambodian government continued to implement laws against human trafficking last year. But in February 2008, a new Cambodian law to crack down on human trafficking and sexual exploitation came into force. This law provides criminal penalties against all forms of human trafficking, including debt bondage, it states the punishment for wrongdoings which are sufficiently firm which will be applied against serious crimes such as rape. Because of insufficient resources, the government does not provide useful statistics about prosecutions made. The Ministry of Interior reported complaints received regarding 53 cases of human trafficking from April 2007 to March 2008. 35 cases were related to trafficking for sexual exploitation, with 60 victims, and 11 cases were trafficking for forced labor with 106 victims. Cambodian police had taken action on 43 cases. The Ministry of Interior went on to report that 65 traffickers were arrested during the period of this report, and the Phnom Penh Municipal Court had conducted hearings on 52 traffickers.

“The Anti-Human Trafficking and Juvenile Protection Department of the Ministry of Interior reported 52 cases involved with 65 traffickers which led to 8 prosecutions. Non-government organizations reported 19 cases of human trafficking for forced labor, related to legal migrant workers who were forced to be salves in Malaysia, but labor recruitment companies in Cambodia normally paid monetary compensation, so they were not convicted for their crimes. It has not yet been seen that labor recruitment companies were prosecuted for being responsible for trafficking migrant workers. In February 2008, Prime Minister Samdech Hun Sen ordered the Ministry of Commerce to cancel the licenses of marriage brokerage companies, as it was considered that such business is a form of human trafficking.” Koh Santepheap, Vol.42, #6544, 6.1.2009

Newspapers Appearing on the Newsstand:
Tuesday, 6 January 2009

Chakraval, Vol.17, #2839, 6.1.2009

• Son of Prum Manh [a well-known Ayay joking singer] Drove a Care and Hit Two Motorbikes, Then He Tried to Escape, but Was Finally Caught by Police [on the Russian Boulevard, Daun Penh, Phnom Penh]

Kampuchea Thmey, Vol.8, #1839, 6.1.2009

• Mr. Sok Sareth Is Removed by the Royal Government from His Work of Deputy Governor of Banteay Meanchey to another Position
• Anonymous Leaflets Describing Officials of the Ministry of Education Who Continue Beyond Their Retirement Age
• The Owner of the Nightclub [where there was a fire killing 62 people] in Bangkok Is Accused for Criminal Negligence [about safety systems and for allowing underage people to enter the club]
• Israeli Troops Lunch Land Attacks into Gaza [number of deaths of Palestinians tolls 510, Israelis less than 10]
• Sri Lanka Troops Are Hunting Rebel Leaders in a Deep Forest Region at the North [after taking control of the Tamil tiger rebel capital of Kilinochi]
• France Rescues Two Cargo Ships and Arrests 19 Somali Pirates

Khmer Sthapana, Vol.2, #176, 6.1.2009

• Experts Officials of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishery Express Satisfaction about the Increase of the Rainy Season Paddy Rice Yield [they said that the yield will increase to 6 million tonnes, 500,000 tonnes more than in 2007]
• A 20-Month-Old Girl and a 4-Year-Old Girl Were Raped by [two] Men Early January [one man involved in one of the two cases was arrested – Banteay Meanchey]
• Chicken Feet and Bones with No Quality Are Imported by Merchants from Siam [Thailand – Poipet]

Koh Santepheap, Vol.42, #6544, 6.1.2009

• Report about Human Trafficking Released by US Department of State
• Drug Use Declines, but Spreads to Rural Areas; Formerly Drug Pills Were Used, but Now Drugs Are Abused by Using Syringes to Inject Drugs into the Blood
• A Man Was Shot Dead when He Rushed to Help His Neighbor Who Was Being Robbed [six robbers armed with 1 stick, 4 short guns, and 1 AK Rifle are being looked for – Serei Saophoan, Banteay Meanchey]

Moneaksekar Khmer, Vol.16, #3658, 6.1.2009

• Prime Minister Hun Sen Will Visit the Middle East in Order to Ask for Loans to Support His Government

Rasmei Kampuchea, Vol.17, #4787, 6.1.2009

• National Co-Prosecutor [Ms. Chea Leang] Maintains Position to Not Accuse Additional Khmer Rouge Leaders
• The Minister of Information [Mr. Khieu Kanharith]: Don’t Prohibit the Performances of the Opera ‘Where Elephants Weep’ – but Prohibit to Show It on Television
• There Were 10,000 Cambodians Applying for US Visas in 2009 [4,400 for living in the United States of America, and 5,500 for visiting, study, and work]
• Minister [of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishery, Mr. Chan Sarun] Asks Citizens to Produce Prahok in Time [when there are many fish – in the Khmer farming society, Prahok, made from fish, is an important food during the dry season; Prahok can be preserved for a long time]
• More Than 2,000 Mobile Phones Were Confiscated in Pawnshops, but Were Returned Again to the Shops; however They Are Prohibited to Continue to Make Business [with mobile phones, as this may encourage to steal mobile phones to bring them to pawn shops – Phnom Penh]

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