Activist summoned over alleged crimes

Just days after Spanish environmentalist Alex Gonzalez-Davidson was ejected from the country after officials refused to renew his visa, a prominent Areng Valley activist has been summoned to appear in court for unspecified “forest crimes”. Ven Vorn, a community representative in the remote valley in Koh Kong province, was issued a summons by the Koh Kong Provincial Court on Saturday, according to activists from the environmental group Mother Nature, which was co-founded by Gonzalez-Davidson.

Parties Reach Deal on Changes to Election Law

Following a deal struck to amend the election law on Saturday, the National Assembly will be expanded by two seats for the next national election, official campaign periods will be reduced from 30 days to 21, with four days for public rallies, and NGOs will be banned from “insulting” political parties during campaigns.

Children leading the way on mine risk education in Cambodia

My country of Cambodia endured long conflict, and while the war has ended, we are still living with the consequences of it. One of these is the presence of landmines and other explosive weapons, which still litter our land decades after the violence ended. In 2013, 111 people were victims of these weapons, 23 of them children. As my country builds itself, we are also working to clear these weapons, keep our people safe, and provide assistance to those who live with the consequences of being victims.

After Disappearance, 36 Montagnards Deported, UN Says

Girl Raped, Killed in Kompong Chhnang

A man was arrested on Friday for allegedly raping and murdering an eight-year-old girl in Kompong Chhnang province late on Wednesday night, according to district police. So Sim, 40, a plantation guard who supplemented his income with fishing, is accused of raping and killing the girl at about 11 p.m. on Wednesday then dumping her body in a forested area in Cholkiri district, about 150 meters from her home, according to district police chief Him Yong.

After 2 Days, 36 Montagnards Still Missing

A group of 36 Montagnards who on Wednesday night attempted to escape their forest hideout in Ratanakkiri province by traveling in a truck to Phnom Penh have been missing for two days, a rights worker and local villagers said on Friday. Chhay Thy, provincial coordinator for rights group Adhoc, said local ethnic Jarai villagers informed him they had lost contact with the asylum seekers after the group attempted to flee the northeastern province late Wednesday night.

PM Acknowledges Criticism of Refugee Agreement

Days after the International Organization for Migration (IOM) announced it would help resettle Australia’s refugees currently being held on the Pacific island nation of Nauru in Cambodia, Prime Minister Hun Sen on Thursday acknowledged criticism of the deal at home and abroad. In September, Cambodia agreed to accept an indeterminate number of refugees in return for a $35-million aid package from Australia in a deal that was slammed by rights groups and opposition lawmakers in both countries.

Hun Sen Warns Of Civil War If ECCC Goes Beyond ‘Limit’

Reviving one of his most frequent complaints against the Khmer Rouge tribunal, Prime Minister Hun Sen warned again Thursday that war and chaos could ensue if the court continued to pursue additional cases. In a speech at an international summit on the U.N.’s “Responsibility to Protect” anti-genocide initiative at the Sofitel Phokeethra hotel in Phnom Penh, Mr. Hun Sen said the court’s investigations had “almost gone beyond the limit” and could cause former Khmer Rouge soldiers to return to the maquis and start another civil war.

Gov’t Selects 16 Women for Early Prison Release

Less than a week after Prime Minister Hun Sen ordered three ministries to prepare for the release of 40 incarcerated women who are either pregnant or recently gave birth in prison, a Justice Ministry committee Thursday decided that 16 women would be released before March 8, an official said. In a speech Monday, Mr. Hun Sen called on the ministries of interior, justice and women’s affairs to prepare for the release of 40 women before the Khmer New Year in April.

World Bank Rejects Meeting With Land Evictees

The World Bank has turned down a suggestion that it hold a meeting somewhere outside of Cambodia exclusively with families that have been forcibly evicted from their land before it decides whether to lift a current freeze on new lending to the country. The Bank announced the freeze in August 2011 in response to the government’s refusal to issue land titles to families living in Phnom Penh’s Boeng Kak community, from which some 3,000 families—most of the neighborhood—were eventually evicted to make way for CPP Senator Lao Meng Khin’s real estate project.

Deport All Foreign Child Sex Abusers, NGO Urges

Anti-pedophile organization Action Pour Les Enfants (APLE) released a new report Thursday that it hopes will persuade the government that foreigners convicted of child sex crimes in Cambodia should face mandatory deportation after serving their sentences. The report was released at a workshop in Phnom Penh on child abuse in Cambodia co-hosted by APLE and the government’s National Committee for Counter Trafficking, an interministerial body set up in 2009 to fight human trafficking.

After Deportation, Opposition Wants Vietnamese Out

After the government deported Spanish environmental activist Alex Gonzalez-Davidson on Monday, the opposition CNRP has called on the Interior Ministry to turn its attention to thousands of Vietnamese immigrants living in the country illegally. In a letter dated Tuesday and addressed to Interior Minister Sar Kheng, 11 opposition lawmakers write that tens of thousands of illegal immigrants are polluting the country’s waterways, causing social instability and committing crimes including murder, robbery and illegal fishing.

Workers Clash as Talks Stall in Factory Dispute

With negotiations between unions and managers at Phnom Penh’s Quantum Clothing factory stalled, thousands of striking workers Thursday clashed with other employees attempting to enter the plant. About 3,000 workers at the British-owned factory in Pur Senchey district went on strike on February 19 to protest against a provision in the government’s January minimum wage increase that excludes workers already making more than $128 from receiving a guaranteed salary hike.

Support for Vocal Activist Still Strong in Areng Valley

THMA BAING DISTRICT, Koh Kong province – The government may have succeeded in deporting outspoken activist Alex Gonzalez-Davidson earlier this week, but support for the environmentalist and his cause remains strong in the remote valley he sought to spare from a proposed hydroelectric dam.

Hun Sen sets deadline for election reform talks

Prime Minister Hun Sen set a firm two-day deadline for negotiators from his Cambodian People’s Party and the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party to finalise a new electoral reform law, a source of contention for months.

Deal to help all refugees: IOM

The International Organization for Migration has said a refugee relocation and integration program it will soon start developing with the Cambodian government will benefit all refugees in the country, even if none processed in Australian camps on Nauru choose to resettle in the Kingdom.

Workers Strike, Accuse Factory Managers of Attack at Protest

Workers striking at Phnom Penh’s Quantum Clothing factory have filed a complaint against their managers for allegedly attacking two workers during a protest Wednesday outside the factory, according to a union representative and police official.

Ratanakkiri Police Deport Four Montagnard Asylum Seekers

Four Montagnard asylum seekers were arrested and sent back to Vietnam on Tuesday after police found them hiding in Ratanakkiri province’s Lumphat district, an official said Wednesday. Moeung Sineath, a spokesman for the provincial government, said police in the district arrested the four on Tuesday, referring to them as “Vietnamese Jarai.”

More asylum seekers ejected

Provincial police in Ratanakkiri reportedly arrested and deported four Montagnard asylum seekers to Vietnam on Tuesday, where the mostly Christian ethnic minority allegedly faces religious and political persecution. The incident marks the second known case of Montagnards being deported from the province in recent weeks. Earlier this month, a family of five, including children, were booted back across the border, where the father was reportedly detained for 12 days and beaten by authorities, according to family members.

Migration Body Acknowledges Concerns Over Refugee Resettlement

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) on Wednesday acknowledged concerns over its plan to help resettle Australia’s refugees currently being held on the South Pacific island nation of Nauru in Cambodia, while Cambodian officials would not say whether the government had agreed to conditions set out by the global migration body.