Searching Result
Found: 15,630
-
U.S. Pledges $38M, New Programs for Cambodia
Today in Phnom Penh, Administrator Samantha Power announced new investment and support for the Cambodian people through a rage of new and expanded U.S. activities in food security, the environment, civil society, media, and labor. Cambodia remains an essential partner to the United States as we work to achieve a shared vision for a free and open, prosperous, and secure Indo-Pacific region.
Read More -
Cambodian journalist who exposed cyberscams released on bail
Mech Dara, an award-winning Cambodian journalist who was arrested and charged with incitement earlier this month, has been released on bail. Mr Dara, who has reported for the BBC, was released after a pro-government news outlet published a prison video of him asking the country's leader for forgiveness. Mr Dara was charged on 1 October over accusations that five social media posts cloud "incite social unrest". and "false" posts about a rock quarry on a scared mountain.
Read More -
Cambodia cracks down on illegal international surrogacy as demand remains high
Once a hub for affordable surrogacy following restrictions in neighbouring countries, Cambodia is trying to curb the practice because of human trafficking concerns. Commercial surrogacy is a highly popular service around the world-but as countries crack down on the potential for exploitation, it is becoming steadily harder of prospective parents to pursue.
Read More -
Cambodia’s once-massive national park continues to lose its forest
One of Cambodia's largest protected areas, Botum Sakor National Park, continues to lose tree cover, recent satellite data show. Officially designated as a national park in 1993, Botum Sakor initially covered more than 182,00 hectares (450,000 acres) of evergreen, semi-evergreen and mangrove forests. Older surveys form the 1990s and 2000s show that the park was historically home to numerous wildlife, including the critically endangered Sunda pangolin (Manis javanica), and the pileated gibbon(Hylobates pileatus).
Read More -
Apology video of Cambodian journalist released after court questioning
A media outlet friendly to the Cambodian government on Wednesday published a video of jailed journalist Mech Dara apologizing for his social media posts and asking for forgiveness after the award-winning reporter was brought to court for five hours of questioning. Fresh News posted the one-minute video, as well as two handwritten letters. Radio Free Asia cannot independently verify when the video was shot or whether Dara was forced to make the filmed and written apologies. The apology came after Dara was brought to the Phnom Penh Municipal Court.
Read More -
US announces over $17M for new initiatives to improve the health of Cambodian people
Administrator Power announced new US initiatives to support the health and well-being of the Cambodian people. "First, Administrator Power announced a new five-year program to bolster Cambodia's fight against tuberculosis (TB), a disease which claims thousands of lives in Cambodia every year. This will be USAID's Community Mobilization Initiatives to End Tuberculosis 2 (COMMIT 2) program will be implemented by KHANA, the Khmer HIV/AIDs NGO Alliance," according to the press release on Tuesday (Oct 22).
Read More -
International NGOs Urge World Bank to Condemn Cambodian Government’s Alleged Harassment of Two Local NGOs
The International Federation for Human Rights (IFHR) called on World Bank president Ajay Banga to condemn the Cambodian government’s alleged assault on human rights groups, including reprisals against World Bank project stakeholders. However, government spokesperson Pen Bona countered that calls made by international groups to pressure governments are “outdated”, and that they should not interfere in Cambodia’s affairs, which is an independent and sovereign state.
Read More -
Journalist Mech Dara Apologizes to Government, Asks For Incitement Case to Be Dropped
Mech Dara released a video apologizing to Senate President Hun Sen and Prime Minister Hun Manet for his alleged mistake in posting "fake news". The apology came after he was taken to the Phnom Penh Municipal Court for a second questioning by the judge on the afternoon of October 23 amid USAID head Samantha Power's visit to Cambodia. In the apology letter, Dara admitted to posting "fake news five times". He also asked for his case to be dropped. The apology video was released by local media Fresh News at 8.41 p.m, following six hour of questioning by the judge from 2 p.m to 7p.m.
Read More -
Cambodian and Thai Authorities Investigate Surrogacy Case As Filipino Surrogate Mothers Are Detained Until Delivery
Cambodian police are working with Thai police to investigate the case involving 13 pregnant Filipino women, alleged to be surrogate mothers, according to National Police spokesperson Chhay Kim Khoeun. He said the women have been charged under Article 13 and 14 of Cambodia’s Law on the Suppression of Human Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation.
Read More -
Cambodian solar firms no longer cooperating with US tariff probe
Two Cambodia solar companies will no longer cooperate with a U.S. trade investigation into allegations they are flooding the market with panels priced below their cost of production, according to document filed with the Department of Commerce. Solar Long and Hounen Solar, in separate letters dated Oct.15, said through a U.S. attorney that they were no longer able to dedicate resources to the antidumping probe.
Read More -
Cambodia slams foreign media claims on scam centres
Touch Sokhak, spokesman for the Ministry of Interior, dismissed the allegation against Cambodia regarding the growth of scam centres in Cambodia. The denial was made yesterday following the broadcasting of a so-called "undercover" Video, revealed by Sky News, a foreign media outlet, on Friday, showing the inside of a scam centre in Cambodia.
Read More -
Chea Mony: Leader of Cambodia's new opposition party
The former union leader is brother of a labor organizer gunned down in 2004. It was in his first job as a teacher 30 years ago that Chea Mony, who last month became head of Cambodia’s newest opposition party, got involved in activism. Together with another young math teacher, Rong Chhun — who later became a prominent labor activist — they formed a teachers' union to combat what they viewed as injustices at the school. “We were called ‘democratic teachers,’” Chea Mony, 55, told Radio Free Asia in an interview.
Read More -
“Balancing Integrity and Responsibility, A Critical Examination of David Hutt’s Journalism on Cambodia”
David Hutt, a well-known journalist recognized for his sharp and analytical writing style, often focuses on political developments in countries like Cambodia, Vietnam, and the wider ASEAN region. He also examines the strategic interests of major powers like China, the U.S., and the European Union in Southeast Asia. As a commentator on platforms like Voice of America and Radio Free Asia, both funded by the U.S. government, his worldview is often aligned with American perspectives, whether Democratic or Republican. One of Hutt’s characteristic methods is to harshly critique governments and politicians by basing his analysis on anecdotal evidence, often jumping to conclusions about a country’s overall situation.
Read More -
Islamic cleric’s son charged over rapes
The Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Saturday charged and detained Kamarutin Suhaimi, a son of a high-ranking Islamic cleric, accused of allegedly raping and sexually abusing four underage girls at a school dormitory in Russei Keo district. Plong Sophal, a Deputy Prosecutor and spokesman at Phnom Penh Municipal Court, said that Suhaimi, 33, was charged with two counts on “rape with aggravating circumstances (status of victims) and indecent assault with aggravating circumstances” under Articles 240, 246 and 247 of the Criminal Code.
Read More -
Cambodian logging syndicate tied to major U.S. wood flooring supply chains
On a rain-sodden day in September 2023, reporters entered the Sihanoukville Special Economic Zone on the southwest coast of Cambodia, in the country's largest port city. Established in 2008 through a partnership between Chinese and Cambodian private companies, in the Sihanoukville SEZ hosts a range of Cambodian and Chinese ventures exporting products worldwide. Among them is Nature Flooring(Cambodia), a Chinese-owned company established in the Sihanoukville SEZ in May 2019. Nature Flooring is just one of the many subsidiaries of China's Nature Home Group, focused on wooden flooring and doors. The firm's website states that the group is valued at 87.6 billion yuan (about $12 billion) and boasts several partnerships with U.S. companies.
Read More -
NGOs, Political Parties Reiterate Shrinking Freedom of Speech and Political Rights in Cambodia
Civil society organizations and political parties have called on Prime Minister Hun Manet and his government to restore the space for freedom of speech and political rights in conjunction with the 33rd anniversary of the Paris Peace Agreements. Government spokesperson Pen Bona, however, denied that rights and freedoms have shrunk. Organizations and political parties, as well a embassies and hundreds of youths celebrated the event at the Freedom Park on Sunday, urging the government to implement the Paris Peace Agreement signed on October 23, 1991.
Read More -
Cambodia: Joint statement urging World Bank action on Cambodian civil society reprisals
In recent months, there has been a worrying escalation in the Cambodian government's repression of critical voices, as part of a broader crackdown on civil society. The undersigned organizations, including International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and World Organization against Torture (OMCT) within the framework of the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, urge World Bank President Ajay Banga to condemn the Cambodian government's assault on human rights groups, including reprisals against World Bank project stakeholders.
Read More -
PM warns youths not resort to extremist ideologies
Prime Minister Hun Manet warned young people not to resort to extremist ideologies that cause divisions and undermine national unity.
Read More -
SCAM: Inside Asia’s Criminal Network
“I was taught how to hit on them for about three or four days. After being friends for about a week, you go in for the ‘kill’.” Poom-Jai*, 17, is talking about his job. Over several months, the Thai teenager was trained to lure, befriend and defraud lonely people online, with brutal efficiency. “I wondered when I scammed them, would they become penniless, would they face hardship.”
Read More -
Justice minister suggests possibility of mediation, reconciliation for minor crimes
Deputy Prime Minister Koeut Rith, Minister of Justice, has revealed the possibility that minor criminal cases – that do not involve physical harm or security issues – could potentially be resolved through mediation, providing both parties can come to an agreement at the prosecution stage.
Read More