geovalin

Lawyer says the decision is unjust because she is not a flight risk and does not pose a security threat. Cambodia’s Supreme Court on Friday upheld a lower court’s decision to deny bail to Cambodian American Theary Seng, who is serving a six-year sentence for conspiracy to plot against the government. The lawyer and activist was sentenced on June 14 along with 50 other activists for their association with the banned Cambodia National Rescue Party, once the main opposition in the country before it was dissolved by the Supreme Court in 2017. The Supreme Court said Theary Seng was a flight risk and a threat to the country’s social fabric in its decision to uphold the appeals court decision to reject a motion to release her on bail. Theary Seng’s lawyer Choung Chou Ngy told RFA’s Khmer Service that the decision was unjust. His client never avoided a trial before her arrest and has made it clear that she has no intention to leave Cambodia, he said. He also disputed the court’s contention that Theary Seng presented some risk to society. “It isn’t right to cite social security as a reason to deny her release,” Choung Chou Ngy said. “This means the court assumes that upon her release, she would cause social disorder. This is a guilty presumption, so I as a lawyer can’t accept it.” He said the court has no right to continue to detain Theary Seng because he filed an appeal for her, he said. “Even though the court convicted her to six years in jail, the verdict is not completed yet because of an appeal,” Choung Chou Ngy said. He plans to travel to remote Preah Vihear prison, where Theary Seng is being held, to brief her about the verdict and discuss further legal options. Theary Seng did not commit any crime, she simply exercised her freedom, Ros Sotha, executive director of the Cambodian Human Rights Action Committee. “If the government doesn’t open up to accept democratic culture, it will be difficult to lead a country,” he said, adding that Theary Seng’s conviction was for expressing her views against Cambodia’s authorities. Earlier this month, the New York-based Clooney Foundation for Justice called Theary Seng’s June 14 trial “a travesty of justice” and gave it a grade of F, calling for her immediate release. Translated by Samean Yun. Written in English by Eugene Whong. https://www.rfa.org/english/news/cambodia/theary_seng-09302022174518.html Copyright © 1998-2020, RFA. Used with the permission of Radio Free Asia, 2025 M St. NW, Suite 300, Washington DC 20036.

The Ministry of Water Resources and Meteorology has issued another bulletin on the effect of ‘Super Typhoon’ Noru on parts of Cambodia. The Ministry said that northwestern provinces such as Oddar Meanchey, Preah Vihear, Ratanakkiri, Siem Reap, Banteay Meanchey, Pailin, Battambang and Pursat will have moderate to heavy rainfall due to the effects of rain and low pressure. The ministry also stated that the rainfall level combined with the runoff from Thailand would cause these provinces to be flooded and flooded by excessive amounts of water. In a press release issued on the morning of September 27, 2022, the Ministry of Water Resources and Meteorology said that according to the evolution of the weather conditions, the absorption force of the impact of the 16th typhoon Nuro ( NORU), which originated in the eastern Philippines, will gradually weaken the ITCZ, which extends over northern Cambodia. On September 27, 2022, it is forecast that Noru will approach the central coast of Vietnam. read more https://www.khmertimeskh.com/501157877/super-typhoon-noru-brings-more-wet-weather-and-floods-to-cambodia/

Prime Minister Hun Sen has arrived in Tokyo, Japan yesterday evening to attend the State Funeral of ABE Shinzo, former Prime Minister of Japan scheduled for this afternoon. The Premier was warmly welcomed upon arrival at Tokyo’s Haneda International Airport by Tuy Ry, Cambodian Ambassador in Tokyo and many other Cambodian diplomats to Japan. The late Prime Minister ABE Shinzo was a long-time good friend of Prime Minister Hun Sen and Cambodia. During his premiership, he worked closely with the Cambodian government in enhancing bilateral relations between Cambodia and Japan, including the elevation of the bilateral cooperation to Strategic Partnership in 2013. The late Prime Minister had been widely acknowledged and praised for his active contribution to peace, stability, and prosperity in the region and beyond. read more https://www.khmertimeskh.com/501157754/cambodian-pm-arrives-in-tokyo-for-abe-shinzos-state-funeral/

The number of tourists visiting Siem province has plummeted in September due to the ongoing rain that has caused flash floods in eight districts even though the major attractions in the area remain unaffected by elevated levels of water. There has been a 10% drop in tourist numbers in the province compared to August. Siem Reap Provincial Department of Tourism deputy director Soeung Sitha noted that visitor numbers have dropped even though there are no floods at any of the temples in the area. “Tourist can still visit temples when it is raining lightly and protect themselves by wearing a raincoat or using an umbrella, but if the weather worsens, they can stay in the hotel,” Sitha said. The deputy director added that tourists can still visit Siem Reap province this month as there are no flash floods at any of the major tourist attractions, however, they should be careful of catching the flu due to the weather. read more https://www.khmertimeskh.com/501156981/rain-floods-scare-away-tourists-in-siem-reap/

Labor minister pledges support, but workers say they feel abandoned by their government. A Cambodian government delegation urged migrant workers at a festival in Thailand to back Prime Minister Hun Sen’s ruling Cambodian People’s Party, an opposition activist told RFA. At a celebration for the Cambodian Pchum Ben ancestor remembrance festival on Sunday, CPP officials promised the migrants that the government would help them navigate the process for working legally in Thailand, Pong Socheat, a representative for the banned Cambodian National Rescue Party (CNRP), told RFA’s Khmer Service. “I met the workers, who told me that the Cambodian People’s Party elements came to persuade them to join the CPP. They always promise to help process documents they need to work,” Pong Socheat said. “But the workers are not swayed by that because they do not like the way Hun Sen’s regime rules the country,” Pong Socheat said. The CPP has been targeting the Cambodian diaspora for support in countries like the United States, Australia, Japan, South Korea and in neighboring Thailand, where, according to labor NGOs, approximately 2 million Cambodian migrant workers live, both legally and illegally. Cambodia’s Minister of Labor Ith Sam Heng led the delegation of officials and embassy staff as they met with around 4,000 Cambodian migrants at the festival event in Thailand’s Samute Prakan province near the capital Bangkok. Ith Sam Heng told the workers that the Cambodian government is looking after migrant workers, who remit more than U.S. $2 billion to their families in Cambodia each year. “For our brothers and sisters who work in Thailand I wish to re-emphasize that the government … will continue to pay close attention to you by taking an effort to keep your job and business opportunities for you through the strong cooperation with Thailand,” Ith Sam Heng said at the event. He praised Hun Sen, who has effectively ruled Cambodia since 1985, for overseeing an era of peace, development and cooperation with the country’s neighbors “so that we can give opportunities for our brothers and sisters to work here. And he will continue to look after our brothers and sisters” But Pong Socheat said that Ith Sam Heng made a mistake by bringing along State Secretary Heng Sour, who he said was infamous for threatening to kill overseas Cambodian workers who criticize the ruling party. “Even in Thailand, Hun Sen’s regime comes after us and threatens us. Even if we just meet among ourselves and discuss our desire for change, we are worried about our safety, because they threaten us, saying the Thai authorities will cooperate with them,” Pong Socheat said. Many Cambodian migrants have been critical of their government for failing to protect their rights and interests. The Khmer community in Thailand does not believe that government officials back home are trying to help make their lives easier, Chhorn Sokheoun, a representative of the migrant workers, told RFA. For this reason, the CPP will not be able to persuade many migrants to join the party, he said. “The workers attended the Pchum Ben festival in Samute Prakan province because it is our Khmer tradition. But only a very small number would be brainwashed by the CPP’s political ideology,” Chhorn Sokheoun said. “The majority of workers did not attend the gathering because they clearly understand that working in Thailand is difficult. As for the passports and other necessary document issues, the government has not been helpful. It has always ignored the workers’ problems,” he said. Thuch Thy, who is from Cambodia’s western Battambang province but now works illegally in Thailand, said the cost of living in her new home is immense. A permit to work legally costs more than 17,000 baht (about $450), she said. But Thuch Thy said she has no choice but to work in Thailand because her family has debts in Cambodia and the wages offered there are too low. She said Cambodian migrants in Thailand face many problems, including labor rights abuses from their employers, but rarely receive support from Cambodian officials. “I have been working in Thailand for 15 years. I have never seen any [Cambodian] authorities come to provide any emotional or financial support. I have suffered from poverty and survived floods and heavy rains, but I have never seen any aid donations from my government. If Cambodia had job opportunities like in Thailand, I wouldn’t have left my village,” said Thuch Thy. Translated by Sok Ry Sum. Written in English by Eugene Whong. https://www.rfa.org/english/news/cambodia/diaspora_support-09262022175802.html Copyright © 1998-2020, RFA. Used with the permission of Radio Free Asia, 2025 M St. NW, Suite 300, Washington DC 20036.

Victims of the recent boat-overturning incident who were admitted to the Preah Sihanouk Referral Hospital were visited by Chinese Ambassador Wang Wentian and Preah Sihanouk Governor Kouch Chamroeun. Kheang Phearum, spokesman for Preah Sihanouk, said that the two victims were among those other victims who were rescued. The spokesman said that the boat sinking incident happened on 22 September and the victims who were visited were rescued on the afternoon of 23 September. A total of 41 people were involved in the boat sinking and 22 people so far have been rescued by searchers. 19 people are still missing and one was reported dead. read more https://www.khmertimeskh.com/501157560/chinese-ambassador-preah-sihanouk-governor-visit-boat-capsize-victims/

Hun Sen, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Cambodia, has continued his overseas mission to the Republic of Cuba, at the invitation of Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermudez, President of Cuba. The Cambodian Premier arrived at José Marti International Airport in Havana on September 23 evening (time in Cuba) after attending the 77th Session of the General Debate of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. In a message on his social media network early this morning (time in Cambodia), Hun Sen wrote that he has contributed 2/3 or 43 years (1979-2022) to the whole process of Cambodia-Cuba relations in the past 62 years. “My last visit [to Cuba] took place in 2000. Twenty-two years later, I visited [the country] again in order to strengthen the existing ties of friendship,” he wrote. “Thanks, the Cuban people for assisting the Cambodian people when we faced the hardest time after the fall of the Pol Pot genocidal regime.” read more https://www.khmertimeskh.com/501157263/cambodian-pm-begins-official-visit-to-cuba/

Members of the Cambodian diaspora rallied near the U.N. headquarters during the General Assembly. By Sokunthea Hong for RFA Khmer Protestors hold signs at a demonstration by members of the Cambodian diaspora at United Nations headquarters as Prime Minister Hun Sen was set to give a speech at the U.N. General Assembly in New York, Sept. 23, 2022. RFA About 300 members of the Cambodian diaspora in the U.S. rallied at United Nations headquarters in New York on Friday, demanding that the Phnom Penh government release political prisoners and implement democratic reforms as Prime Minister Hun Sen was set to address the U.N. General Assembly. The protesters displayed photos of detained activists from the now-dissolved Cambodian National Rescue Party (CNRP), whose leader Sam Rainsy has been in exile in France, and urged Hun Sen, the country’s long-ruling strongman, to release his grip on power. “Please respect human rights, release political activists to their freedom, and have free and fair elections in which all parties can participate,” Sam Vathana of Long Beach, California, told RFA when asked what his message was for Hun Sen. Chun Sothy, a CNRP activist who recently received asylum in the United States, traveled from North Carolina to attend the New York protest, told RFA that he was persecuted in Cambodia and fled to Thailand for three years before coming to the U.S. “I want Hun Sen to return our positions that he robbed from us. I am a former commune councilor. He robbed 5,007 seats,” Chun Sothy said. “He robbed the wills of more than 3 million people. If Hun Sen loves peace, why did he rob the wills of the people?” Chun Sothy was referring to Cambodia’s recent communal elections, which opposition activists and civil society groups said was marred by pressure campaigns from Hun Sen’s allies. “I want to tell the world that Hun Sen is not a leader who was elected. He stole power and we are living under a dictatorial and corrupt regime,” Chun Sothy said. The prime minister, who has ruled Cambodia for more than three decades, did not schedule any meetings with Cambodians now living in the U.S. while on his trip to the U.S., saying he was too busy. But some of his supporters greeted him at his hotel in New York. Members of the Cambodian diaspora protest against Prime Minister Hun Sen's authoritarian rule as the long-time strongman was set to address the U.N. General Assembly in New York, Sept. 23, 2022. The protest was organized by the Cambodia-Myanmar Group, in opposition to “Hun Sen and his Cambodian People’s Party’s (CPP) decades-long tyrannical rule in the country,” the group said. It called on Cambodia “to reverse all wrongful convictions and detentions,” including the recent conviction of Cambodian American human rights attorney Seng Theary for conspiracy to commit treason, part of a mass trial largely viewed as part of a broader crackdown on critics of Hun Sen. Since coming to power in 1985, Hun Sen has consistently targeted opponents to his rule and placed CPP officials in positions of authority nationwide. Parties that challenge his rule are often subjected to investigations, arrests and other forms of harassment by CPP officials and their supporters. Translated by Samean Yun. Written in English by Nawar Nemeh. https://www.rfa.org/english/news/cambodia/un-protests-09232022182414.html Copyright © 1998-2020, RFA. Used with the permission of Radio Free Asia, 2025 M St. NW, Suite 300, Washington DC 20036.

SIHANOUKVILLE, Cambodia — Chinese survivors from a boat that sank near a Cambodian island, killing three people and leaving eight missing, said they embarked on what they believed would be a short-term fishing job and ended up without food and water aboard the vessel and their belongings taken away. Cambodian authorities said Friday they rescued 21 people a day after the small wooden fishing vessel sank near Koh Tang, a Cambodian island close to the maritime border with Vietnam. Kheang Phearom, a representative for Cambodia’s Preah Sihanouk province, announced Saturday on his Facebook page that nine more people were rescued by the Vietnamese and three bodies were recovered by Cambodia, leaving eight people still missing. Survivors told Cambodian officials they began their journey in southern China. Dramatic video footage showed Cambodian crew on a nearby boat tossing life jackets and life-saving buoys toward the ramshackle vessel as it slowly listed to the right and slipped below the surface, sending its passengers spilling into the water. Two Cambodian crew members abandoned the boat when it first got into trouble and were rescued earlier. Cambodian police described them as guides and put them under arrest. It was not immediately clear why the passengers were being brought to Cambodia, though the account given by survivors suggests they were tricked by human traffickers who sometimes lure people with false offers of lucrative jobs. They then force them into activities such as internet scams to cheat people out of their money, or prostitution, and offer them freedom only in exchange for large amounts of money. Preah Sihanouk provincial police chief Gen. Chuon Narin told local media that the passengers had set off from China's Guangdong province Sept. 11 on a speedboat and had been transferred to the fishing boat Sept. 17 in international waters. Two survivors, a man and a woman who were being treated in the Preah Sihanouk provincial hospital, recounted parts of their ordeal Saturday in front of journalists. Zhu Pingfan, 41, said he had expected to earn 10,000-20,000 Yuan ($1,400-$2,800) for about 10 days’ work as a fisherman. “We boarded the boat and all of our belongings and electronics were confiscated. I thought it was not a big deal, right? So, I handed them over,” he said. “Then after about three days, there was no food left. On day four there was nothing to drink. So, for about four days we did not have anything to eat or drink.” Huang Qian, 20, told a similar story, and recalled how they were moved to a second boat, where each was given two packets of instant noodles and nothing more. The situation turned even grimmer when water got into the engine, disabling the vessel. There were no life jackets aboard when she had to abandon the boat. “I floated on the open sea for about two days,” she said. “We had a cooler and the two of us were just sitting on the cooler and floating around. And then we saw a fishing boat, so we called for help. So, they tossed a rope to us.” https://www.voanews.com/a/chinese-survivors-had-no-food-water-on-sinking-boat-/6762393.html

Our photographer Chor Sokunthea was out and about this morning capturing the scenes as tens of thousands left Phnom Penh – by bus, car, moto, train and tuk-tuk – to return to their home provinces for the annual Pchum Ben festival watch pictures here https://www.khmertimeskh.com/501156702/in-pictures-pchum-ben-exodus-from-from-phnom-penh/

A young man has died after his moto was hit and dragged under the car of a speeding foreigner late last night in Phnom Penh. The incident took place at 11 pm on Thursday, September 22, 2022 Prey Chisak village, Sangkat Choam Chao III, Khan Por Senchey, Phnom Penh. Sources from the scene said that before the incident, the victim was seen riding a black Honda Dream C125 2022 motorcycle Suddenly, a yellow Ford Ranger driven by a Chinese man at high speed hit the motorcycle and dragged the victim under the car for 20 metres An ambulance then rushed the victim to the hospital, but the victim died of his injuries. Police have named the victim as Vit, male, 22 years old, read more https://www.khmertimeskh.com/501156813/man-dies-after-being-hit-by-foreigner/

An official said the boat carrying 41 people got into difficulties off Sihanoukville, and only 18 of those on board had been rescued One of the passengers told police they left China from a port in Guangdong province by speedboat on September 11 More than 20 Chinese nationals are missing at sea after a boat capsized off the coast of Cambodia, an official said on Friday. The boat carrying 41 Chinese people got into difficulties off Sihanoukville on Thursday, Preah Sihanouk provincial spokesman Kheang Phearom said, and only 18 of those on board had been rescued. The once-quiet fishing village of Sihanoukville has been transformed by a Chinese investment boom in recent years, with dozens of casinos opening. But there have been growing reports of Chinese workers being trafficked or smuggled to work in the city illegally. Kheang Phearom said police were questioning those they had rescued while the search for the others continued. “We are searching for the 23 who went missing,” he said. Provincial police chief Chuon Narin told pro-government media outlet Fresh News that a representative of the group told police they left China from a port in Guangdong province by speedboat on September 11. Nearly a week later they were transferred to a wooden boat with two Cambodian crew members in international waters, the police chief said, and that vessel began to sink after breaking down on Thursday. read more https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3193542/23-chinese-nationals-missing-after-boat-capsizes-cambodia

The U.N.-backed Khmer Rouge tribunal held its final session Thursday, rejecting an appeal by the last surviving leader of the brutal regime that ruled Cambodia from 1975-79, one of only three men convicted in the 16-year trial process. Led by the notorious Pol Pot, the ultra-Maoist Khmer Rouge killed some 1.7 million Cambodians through starvation, overwork, or execution in a bid to create an agrarian utopia. They were finally removed from power by Vietnam, which invaded Cambodia in 1979. The Khmer Rouge Tribunal, formally called the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC), was set up to hold former Khmer Rouge leaders to account for the deaths. Khieu Samphan, 91, lost his appeal of his 2018 conviction and life sentence for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes for his leadership role in Khmer Rouge. Khieu Samphan, who is serving a life sentence for a 2014 conviction for crimes against humanity, had argued he was the titular head of state without decision-making powers in the Khmer Rouge regime during its bloody revolution and reign of terror. His appeal against his 2018 genocide conviction asserted that the lower court had made more than 1,800 errors, but the ECCC Supreme Court rejected virtually all his arguments. “I am unhappy with the Supreme Court's misunderstanding about the facts of the case that led to the conviction. The misunderstanding including his role in the Khmer Rouge,” said Khieu Samphan’s lawyer, Kong Sam Onn. A 'clean person' Khieu Samphan, his lawyer said, was “a clean person among other Khmer Rouge leaders” and “didn’t have the power to make any decisions during meetings.” “The court wanted to convict him before he dies. The court wanted to speed up the case to make sure the verdict is released before Khieu Samphan dies,” said Kong Sam Onn. While many welcomed the verdict, some former Khmer Rouge soldiers defended Khieu Samphan and said members of Prime Minister Hun Sen’s ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP) who were former Khmer Rouge leaders should be brought to trial as well. Former Khmer Rouge soldier Thong Thun in the western Cambodian province of Pailin said agreed with Khieu Samphan’s defense that he didn’t have power during his time as a ruler. “The court shouldn’t put him in jail for the rest of his life. It is embarrassing,” he told RFA Khmer. “Those other killers are still walking free and only a few were convicted,” he said, referring to members of the CPP who were former Khmer Rouge. Hun Sen, who was a middle-ranking commander with the Khmer Rouge before defecting, has ruled Cambodia with an iron fist since 1985. Another former soldier, who asked not to be named, dismissed the trial as a show to punish some former Khmer Rouge leaders while letting others get away with crimes. “The court shouldn’t put (Khieu Samphan) in jail for the rest of life, he is getting old,” he said. Lasting record Some observers have questioned the merit of a legal process that took $337 million and 16 years to but convicted only three men, two of whom are dead. Nuon Chea, the Khmer Rouge's No. 2 leader and chief ideologist, was convicted along with Khieu Samphan and was serving a life sentence when he died in 2019 at age 93. The tribunal's third convicted Khmer Rouge figure was of Kaing Guek Eav. Also known as Duch, commandant of the notorious Tuol Sleng prison, he died in 2020 at age 77 while serving a life sentence for crimes against humanity, murder and torture. The top Khmer Rouge leader, Pol Pot, died in the jungle in 1998 at age 72. Patrick Murphy, the U.S. ambassador in Phnom Penh, issued a statement saying the tribunal “leaves an important legacy detailing some of the worst crimes against humanity in modern history and making contributions to truth, reconciliation, and justice in the Kingdom of Cambodia.” Former ECCC investigator Craig Etcheson told the Associated Press the court “successfully attacked the long-standing impunity of the Khmer Rouge, and showed that though it might take a long time, the law can catch up with those who commit crimes against humanity." "The tribunal also created an extraordinary record of those crimes, comprising documentation that will be studied by scholars for decades to come, that will educate Cambodia's youth about the history of their country, and that will deeply frustrate any attempt to deny the crimes of the Khmer Rouge," said Etcheson, who was chief of investigations for the prosecution at the ECCC from 2006 to 2012. Translated by Samean Yun. Written by Paul Eckert. https://www.rfa.org/english/news/cambodia/khmerrouge-tribunal-09222022192908.html Copyright © 1998-2020, RFA. Used with the permission of Radio Free Asia, 2025 M St. NW, Suite 300, Washington DC 20036.

PHNOM PENH, Sept. 21 (Xinhua) -- The Asian Development Bank (ADB) maintained its economic growth forecast for Cambodia at 5.3 percent in 2022, but lowered the 2023 forecast to 6.2 percent from the earlier prediction of 6.5 percent due to weaker global growth, according to its updated outlook report released on Wednesday. Cambodia's garments, travel goods, and footwear outputs remained robust, registering 39.8 percent year-on-year growth in the first half of 2022, despite the economic slowdown in the United States and Europe, the report said. The non-garment manufacturing sector continued its strong growth momentum, it said, adding that construction gradually recovered, with imports of construction materials rising 22.8 percent. Industry output is projected to grow 9.1 percent this year, before moderating to 8.6 percent in 2023 because of weaker external demand, the report said. "An increase in Cambodia's manufactured product exports, and a gradual recovery in the construction and service sectors, have supported economic growth in 2022 despite the drop in agricultural growth caused by surging fuel and fertilizer prices and heavy rains," ADB country director for Cambodia Jyotsana Varma said in a news release. "The government's socioeconomic interventions such as the Cash Transfer Program for Poor and Vulnerable Households have been effective in lessening the impacts of the global surges in commodity prices on the poor," she added. The report revised Cambodia's 2022 inflation forecast to 5 percent, from the 4.7 percent forecast in April, due to the strong pass-through effects of fuel price increases caused by the Russia-Ukraine conflict. The inflation forecast for 2023 was kept at 2.2 percent, it said. According to the report, risks to the outlook include the potential emergence of new and more deadly COVID-19 variants, the monkeypox outbreak, a rapid increase in nonperforming loans, the weakened growth of major trading partners, global supply chain disruptions, and a worse-than-expected surge in energy and commodity prices. https://english.news.cn/20220921/2c4edad35e6447059736b7896c1f2287/c.html

As the mass swoop on illegal gathering – ordered by PM Hun Sen at the weekend – continues, police yesterday arrested more than 150 foreigners in a series of targeted raids throughout Cambodia. In Kandal province, Kong Sophoan, Governor of Kandal Province, led a team that raided a location in Sangkat Takdol, Takhmao City, Kandal Province on the night of September 20. After inspecting the business location, 72 Chinese nationals – 16 of whom did not have valid documents – were detained. Mr. Nop Dara, Deputy Governor of Kandal Province, said that under the direct command of Mr. Kong Sophorn, the above location was temporarily closed and all professional officers and stakeholders followed the procedure. He said he was not sure about the legal restrictions on the Chinese, as authorities were not yet working on the matter. In Koh Kong Province, more than 80 foreigners were arrested by police during a crackdown on suspected online gambling crimes at the Thantai Guesthouse in Village 3, Sangkat Smach Meanchey, Royal Khmer City, in the afternoon of September 21, 2022. read more https://www.khmertimeskh.com/501155894/more-than-150-foreigners-arrested-yesterday-as-anti-illegal-gambling-crackdown-continues/

As Lieutenant General Hun Manet, the Royal Cambodian Army (RCA) Commander and Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Cambodian Armed Force (RCAF), concluded his official visit to Thailand on Tuesday, the Armed Forces of both nations vowed joint efforts to strengthen efforts to maintain peace, security and stability along the border areas. Lt Gen Hun Manet, on his last day of a two-day visit to Bangkok, held talks with Prayut Chan-Ocha, Minister of Defence and former prime minister of Thailand. Earlier, he met with General Narongpan Jitkaewthae, the Royal Thai Army (RTA) Commander-in-chief, before paying a courtesy call on General Chalermphon Srisawasdi, the Chief of Defence Forces of the Royal Thai Armed Forces. Gen Prayut extended a warm welcome to Lt Gen Hun Manet and his high-level delegation of the RCAF and sent a warm message to Prime Minister Hun Sen and Minister of Defence General Tea Banh, during his meeting with Lt Gen Hun Manet at the Thai Ministry of Defence. During the meeting, Lt Gen Hun Manet mentioned the joint efforts of the two countries in building and strengthening the border area of “friendship, peace, cooperation and development”. read more https://www.khmertimeskh.com/501155411/lt-gen-hun-manet-meets-former-thai-pm-as-he-winds-up-visit/

The new wage is still too low, labor leaders said, and may not stem to flow of workers to other countries. Authorities in Cambodia have set the country’s 2023 minimum wage to U.S. $200 per month, but labor leaders told RFA the $6 increase is not enough to keep pace with inflation. The Minimum Wage Council decided on next year’s salary in a meeting held Wednesday. Cambodia’s unions asked for a minimum wage ranging from $206 to $213, but employers and government officials agreed to increase it to $198, according to a statement from the Ministry of Labor. The country’s leader, Hun Sen, decided then to round the figure up to $200, the statement said. When state benefits are included, the minimum income for Cambodians now comes to between $217 and $228, the statement said. Cambodia’s Minister of Labor Ith Sam Heng told reporters the new wage will help workers, but union leaders and workers told RFA’s Khmer Service they were disappointed with the raise. “I am sad because the government must play a vital role in defining the new minimum wage, and they know about inflation,” Yang Sophorn, the president of Cambodian Alliance of Trade Unions (CATU), told RFA. “Inflation is 5 percent. The government only added $6 to the current minimum wage of $194,” she said. The Cambodian Labor Federation was unhappy with the decision, its president, Ath Thun, told RFA. “We don’t like the results, but it has been done. The union will continue to work with workers and listen to their reactions,” Ath Thun said. “We will ask the government to reduce utility bills and fight against inflation, especially in gasoline and food prices.” Yorn Yoert, a worker, told RFA that she has begun cutting back on food to save money. “I eat food not for enjoying its taste, but just to survive, because I have reduced spending,” she said. “Before I had three meals daily but now I skip breakfast.” She also criticized the wage increase as insufficient. Exploitation abroad Many Cambodian workers reject the kow pay and seek opportunities in neighboring countries like Thailand. But migrants told RFA that they face exploitation by their employers and risk imprisonment if caught by authorities without proper documentation. Thai employers sometimes force Cambodian migrants to work overtime without pay, Ling Sophon, project coordinator for the Phnom Penh-based Center for Alliance of Labor and Human Rights NGO, told RFA. Workers report that the documents that they need to legally work in Thailand are more expensive, and there are not many job opportunities right now, he said. Migrants are also unfamiliar with immigration laws and Cambodian officials often don’t help them if they get arrested, Ling Sophon said. Over the last three months, migrants have complained about their difficulties renewing their passports, work permits and other documents, she said. The husband of Cambodian migrant Chey Mom was recently arrested by Thai police and sentenced to 18 months in jail, she told RFA. The couple had been living in Thailand for the past seven years. She said that since the arrest it has become harder to support her two children, who are of school age. She also asked Cambodia’s government for help. Another migrant, Cheng Nai, told RFA she is continuing to work in Thailand even though she risks arrest after she lost her legal documents when COVID-19 pandemic hit the country. The pandemic has also decreased job opportunities as tourism dried up. But she won’t go back to Cambodia, she says, because the pay is much lower and there are even fewer jobs. “Here it is easier to find a job, I am 41 years old now, I am afraid in Cambodia they will stop taking [older workers],” Cheng Nai said. “In Thailand they accept me for jobs even though I don’t have a passport. I want to work in Thailand.” Translated by Samean Yun. Written in English by Eugene Whong. https://www.rfa.org/english/news/cambodia/minimum_wage-09212022172817.html Copyright © 1998-2020, RFA. Used with the permission of Radio Free Asia, 2025 M St. NW, Suite 300, Washington DC 20036

Equinox, a natural phenomenon when the sun rises over the central tower of the Angkor Wat Temple in Siem Reap province, will happen today. Im Sokrithy, an archaeologist and director of the Department of Research, Training, and Communication said that at 6:30 am on Sept. 22, the sun will rise at the top of Angkor Wat, but with unfavourable weather this week, we may not be able to see this event like every year. He continued that this September’s Equinox event coincides with the time when the Khmer people are throwing Bai Ben, and following the inscription on the K279 inscription at the end of the 9th century, it is allowed to throw Bai Ben on Equinox night. The equinox is the time when day and night are approximately equal in length, unlike some normal months, the night is longer than the day or the day is longer than the night that always happens in the world. read more https://www.khmertimeskh.com/501155802/autumn-equinox-over-angkor-wat-to-happen-today/

About 50 families were evacuated overnight yesterday after floods wreaked havoc in Banteay Meanchey province bordering Thailand. The Ministry of Water Resource and Meteorology announced yesterday that the Kingdom will receive moderate to heavy rain combined with strong wind and lightning till September 27. The Ministry called on people and authorities to be vigilant of flash floods in coming days, especially in the mountainous provinces, and along Thai border. Soth Kimkolmuny, spokesman of National Committee for Disaster Management (NCDM), said yesterday, “Forty families from Mongkul Borei and Serei Saophorn districts in Banteay Meanchey were moved to safety because the water level rose dramatically at night.” Serei Saophorn district governor Sreng Sophal said 148 families in two communes were impacted by flash floods after the water level increased by 0.8 metres yesterday, and it might rise even more. “Floods affected 73 families in O’Ambel commune and five families were evacuated, while 75 families in Preah Ponlea commune were impacted and 13 families were evacuated,” Sophal said. read more https://www.khmertimeskh.com/501154597/50-families-evacuated-overnight-from-flood-hit-banteay-meanchey/

The Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) is scheduled to give its verdict on the appeal of Khieu Samphan, former President of the Democratic Kampuchea regime, over his conviction on charges under Case 002/02, on Thursday. Case 002/02 refers to the second trial against Khieu Samphan and Nuon Chea, chief ideologist of the Khmer Rouge (KR), where the duo was convicted of crimes against humanity, genocide against the Cham and the Vietnamese, forced marriages and rape. Trial hearings in Case 002/02 commenced on October 17, 2014, and concluded on January 11, 2017, and the duo was sentenced to life imprisonment on March 28, 2019. Khieu Samphan and Nuon Chea subsequently appealed the conviction. Nuon Chea died on August 4, 2019, leaving Khieu Samphan the sole KR leader before the court. According to the ECCC website, on September 15, 2010, Nuon Chea and Khieu Samphan (together with Ieng Sary and Ieng Thirith) were indicted on charges of crimes against humanity, genocide, and grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions of 1949 in what is referred as Case 002. read more https://www.khmertimeskh.com/501154471/khieu-samphan-verdict-tomorrow/

The Inter-ministerial Commission for facilitating the travel and transport of tourists and passengers at international border gates and international gates across Cambodia has initiated to attract Thai tourists to visit Angkor Archaeological Park in Siem Reap province by using only border passes. The initiative was raised during the Inter-ministerial Commission’s meeting held here on Sept. 19 under the chairmanship of its President Thong Khon. Hor Sarun, Secretary of State at the Ministry of Tourism and Vice President of the Inter-ministerial Commission, said after the meeting that Thong Khon, also Minister of Tourism, will propose the initiative to the Royal Government. Under the initiative, Thai people residing in provinces bordering Cambodia can cross the border and visit Angkor temples in Siem Reap province by using only border pass, instead of passport, Hor Sarun said, explaining that Thai people in Sa Kaeo province can enter Banteay Meanchey province of Cambodia, then continue to Siem Reap, while those in Surin province can cross the border to Oddar Meanchey province, and then Siem Reap province. https://www.khmertimeskh.com/501154939/cambodia-considering-new-initiative-to-attract-thai-tourists-to-visit-angkor-temples/

Lau Sok Huy stood to gain millions thanks to a new Cambodia-Singapore tax treaty, but her investment tanked. By Jack Adamović Davies for RFA A composite photo illustration by RFA using screen shots from a Jan. 29, 2018, Phnom Penh Post story about the opening of a cement plant, and the video of the Dec. 25, 2010 wedding video of Lau Sok Huy and her husband, Pich Aphirak. A Cambodian senator’s daughter gambled U.S. $8 million on the purchase of shares in an American medical technology company through a Singaporean broker – a transaction conveniently completed before the adoption of a double taxation treaty between Cambodia and Singapore – regulatory filings reviewed by RFA show. Had the investment worked out as planned, Lau Sok Huy expected returns in the realm of $50-60 million, and could have avoided up to $12 million in Cambodian taxes. But the investment flopped. Seven years after she became the second-largest shareholder in Tomi Environmental Solutions Inc, Sok Huy is down some $6.3 million and furious, according to the company’s founder and a fellow shareholder familiar with the deal who spoke with RFA. The investment – equivalent to more than 3,000 years of the average Cambodian salary – is one Sok Huy will likely have to write off as a loss. Tomi’s share price has dipped so low that it currently risks losing its listing on the Nasdaq Capital Market. But the structure and sequencing of the deal sheds a light on how well-to-do Cambodians stand to benefit from the double taxation agreement. Such agreements are viewed by advocates as a boon to trade and investment between nations, but they can also offer a way for wealthy investors to avoid taxes. Regulatory disclosures filed during Sok Huy’s acquisition of the Tomi shares strongly suggest the deal – in which she loaned the money to her broker who had purchased the shares, and then took the shares as repayment for the loan – was tailored to benefit from the double taxation agreement. The loan behind the deal was signed in January 2016, but was amended in May of the same year, just three days after the tax treaty was signed. Sok Huy’s politically connected background raises questions about whether it was appropriate for her to benefit from the agreement. Her father, Lau Ming Kan, is a longtime senator for the ruling Cambodian People’s Party, which has governed the country in one form or another for three decades. One of the final steps in any treaty becoming law in Cambodia – including the double-taxation agreement with Singapore – is ratification by the Senate where he sits. Sok Huy’s parents are also no strangers to investing in Singapore, a regional financial hub viewed by some as a tax haven. Her mother Choeung Sopheap, a confidante of Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, holds $36.5 million in shares in a Singapore-based company that owns a Cambodian corporation with an exclusive license to import liquid natural gas to Cambodia. Those assets are among the more than $230 million in assets that RFA has identified as being held in Singapore by politically connected Cambodians. The DTA Double-taxation agreements, often referred to by the acronym DTAs, are designed to ensure that companies or individuals do not get taxed on the same profits twice when doing business overseas. When two countries sign a DTA, the hope is that it will promote trade and investment between both nations. This particular treaty appears to have paid off. By the end of last year, Singapore was Cambodia’s second-largest source of foreign investment, having barely figured in the rankings half a decade earlier. A business consultant with more than a decade’s experience in Phnom Penh told RFA they viewed the agreement as a net positive for Cambodia. “A DTA can help eliminate double taxation, and for investors coming into Cambodia, that's fairly important. So, in that sense, they're fairly useful, and also very widespread and standard around the world,” the consultant said, requesting anonymity due to the potential professional repercussions for speaking publicly on a sensitive topic. “Can the wealthy take advantage of them to reduce their tax bill as well? Absolutely,” the consultant added. “But they already have other means of doing so. So, of all the 'sins' here [in Cambodia], I wouldn't see that as being a meaningful one.” That’s not an analysis everyone would agree with. In late 2016, the World Bank published a blog by two of its senior employees – Jim Brumby and Michael Keen – that asked whether tax treaties like DTAs are a “boost or bane for development” in lower-income countries, such as Cambodia. They were not convinced. “Developing countries have used them with the intention of boosting economic development. The evidence for that is weak,” Brumby and Keen wrote. “The problem is that tax treaties – and the international system of taxation more generally – are highly complex and have unleashed unforeseen consequences.” “Multinational companies, with much at stake, can use treaties to route income through third countries to exploit favorable tax treaties. Tax authorities, particularly in developing countries, are finding it hard to counter such ‘treaty shopping,'” Brumby and Keen added. Despite having assets and businesses in multiple countries, Sok Huy does not fit the traditional definition of a multinational company. But her family often behaves like one, as do many other powerful clans in Cambodia – negotiating sweetheart deals with the government that are unavailable to smaller businesses with less political clout and cash in the bank. If the Lau family’s lawyers and accountants have clocked on to the Singapore loophole, it seems likely the financial professionals advising Phnom Penh’s other leading families will have too. So how does it work? People pass by the Nasdaq Market Site in Times Square in New York City, U.S., Feb. 7, 2018. Credit: Reuters/Brendan McDermid The deal Between May and July 2015, Singaporean broker Boh Soon Lim snapped up $8 million of Tomi shares, then accounting for roughly 11% of the company, according to regulatory filings lodged with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the U.S. stock market regulator. He bought the shares in the name of Arise Asset Management Pte Ltd, a Singapore-registered company in which he is majority owner. In the SEC filings he described the money for the purchase as coming from Arise Asset Management’s working capital. The term refers to the total cash available to the firm minus any liabilities or debts it might have. Given that a subsequent filing lodged in January of the next year would retroactively describe the purchase as being financed by a loan from Sok Huy to Arise Asset Management, it would appear that the initial filing was misleading. The loan agreement, signed in January 2016 but backdated to the previous summer, stipulated that the money was lent for a period of 18 months at 0% interest for the purpose of financing the purchase of the Tomi shares. Once those 18 months were up, rather than Arise Asset Management returning the $8 million to Sok Huy, the loan agreement instead called for the Tomi shares to be transferred to her or her “designated nominee,” provided she had paid Boh’s company a $240,000 “premium” for the privilege of having lent it $8 million interest-free. In case there was any doubt that Sok Huy was in fact the beneficial owner of the shares from the moment Arise Asset Management bought them in 2015, the agreement also called for any dividends paid out on the shares by Tomi while the loan was in effect to be paid to Sok Huy. It is not entirely clear why either Boh or Sok Huy felt that this elaborate and costly ruse was necessary, if Sok Huy was the real owner of the shares from day one. Neither responded to multiple invitations to comment for this story. But when RFA asked financial crime expert Graham Barrow about the arrangement, he said it had the appearance of a scheme designed to avoid scrutiny. “Why would someone give an interest-free loan to their broker? They’re a broker. It’s their job to buy and sell shares on behalf of other people. You give your broker [money] to buy shares for you,” Barrow wrote in an email. “On the other hand, if you don’t want people to know it’s you, ‘lending’ your broker money with which they buy shares and, guess what, the shares are subsequently returned … looks like a handy way of avoiding the due diligence that would otherwise take place.” That explanation rang true for a minor shareholder in Tomi who was familiar with the circumstances surrounding Sok Huy’s investment in the company. The investor asked not to be identified citing safety fears, given the Lau family’s power and influence. “I think maybe she couldn’t buy the shares directly,” the investor said. “These are the patterns a lot of people do. If you can’t pass the KYC [Know-Your-Customer checks], you give a loan to your friend and they buy it for you.” Tomi’s CEO and founder Halden Shane told RFA in an interview earlier this year that due diligence is a difficult enough affair for companies like his looking to take on new investors. “Usually when a fund manager approaches you and says, ‘We have a client that we’ve had for a number of years and they’d like to make an investment in the company,' a lot of times, these names, you don’t know really what their real name is,” Shane said. “You try to look them up and do due diligence and interview them the best we can and, I mean, it’s very hard to do due diligence in Asia.” Whatever due diligence Tomi had been able to undertake on Sok Huy, Shane was shocked when seven years later, RFA informed him that her father is a Cambodian senator. “Like we have senators here, they have senators there?” the Californian asked. Nor was Shane aware that Sok Huy’s mother, Choeung Sopheap, was behind a real estate development so marred in human rights violations that it caused the World Bank to suspend funding to Cambodia. It’s a risk profile that has proven too much for some, which has led the family to take evasive measures when moving their money around the world. RFA reported earlier this year that the Cypriot police claimed in an affidavit submitted to that country’s Supreme Court that they believe Sopheap completed a $3.5 million transaction by a series of credit card payments so as to avoid the scrutiny that would have come with a bank transfer. The tax dodge But even more than hiding from due diligence, the Tomi share purchase appears engineered to avoid future tax burdens. For years now, the Cambodian government has been planning a capital gains tax of 20% on profits from the sale of investments and real estate, wherever in the world those assets are located. The law was slated to come into effect on July 1, 2020, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic has been pushed back to 2024. However, tax experts note that the country’s laws have included references to “capital gains” as a form of taxable profit since at least 2003. The minor shareholder familiar with Sok Huy’s acquisition of the Tomi shares told RFA that the senator’s daughter had been led to expect profits between $50-60 million. Had those profits materialized, 20% would have been owed to the Cambodian government – some $10-12 million. Singapore, meanwhile, has no capital gains provision, something the share purchase appears tailor-made to exploit. Sok Huy and Arise Asset Management signed the loan agreement for the share purchase on Jan. 30, 2016. On May 20 of the same year, Cambodia and Singapore signed the initial DTA. Three days later, the loan agreement was amended, according to a later SEC filing. The filing gives no details of the alterations made to the agreement. The loan expired the following summer, on July 31, 2017, five months before the DTA would come into legal effect. However, precisely two weeks prior to the loan’s expiration, a Singaporean company called Environmental Solutions Holding Pte Ltd was registered with Sok Huy as the sole shareholder. When the loan ran out, the Tomi shares were passed to the new holding company, rather than Sok Huy herself. When the DTA came into legal effect on Jan. 1, 2018, it took precisely three weeks for the Tomi shares to be transferred into the personal ownership of Sok Huy, who gave a Singaporean residential address. Less than a year later, an application was lodged to have Environmental Solutions Holding struck off from the Singaporean register. The reason given – “Company has not commenced trading since the date of incorporation” – seems improbable, given that it had acquired and disposed of $8 million of assets in the past 12 months. In the end though, Sok Huy must be wondering if it was all worth it. It certainly seems to have paid off for her broker, Boh, who was appointed to Tomi’s board in January 2018, for which he draws an annual salary of $40,000, according to SEC filings. Sok Huy apparently doesn’t think things have worked out quite so well for her. She is no longer on speaking terms with Boh, according to Shane, Tomi’s CEO. “I don’t think she was that happy with the investment,” Shane said. Eventually, this arcane series of nesting transactions produced no profits to be taxed. But for every visible failure such as Sok Huy’s, how much wealth generated in Cambodia is being quietly put to work overseas and the profits booked tax-free in Singapore? https://www.rfa.org/english/news/cambodia/trade-09202022194004.html Copyright © 1998-2020, RFA. Used with the permission of Radio Free Asia, 2025 M St. NW, Suite 300, Washington DC 20036

A union leader and other Cambodian rights activists say their every move online and offline is tracked by software, cameras and drones China has installed more than 1,000 CCTV cameras in Phnom Penh as part of a new nationwide surveillance system, local media said The drones were hard to avoid: they buzzed low over the crowd of protesters holding banners and shouting slogans outside the NagaWorld casino in the Cambodian city of Phnom Penh, then hovered above each of the speakers as they called for justice. As hundreds of workers went on strike outside the glass and chrome towers of the firm’s hotel and casino complex, demanding the reinstatement of nearly 400 employees who were laid off last year, armed riot police and surveillance cameras kept watch. “We knew we were being recorded, but we couldn’t do anything, so we would wave at the drones,” said Chhim Sithar, 34, a union leader who was arrested at the January protest along with more than a dozen others, and held in jail for nine weeks. Hong Kong-listed NagaCorp said the strike that began in December was illegal, and that the lay-offs were a “mutual separation plan” to cut costs during the Covid-19 pandemic. read more https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3193045/activists-cambodia-fear-rising-surveillance-chinas-belt

As provincial authorities announce and enact several raids against illegal detention, torture and human trafficking across Sihanoukville compounds, residents say other companies appear to be quietly emptying buildings of foreign workers. The Preah Sihanouk provincial administration announced that law enforcement raided a compound in Sihanoukville’s Bei commune over five days, sending a total of 12 suspects for questioning and saddling hundreds of foreign workers with penalties for improper immigration and employment documents — and seizing nearly $80,000 and 9,000 phones. The statement published on Sunday said that authorities had raided a building called Xinshan Great Wall Park from last Tuesday through Saturday, accusing the operation of human trafficking, sex trafficking, torture and detention. read more https://vodenglish.news/eerie-silence-descends-on-notorious-sihanoukville-scam-compounds/

It’s the second mass escape of Vietnamese workers in a month. A group of 60 Vietnamese fled from a casino in Bavet city, in Cambodia's Svay Rieng province on Saturday. Another four were caught by the casino’s guards, Vietnam’s state-controlled media reported, citing the Vietnamese Embassy in Cambodia. On Saturday afternoon, a video clip spread on social media showing dozens of Vietnamese workers fleeing in the rain from the casino at Bavet Kandal Hamlet in Bavet. The city is near a border gate leading to Vietnam’s Moc Bai gate in Tay Ninh province On hearing the news, the Vietnamese Embassy in Phnom Penh contacted the Cambodian authorities to find out the facts. It asked Cambodian authorities to get involved in rescuing the remaining Vietnamese citizens in the casino, help verify people’s identities and repatriate them, according to local media. Later the same day the Cambodian Police asked the casino to release 11 more Vietnamese nationals. Media reports said the police were still interviewing the group. This is the second mass breakout of Vietnamese from a casino in Cambodia in the space of a month. On August 18, more than 40 Vietnamese broke out of a Chinese-managed casino in Cambodia’s Kandal province and swam across the Binh Di River to An Giang province in Vietnam. Vietnam's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it had helped bring about 600 Vietnamese citizens back home since the beginning of the year. It said they went to work in Cambodia with the promise of "light work, high salary" but were later exploited, abused, beaten and asked to call their relatives to receive ransom money so that they could return home. https://www.rfa.org/english/news/vietnam/60-vietnamese-escape-09182022234713.html Copyright © 1998-2020, RFA. Used with the permission of Radio Free Asia, 2025 M St. NW, Suite 300, Washington DC 20036.