Labor
ADB affirms support for Lao development
ADB President Takehiko Nakao on 4 April met Lao Prime Minister Thongsing Thammavong, Minister of Finance Dr Lien Thikeo and Minister of Planning and Investment Mr Somdy Douangdy, to discuss how the ADB can support the country’s infrastructure, private sector, skills development, and health services to enable ...
Trade union law passes
The National Assembly of Cambodia on 4 April passed a contentious trade union law, just hours after a group of pro-union demonstrators and Daun Penh district security guards clashed violently outside.“They did not explain clearly what their intentions [were to retain articles in the law],” ...
Khammuan sets three-month deadline for illegal foreign workers
Khammuan provincial authorities has given three months for illegal foreign workers who failed to meet the necessary conditions to apply to work legally in Laos to clear up all their things and leave the country, a senior provincial official has said. The decision was part of ...
Myanmar fishing slaves in Indonesia to go home, ‘tip of the iceberg’
A final group of 24 fishing boat slaves is preparing to return home to Burma this week from Indonesia, aid workers said at a trafficking meeting in Bali, one of them calling the 1,200 slaves repatriated since last year the “tip of the iceberg.” Keep reading ...
Garment worker pageant troubles critics
Cambodia’s Ministry of Labour is bringing back a beauty pageant for garment workers, which unions and commentators have deemed a “regressive” distraction from deep-seeded inequalities in the sector. Keep reading ...
Eleven illegal migrants caught hiding in tour bus
Eleven illegal migrants were found hiding in the luggage compartment of a Bangkok-bound tour bus in Mae Sot district, Thailand early morning on 14 March. Keep reading ...
Unionists arrested by undercover police out on bail
Two unionists jailed since February 2 have been released on bail by the Kompong Speu Provincial Court in Cambodia, officials said on 10 March, although they remain charged with incitement and intentional violence in connection with a protest outside the Cerie garment factory. Keep reading ...
Controversial union law set for final review
The head of the National Assembly’s legislation commission of Cambodia said he hoped to have a controversial draft union law passed “very soon” after the latest round of feedback from unions and employers during a public workshop at Parliament on 9 March. Cambodian People’s Party parliamentarian ...
Two director generals fired after jade probe
A three-month investigation into dodgy dealings in the murky jade industry has netted dozens of government officials, with two director generals dismissed from their posts earlier this week. The President’s Office on 3 March confirmed that the director generals from two Union government ministries, as well as ...
Firm denies circumventing Malaysia maid ban
Four Cambodian domestic workers sent to Malaysia despite an official moratorium on the practice have been repatriated amid claims of unpaid wages and harsh working conditions, though the company that recruited them has insisted that the terms of their employment didn’t technically violate the government ...
