Wage Theft, Trash Tourism, Economic Downgrade
Good morning, Cambodia. It's Friday, July 23, and this is your Weekly Dispatch.
WAGE WOES: The Kingdom’s garment workers lost more than $100 million in wages during Covid-19 lockdowns, even as big brands made $5 billion.
COVID CROSSROADS: The Kingdom hit another grim milestone this week as the Covid-19 crisis reached more than 70,000 cases and nearly 1,200 deaths.
DRUG COUNT: Police raided a secret Chinese nightclub, making arrests and confiscating white powder. Over 800kg of drugs have been seized this year.
THE LEDE
Opposition Disarray
The horizon looks positively uninspiring for Cambodia’s political opposition as it eyes upcoming elections.
The Cambodian National Rescue Party is still banned — and largely rudderless. The overseas Student Democracy Movement, which lean toward ultra-nationalism and Vietnamese conspiracy theories, complain about political sniping from supporters of the CPP and CNRP.
Sam Rainsy, the de facto opposition leader living in forced exile in Paris, was yet again accused of treason, this time for Facebook comments suggesting his supporters form a shadow government. The statement prompted a high-ranking general to suggest Rainsy be tried for treason and executed.
And Kem Sokha, still under house arrest, is negotiating for his return to politics, a move largely criticized by everyone else.
Any hope the opposition has of cutting into the supremacy of the CPP appears to be faint, even far-fetched.
‘Fake’ Environmentalist
The Ministry of Environment dismissed a community network report that documented hundreds of forest crimes in the Prey Lang Wildlife Sanctuary.
The government insists large-scale logging in protected areas doesn’t exist, despite evidence to the contrary. A ministry spokesman called the report dishonest.
“This is a fake and artificial love of the environment,” he said, according to the government mouthpiece Khmer Times.
Satellite data shows that in 2020 Cambodia lost nearly 50,000 hectares of tree cover.
Nature Charges
The court cases keep piling up for Mother Nature, the environmental group.
Authorities this week charged Thun Ratha, Long Kunthea and Phuon Keoreaksmey with insulting the monarchy and conspiracy to overthrow the government. The new charges appear related to three other Mother Nature activists who were charged with similar crimes in June.
The trio are about halfway into serving 18- to 20-month terms for their involvement in a one-woman protest against the filling of a Phnom Penh lake. The additional charges could keep them jailed for another decade.
Stitched Up
Garment workers lost more than $100 million in wages during Covid-19 lockdowns in April and May, even as global apparel brands recorded huge profits.
Trade unions said those lost earnings amounted to wage theft. They demanded companies such as Adidas, VF, Target, Nike and The Gap ensure workers get paid even when factories are shut due to the pandemic.
The companies could pay if they wanted: The top 10 brands most linked to wage theft earned a combined $5 billion in profit during the first three months of 2021.
So far they have offered only excuses.
TALKING POINTS
Nightclub Raid
Police nabbed nearly 100 Chinese nationals in a raid on a secret nightclub in Phnom Penh. In addition to violating Covid-19 health restrictions, party-goers were found with unspecified sums of white powder, which police suspected might be illegal.
Tons of Drugs
Anti-drug police seized nearly 800kg of illegal drugs in the first half of 2021. That’s more than double the same period last year, despite border closures. On Monday, Cambodia marked International Day Against Drugs by destroying some seven tonnes of illegal substances.
Wetlands Protected
The government will designate Boeung Prek Lapouv as an internationally importan wetland under the Ramsar convention. The Takeo lake spans more than 8,300 hectares and is home to more than 1% of the world’s endangered species.
Logging Disbelief
Environmental authorities stopped thousands of small-time forestry criminals in the first half of 2021. Meanwhile, large-scale cases remain unsolved.
Forests For Sale
Villagers in Banteay Meanchey accused the local governor of selling 120 hectares of state-owned flooded forest to private interests.
Trash Tourism
Covid-19 travel restrictions mean more people are discovering the Kingdom’s local wonders. Unfortunately, they’re bringing their garbage with them.
Real Estate Crisis
The Covid-19 pandemic has devastated the real-estate market. Still, it’s not as bad as 2008. At least, not yet.
Journos Detained
Authorities in June detained three journalists covering a land protest at Boeng Tompun. As details of the arrest come to light, it’s still unclear what the reporters did wrong.
Growth Down
Fitch Ratings significantly lowered its 2021 growth expectations for Cambodia to a meager 2.5%, down from 3.8%, due to dismal numbers in the tourism and service industries related to the pandemic.
Covid-19 Watch
Good news: Daily case numbers and deaths are trending downward, 11 million vaccines have been administered and 25 percent of the population is fully vaccinated. Bad news: As of Thursday, Cambodia had logged more than 70,000 Covid-19 cases and 1,188 deaths.
BACKPAGES: From The Cambodia Daily Vault
Koh Ker: Second Only to Angkor
July 21, 2001
For centuries, the jungle was its fate, plunging it into oblivion, but also sheltering it from smugglers who tore chunks of history from other Cambodian monuments. Viewed from the air, Koh Ker’s giant pyramid looms over the horizon, standing 35 meters tall over an endless expanse of jungle.
Monitors Say Political Violence Increasing
July 21, 2001
As concern mounts over a string of shootings of commune election candidates, reports by opposition party officials and election monitors suggest these attacks are only a fraction of the politically motivated violence in Cambodia.
Report Says Candidate’s Death Political
July 19, 2001
A report from human rights investigators has declared the shooting death of Sam Rainsy Party member Uch Horn a political act, a finding that makes him the first victim of political violence this year. The report dismisses rumors that he was shot for practicing deadly sorcery.
WEEKEND READS
The Anti-Vietnamese Legacy of Kem Ley
There were two sides to Kem Ley, the beloved Cambodian activist who was murdered five years ago: the calm, insightful public intellectual, and the hyperbolic nationalist who wanted to rid Cambodia of “illegal Vietnamese immigrants”, writes Tim Frewer.
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