Zsombor Peter
The Cambodia Daily
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Past articles by Zsombor:
Arrest of CNRP President Sokha Puts Party on the Brink
After hundreds of armed police raided Kem Sokha’s home in the predawn hours on Sunday morning and arrested the opposition leader for alleged treason over a years-old speech, Prime Minister Hun Sen wasted little time warning the only party with a chance of beating his long-ruling CPP in July’s general election of its potential dissolution. → Read More
Politics Trump Economics in Promised Wage Hike
A week ago last Sunday, Prime Minister Hun Sen rolled out an unprecedented package of new benefits for the country’s army of garment workers, topped off by the promise of a handsome raise next year, just in time for July’s critical national election. → Read More
In Charm Offensive, Hun Sen Promises Workers Raises, Pension
In a move likely to play well with a large swath of voters ahead of next year’s national election, Prime Minister Hun Sen on Sunday announced a raft of new benefits for garment workers including a big bump to their monthly minimum wage—from $153 to “at least” $168. → Read More
Despite Ban, Millions in Timber Continue to Cross Border
Vietnam imported $142 million worth of timber from Cambodia during the first half of the year, according to the latest customs data from Hanoi, adding to the mounting evidence that Cambodia’s nominal timber export ban is being widely ignored. → Read More
Agencies With Government Ties to Send Maids to Hong Kong
Six recruitment agencies selected for a pilot program to send Cambodian maids to Hong Kong include two companies with family ties to top government officials that also participated in a similar venture with Singapore that soon became mired in controversy. → Read More
UN Rights Envoy Arrives Today Amid Repressive Election Lead-Up
The U.N.’s human rights envoy to Cambodia—on the eve of her latest mission to the country—faces a government that has been growing increasingly repressive in the lead-up to next year’s national election, several rights groups say. → Read More
NGO Facing Expulsion Praised for Programs
Long time residents of Phnom Penh’s once-notorious Svay Pak neighborhood say an NGO facing imminent closure on orders from Prime Minister Hun Sen was a boon to their small community and they had mixed feelings about its pending demise. → Read More
NGO in Hun Sen’s Crosshairs Remains Open, Under Investigation
An anti-sex trafficking NGO Prime Minister Hun Sen ordered shuttered and expelled from Cambodia was still open, but under investigation on Wednesday, an Interior Ministry official said. → Read More
Hun Sen Demands Closure Of NGO Over CNN ‘Insult’
Prime Minister Hun Sen on Tuesday ordered the speedy investigation, closure and expulsion of an anti-sex trafficking NGO over a recent CNN story featuring its work, accusing the group of inflicting Cambodia with “a serious insult” for saying that some mothers sell their daughters into the trade. → Read More
CNN Defends Child Trafficking Report From Government Rebuke
CNN on Monday said it stands by its report on child sex trafficking in Cambodia that has set the Interior Ministry on an investigation of a local NGO quoted in the story, accusing it of tarnishing the country’s image. → Read More
Hun Sen Sets Date for Next National Election—July 29, 2018
Prime Minister Hun Sen set the date for next year’s national election as July 29, officially backtracking on a deal his ruling CPP made with the opposition in 2014 to hold the poll during the dry → Read More
Cambodia Sees Its First Month Without Mine, UXO Victims
Deaths and injuries from old landmines and unexploded ordnance over the first six months of the year fell nearly 60 percent compared to the first half of last year, and included one month with no recorded casualties at all for the first time in memory. → Read More
NGOs Help Six More Workers to Repatriate From Malaysia
NGOs in Cambodia and Malaysia are working with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) to repatriate six of the 30 Cambodians who sought shelter at the country’s embassy after the Malaysian government started mass arrests of undocumented migrant workers on July 1. → Read More
Garment Factories Aiming to Kick Taxes on Footwear to US
Cambodia’s garment factories are hoping to partner with the Commerce Ministry in asking the U.S. to grant the country’s burgeoning footwear exports duty-free access should the U.S. decide to make the option available. → Read More
Vietnam Imports Cambodian Timber Despite Ban
After tumbling in April, Cambodia’s timber exports to Vietnam leveled off in May, according to the latest Vietnamese customs data obtained by the U.S. NGO Forest Trends. → Read More
Waiting for the Flood
On the north bank of the Srepok River, trash fires make ashes of what the families have left behind. They had fled before the rising waters promised by the Lower Sesan II dam, which closed its first floodgate for testing on Saturday morning after three contentious years of construction. Plumes of thick white smoke drift through the trees into an overcast sky. → Read More
Embassy in Malaysia Sheltering Nationals Amid Crackdown
The Cambodian Embassy in Kuala Lumpur has seen an influx of nationals seeking help securing work documents—along with food and shelter—amid a crackdown on unregistered workers in the country, an embassy official said on Thursday. → Read More
International Law Firm Sees Market for Second Citizenship
What do you get the Cambodian who has everything? Big house. Fancy car. A few million dollars in the bank? → Read More
Demining Operator Opens Peace Museum
The government’s main demining operator will open a 2-hectare landmine museum at an undisclosed cost in Siem Reap City today, at a time when the government is struggling to attract donors for mine clearance work that is well behind schedule. → Read More
Government Probes NGO Behind Damning Timber Racket Report
More than a month after confirming its investigation into new reports of rampant timber trafficking between Cambodia and Vietnam, the Environment Ministry remains tight-lipped about what—if any—progress it is making, but says the U.K. NGO that exposed the scale of the problem is itself being scrutinized. → Read More