Newly enacted laws have jeopardized the freedoms laid out by Cambodia’s constitution and, having been widely misapplied by officials, left less than 12 percent of Cambodians confident in exercising their rights, according to an NGO/Solidarity Center report released on Thursday.
“You have to assess minimum wages in the context of the country itself and, in that context, it’s not a living wage,” said David Welsh, Indonesia and Malaysia director at the Solidarity Center.”
“We live in a world that is feeling the impact of economic inequality. Workers are paying their fair share of taxes and oftentimes are receiving very little in terms of service delivery,” said Christopher Johnson, Solidarity Center Africa regional program director.
“Sok Phany, a legal officer at the Solidarity Center, an NGO that supports labor unions and worker rights, said she didn’t think the four would be charged as the complaint may have only been intended to silence them. ‘The worker representatives were not at the scene when the road was blocked,’ Ms. Phany said.”
“20 years ago you’d hear in different parts of the world ‘Yeah, we have child labor because it’s our economic advantage,’ or that it’s part of the culture. A lot of places you just don’t hear that anymore. The paradigm has shifted,” said Solidarity Center Director of Asia Programs, Tim Ryan.
“Workers are generally left out of these discussions,” says Sonia Mistry, senior Asia program officer at the Solidarity Center. “There is an opportunity and importance in engaging workers and their unions. If we’re actually talking about poverty alleviation and making migration a choice, then you need to engage workers and look at decent work in the country of origin.”