More than 60 Vietnamese ethnic minority Montagnards have crossed the border to Cambodia to seek asylum through the UN refugee agency.
The human rights group, Adhoc, says 40 Vietnamese Montagnards entered Cambodia earlier this week, and another group of 22 crossed the border three weeks ago.
Pen Bunna of the human rights group, Adhoc, says the refugees are hiding in dense forest in northeastern Ratanakiri province.
He says the UNHCR office in Phnom Penh has been informed of their whereabouts.
Around 2,000 Montagnards - a group whose members backed US forces during the Vietnam war - fled to Cambodia in 2001 and 2004 after security forces crushed protests against land confiscations and religious persecution.
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Thursday, September 13, 2007
More than 60 Vietnamese Montagnards flee to Cambodia
Cambodian man charged with injecting love interest with his blood
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia: A Cambodian man was charged Thursday with injecting a woman with his own blood after she refused to reciprocate his love, a judge said.
Lon Sopheaktra, 22, is being detained at a prison on suspicion he injected a syringe of his blood into the woman's rib cage and waist as she walked home from school, said Duch Sok Sarin, a judge at Battambang provincial court. He faces up to two years in jail if found guilty of assault, the judge said.
If the assailant's blood is found to be infected with the AIDS virus, the maximum penalty would be increased to 15 years, Duch Sok Sarin said.
Police said the suspect fell in love with the woman when the two were classmates in 2004. After the woman refused his advances, he came up with the scheme to inject her with his blood, they said.
"He thought that if he could not marry her, at least his blood can stay inside her body," police officer Tan Sophal said. "That's why he injected her with his blood."
Battambang province, where the attack occurred, is about 250 kilometers (155 miles) northwest of the capital, Phnom Penh.
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Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Cambodia officially launches new traffic law
Cambodia's comprehensive new traffic law, signed by King Norodom Sihamoni on Feb. 8, was officially launched here on Tuesday with the attendance of approximately 1,000 people and ambassadors to Cambodia, local media said on Wednesday.
Deputy Prime Minister Sok An, also Minister of Council of Ministers, who presided over the event, said that the announcement on the official implementation of the new traffic law was hoped to encourage all Cambodian nationals to change indifferent attitudes to the law, increase understanding about the law and respect it while driving their vehicles, said Cambodian-language newspaper the Rasmei Kampuchea.
The deputy minister said efforts to strengthen the implementation of traffic law, which is an effective means to reduce road accident rates, are also hoped to contribute to the development of social economy to rapidly eradicate the poverty of Cambodian people.
Public Works and Transport Minister Sun Chanthol stated that most traffic accidents in Cambodia, where about four people died and 17 were injured by road accidents each day in 2006, are caused by human error including speeding and drunk driving, which accounted for 94 percent.
Based on the new law, drivers of vehicles over 49cc are obliged to hold licenses with each license having 12 points, according to English-language newspaper the Cambodia Daily.
Points will be deducted for violations with one point being docked for driving without a helmet, while more serious violations like drunk-driving will result in up to six points being deducted. If a driver loses all of his points, he or she loses his license and will not be granted a new one for at least six months.
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) reported that in 2003, Cambodia lost 116 million U.S. dollars, or 3 percent of GDP, as a result of traffic accidents.
Source: Xinhua
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Hewitt slams orphanage's claims
Tennis player Lleyton Hewitt's manager has described as a "beat-up" and a "witch-hunt" a Today Tonight segment to air tonight that will cast doubt on his and his wife Bec's commitment to build an orphanage in Cambodia.
The segment will question the couple's contribution to the orphanage, suggesting they had done less than Bec Hewitt promised in February 2005.
The pair had pledged to be involved in construction of the Hope For Children orphanage, a project by The AIDS Trust of Australia.
But the player's manager, David Drysdale, said today that the couple had followed through on their promises.
"The AIDS trust was looking to somebody [to provide] the money to purchase the land where the orphanage would be built," he said.
"Bec's commitment was to buy the land where the orphanage would be built - she gave $65,000.
"Bec's commitment was fulfilled and The AIDS Trust would support that.
"It's ironic that Channel Seven are taking this track when the money she donated actually came from her prizemoney on Dancing With The Stars and an interview with Today Tonight."
The AIDS Trust's acting CEO Ross Smith confirmed the Hewitts had fulfilled all commitments they had made to building the orphanage.
A Today Tonight spokeswoman would not provide details of the story to air tonight, but confirmed that Today Tonight producer Phil Goyen and reporter Marguerite McKinnon had travelled to Cambodia to "look at the orphanage the Hewitts committed to".
"Basically we're going to put all the facts and financials out there and people can make up their own mind," Goyen said.
"We've come to Cambodia to see exactly what's been done and who's done it."
Drysdale said the program's allegations were based on "a play on words".
"They think 'building the orphanage' means to keep putting in for the building itself, but there was no ongoing commitment, the commitment was to buy the land," he said.
Mr Drysdale said the couple were "bitterly disappointed" at Today Tonight's allegations, which come as Lleyton Hewitt prepares to travel to Belgrade to face Serbia in the Davis Cup.
"Bec is devastated that a TV network she gave so many years to, on Home and Away and Dancing With The Stars ... that the network can turn around and do this to her - she's devastated by it."
Read more!
The segment will question the couple's contribution to the orphanage, suggesting they had done less than Bec Hewitt promised in February 2005.
The pair had pledged to be involved in construction of the Hope For Children orphanage, a project by The AIDS Trust of Australia.
But the player's manager, David Drysdale, said today that the couple had followed through on their promises.
"The AIDS trust was looking to somebody [to provide] the money to purchase the land where the orphanage would be built," he said.
"Bec's commitment was to buy the land where the orphanage would be built - she gave $65,000.
"Bec's commitment was fulfilled and The AIDS Trust would support that.
"It's ironic that Channel Seven are taking this track when the money she donated actually came from her prizemoney on Dancing With The Stars and an interview with Today Tonight."
The AIDS Trust's acting CEO Ross Smith confirmed the Hewitts had fulfilled all commitments they had made to building the orphanage.
A Today Tonight spokeswoman would not provide details of the story to air tonight, but confirmed that Today Tonight producer Phil Goyen and reporter Marguerite McKinnon had travelled to Cambodia to "look at the orphanage the Hewitts committed to".
"Basically we're going to put all the facts and financials out there and people can make up their own mind," Goyen said.
"We've come to Cambodia to see exactly what's been done and who's done it."
Drysdale said the program's allegations were based on "a play on words".
"They think 'building the orphanage' means to keep putting in for the building itself, but there was no ongoing commitment, the commitment was to buy the land," he said.
Mr Drysdale said the couple were "bitterly disappointed" at Today Tonight's allegations, which come as Lleyton Hewitt prepares to travel to Belgrade to face Serbia in the Davis Cup.
"Bec is devastated that a TV network she gave so many years to, on Home and Away and Dancing With The Stars ... that the network can turn around and do this to her - she's devastated by it."
Cambodia conducts airplane rescue exercise
The Cambodian government on Wednesday conducted an airplane rescue exercise at the military airbase next to the Phnom Penh International Airport in order to prepare itself against urgent situation such as fire and explosion.
"We conduct this airplane rescue exercise because Cambodia is a member of the International Civil Aviation Association," said Sok An, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Council of Ministers.
"We want to show the big aviation companies that we have the abilities to save planes when they are in emergent cases," he said, adding that such exercise will be conducted every year.
Some 20 ambulances, hundreds of troops and firemen and over 10 fire engines were deployed in the exercise.
Some severely "injured" passengers were rushed from the site to the nearest hospitals and the doctors helped other passengers with slight "wounds" on the scene.
Source: Xinhua
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Cambodia's parliament approves stock exchange law
PHNOM PENH (ThomsonFinancial) - Cambodia's parliament on Wednesday approved a law that takes the country a step closer to opening its first stock exchange, planned for 2009.
The National Assembly approved the law setting out the rules and regulations by which private and state enterprises can issue stocks and bonds.
'This law will help develop the national economy and society by collecting capital from the public or securities investors... for investment,' a copy of the draft said.
The law also aims 'to promote investment from abroad and the participation in the securities market in Cambodia,' it said.
The government now must establish a nine-member Securities and Exchange Commission of Cambodia to regulate the planned market and the issuing of government bonds, it said.
The government last week launched a project to establish the country's first securities market, partnering with South Korea in a programme that hopes to see a stock exchange established by 2009.
Despite concerns from oppostion lawmakers over the independence of the new commission, Finance Minister Keat Chhon said the law meets international standards.
But he acknowledged that many challenges remain -- particularly creating the infrastructure for the market and a computer system to manage trading.
He said the government will control the new securities commission until at least 2015 and will spend some 15 million dollars to develop the market.
Opposition leader Sam Rainsy urged the government not to interfere in the securities market.
'When there is a lot of interference, it could lead to conflicts of interest,' he said.
'There will be a lot of money coming across the securities market, so then there will be the risk of cheating,' Rainsy said.
While still one of the world's poorest countries, Cambodia has emerged from decades of conflict as one of the region's rising economies.
The country has posted annual economic growth averaging 11 percent over the past three years on the back of strong garment and tourism sectors.
Cambodia remains a largely cash-only economy and a high degree of mistrust keeps many people hoarding their money at home instead of using the banks.
In April, Cambodia was assigned its first-ever sovereign debt rating by the credit rating agency Standard and Poor's, which said the impoverished country's outlook was 'stable'.
The B+ rating is below investment grade status, restricting many institutional investors, but it is a significant step in Cambodia's bid for economic respectability.
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Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Cambodian royal shirks Khmer Rouge trials
By Marwaan Macan-Markar
BANGKOK - Cambodia's colorful former king Norodom Sihanouk has emerged as the central figure in the latest controversy to plague the special tribunal established to prosecute the surviving members of the genocidal Khmer Rouge regime.
The 85-year-old royal, who has carved a name for himself as a man who relishes the spotlight, has waded into the dispute in his own inimitable way. He chose to reveal his thoughts on the question that has gripped Phnom Penh: whether Sihanouk should or should not be called to appear before the United Nations-backed war-crimes trial.
On August 30 he made his first thrust by issuing an unusual invitation to the UN officials associated with the tribunal, including its international spokesman, Peter Foster, to visit the palace for a conversation on "the affairs of the Khmer Rouge and Sihanouk". The method of communicating the invitation was typical Sihanouk: it was posted on the personal website that he maintains. The rendezvous in the royal court was set for September 8 and scheduled to last for three hours.
Sihanouk - who stepped down as monarch in October 2004 in favor of his son, Norodom Sihamoni - took the liberty on the Web posting to reveal how he views the Extraordinary Chambers in the Court of Cambodia (ECCC), as the tribunal is officially called.
"After this [meeting] it will no longer be necessary for me to present myself before the UN's ECCC," Sihanouk stated in his invitation. And if the UN officials failed to show up, he noted, he "will not accept to see, speak or correspond with the UN's ECCC".
As was expected, the UN officials did not participate in this royal conversation on the tribunal.
"I was not authorized to participate in this meeting, nor were other UN officials," Foster said during an interview from Phnom Penh. "We responded by saying that only the judges involved in the trial will be able to determine who will be a witness. The judges will do so based on procedural rules."
But like a character from a Shakespearean drama, Sihanouk continued to protest. In standing up for his cause, the former monarch ''complained that the ECCC wanted him to 'take an oath to tell the truth [and] nothing but the truth on the subject of arch-criminals'", the English-language Phnom Penh Post newspaper reported last Friday. "'I do not have to swear an oath after [the one I swore] with Buddha, to debase myself to take an oath in front of the ECCC.'"
Those familiar with Sihanouk's penchant for grand gestures and a life peppered with drama are hardly surprised by this latest offering. After being crowned monarch in 1941 at the tender age of 18 years, he abdicated twice, served as king twice, held the post of prime minister twice and served as president once. His record in the world of the arts and entertainment has been as varied, dabbling as a filmmaker, songwriter, painter, saxophonist and crooner of ballads.
What is equally well known is the link Sihanouk maintained with the Khmer Rouge, which was responsible for an orgy of death from 1975, when it took control of Cambodia after a prolonged battle with a pro-American puppet regime in Phnom Penh, to 1979. The extreme Maoist group killed close to 1.7 million Cambodians, nearly a quarter of the country's population at the time. The victims were executed or died from forced labor or starvation as the Khmer Rouge tried to turn the country into an agrarian utopia.
Sihanouk himself lost family members to the Khmer Rouge and was kept under house arrest by the genocidal regime between 1976 and 1979. Yet against those details are the roles he played in the four years up to the Khmer Rouge triumph in 1975 - urging the Cambodian people to join the group, in addition to serving as the head of state for the regime in the first year it held power. And when the Khmer Rouge was driven from power by invading Vietnamese troops, Sihanouk fled to the forests with the ousted rulers and took on a new role as the global defender of the regime-in-exile.
It is this phase of Sihanouk's life that has been brought into focus and raised the possibility of him going before the ECCC, which officially began work this July after long delays and hurdles placed in its way, including regular challenges posed by Prime Minister Hun Sen.
The push to get Sihanouk to appear before the ECCC was triggered by a relatively unknown non-governmental organization based in the United States, the Cambodian Action Committee for Justice and Equity. Late last month, it made a request to authorities in Phnom Penh to strip Sihanouk of his immunity as a former monarch so he could be called before the tribunal.
The Hun Sen administration rose to Sihanouk's defense by delivering a harsh rebuke. The prime minister called the request to strip Sihanouk "very barbaric" and one that "could have the result of jeopardizing the peace and unity" of the country. But rights groups questioned the government's motives, arguing that war-ravaged Cambodia's quest to create a society governed by the rules of law and justice will be undermined if the former monarch is placed above the law and insulated from the ECCC.
"This could set a bad precedent, since the ECCC is expected to set new and high standards of justice for Cambodia," said Lao Mong Hay, senior researcher on Cambodia at the Asian Human Rights Commission, a regional rights lobby. "The request does not mean he has to face trial as a defendant or as an accused, but it is to remove an unconstitutional clause in the constitution and make the former king available if the judges need him to appear.
"This is very important for the trial, since many Cambodians who lost family want to know about the past - how and why the Khmer Rouge pursued their murderous policies," Lao Mong Hay said. "It is a chance for the former king to clear his name if he did nothing wrong. And he has been on the record in the past saying that he would be willing to face the trial like the former Khmer Rouge leaders."
Read more!
The 85-year-old royal, who has carved a name for himself as a man who relishes the spotlight, has waded into the dispute in his own inimitable way. He chose to reveal his thoughts on the question that has gripped Phnom Penh: whether Sihanouk should or should not be called to appear before the United Nations-backed war-crimes trial.
On August 30 he made his first thrust by issuing an unusual invitation to the UN officials associated with the tribunal, including its international spokesman, Peter Foster, to visit the palace for a conversation on "the affairs of the Khmer Rouge and Sihanouk". The method of communicating the invitation was typical Sihanouk: it was posted on the personal website that he maintains. The rendezvous in the royal court was set for September 8 and scheduled to last for three hours.
Sihanouk - who stepped down as monarch in October 2004 in favor of his son, Norodom Sihamoni - took the liberty on the Web posting to reveal how he views the Extraordinary Chambers in the Court of Cambodia (ECCC), as the tribunal is officially called.
"After this [meeting] it will no longer be necessary for me to present myself before the UN's ECCC," Sihanouk stated in his invitation. And if the UN officials failed to show up, he noted, he "will not accept to see, speak or correspond with the UN's ECCC".
As was expected, the UN officials did not participate in this royal conversation on the tribunal.
"I was not authorized to participate in this meeting, nor were other UN officials," Foster said during an interview from Phnom Penh. "We responded by saying that only the judges involved in the trial will be able to determine who will be a witness. The judges will do so based on procedural rules."
But like a character from a Shakespearean drama, Sihanouk continued to protest. In standing up for his cause, the former monarch ''complained that the ECCC wanted him to 'take an oath to tell the truth [and] nothing but the truth on the subject of arch-criminals'", the English-language Phnom Penh Post newspaper reported last Friday. "'I do not have to swear an oath after [the one I swore] with Buddha, to debase myself to take an oath in front of the ECCC.'"
Those familiar with Sihanouk's penchant for grand gestures and a life peppered with drama are hardly surprised by this latest offering. After being crowned monarch in 1941 at the tender age of 18 years, he abdicated twice, served as king twice, held the post of prime minister twice and served as president once. His record in the world of the arts and entertainment has been as varied, dabbling as a filmmaker, songwriter, painter, saxophonist and crooner of ballads.
What is equally well known is the link Sihanouk maintained with the Khmer Rouge, which was responsible for an orgy of death from 1975, when it took control of Cambodia after a prolonged battle with a pro-American puppet regime in Phnom Penh, to 1979. The extreme Maoist group killed close to 1.7 million Cambodians, nearly a quarter of the country's population at the time. The victims were executed or died from forced labor or starvation as the Khmer Rouge tried to turn the country into an agrarian utopia.
Sihanouk himself lost family members to the Khmer Rouge and was kept under house arrest by the genocidal regime between 1976 and 1979. Yet against those details are the roles he played in the four years up to the Khmer Rouge triumph in 1975 - urging the Cambodian people to join the group, in addition to serving as the head of state for the regime in the first year it held power. And when the Khmer Rouge was driven from power by invading Vietnamese troops, Sihanouk fled to the forests with the ousted rulers and took on a new role as the global defender of the regime-in-exile.
It is this phase of Sihanouk's life that has been brought into focus and raised the possibility of him going before the ECCC, which officially began work this July after long delays and hurdles placed in its way, including regular challenges posed by Prime Minister Hun Sen.
The push to get Sihanouk to appear before the ECCC was triggered by a relatively unknown non-governmental organization based in the United States, the Cambodian Action Committee for Justice and Equity. Late last month, it made a request to authorities in Phnom Penh to strip Sihanouk of his immunity as a former monarch so he could be called before the tribunal.
The Hun Sen administration rose to Sihanouk's defense by delivering a harsh rebuke. The prime minister called the request to strip Sihanouk "very barbaric" and one that "could have the result of jeopardizing the peace and unity" of the country. But rights groups questioned the government's motives, arguing that war-ravaged Cambodia's quest to create a society governed by the rules of law and justice will be undermined if the former monarch is placed above the law and insulated from the ECCC.
"This could set a bad precedent, since the ECCC is expected to set new and high standards of justice for Cambodia," said Lao Mong Hay, senior researcher on Cambodia at the Asian Human Rights Commission, a regional rights lobby. "The request does not mean he has to face trial as a defendant or as an accused, but it is to remove an unconstitutional clause in the constitution and make the former king available if the judges need him to appear.
"This is very important for the trial, since many Cambodians who lost family want to know about the past - how and why the Khmer Rouge pursued their murderous policies," Lao Mong Hay said. "It is a chance for the former king to clear his name if he did nothing wrong. And he has been on the record in the past saying that he would be willing to face the trial like the former Khmer Rouge leaders."
Colombo awaits confirmation of top LTTE arms procurer's arrest
The Sri Lankan government is awaiting official confirmation of the arrest of top LTTE arms procurer and smuggler, Kumaran Pathmanathan, better known as KP, in Bangkok on Monday.
"We have only seen media reports about his arrest. We are yet to get confirmation," the Sri Lankan Foreign Secretary, Dr Palitha Kohona, told Hindustan Times on Tuesday.
Sri Lankan officials say that if indeed KP has been arrested, it is "absolutely certain" that a "major dent" has been made in the LTTE's multi-million dollar arms procurement network.
This is bound to affect the LTTE's military capability both in the short and the long run. KP, after all, has for decades been the kingpin of the illegal and clandestine racket and is also one of the most trusted men in Tiger chieftain Velupillai Prabhakaran's inner circle.
"If he has been arrested, it shows that the Sri Lankan government is succeeding in its efforts to get other countries to crackdown on the LTTE financial and arms procurement networks. Due to our intense efforts, 17 LTTE operatives were arrested in the US, 14 in France, three in Australia and two in the UK .Last week three LTTE operatives were extradited to Sri Lanka from Thailand," Foreign Secretary Kohona said.
The 1955 born KP from Jaffna in North Sri Lanka, is said to have had over 20 passports in at least five different names. A globe trotter, he is said to have operated with ease from Bangkok, London, Frankfurt, Athens, Australia and Cambodia.
He is believed to have been in Mumbai at the time of the assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in Tamil Nadu on May 21, 1991.He escaped within five days of the event when he got wind of the manhunt for him.
However, KP was not directly linked to the assassination. He was not among the 41 persons against whom the Special Investigating Team filed a charge sheet. Later, the CBI had wanted him for arms smuggling, and Interpol's assistance was sought to arrest him.
Since 1991, the Indian Navy and agencies had been keeping a tab on KP and the LTTE's arms procurement and smuggling activities and had helped the Sri Lankan government destroy some gun running ships with timely intelligence.
In one case in 1993, the Indian Navy intercepted an arms ship with the top leader Kittu on board off the Indian coast. When challenged, Kittu ordered the blowing up of the ship and went down with it.
KP has been using Thailand as a major transshipment point for weapons acquired from war-torn Cambodia and other places across the globe. He is in charge of the LTTE's fleet of ships, which transport the arms apart from legitimate cargo. He has been adept at exploiting rampant corruption in Third World countries like Thailand, Myanmar and Cambodia to feed the LTTE's gargantuan appetite for sophisticated arms.
However, three to four years ago, there were reports that Prabhakaran and KP had fallen out. Media reports said that the seizures and destruction of arms vessels had come for adverse comment from the Tiger chieftain.
But in 2003 there were reports that Prabhakaran was trying to rehabilitate KP by making him a member of the LTTE's team for the peace talks with the Sri Lankan government. The LTTE had tried to push a person called Shanmugam Kumaran Tharmalingam, who, the Sri Lankan government suspected, was none other than KP. KP's real name is Tharmalingam Shanmugam Kumaran!
Read more!
Bec, Lleyton in TV spotlight
FORMER Channel 7 golden girl Bec Hewitt will tonight become the network's target subject when Today Tonight airs a report examining her and husband Lleyton's commitment to their Cambodian orphanage project.
Confidential can reveal that Today Tonight producer Phil Goyen and reporter Marguerite McKinnon have spent the past several days in Cambodia trying to expose the "truth'' behind the Hewitts' pledge to house AIDS-affected children two years ago.
"We will be involved from scratch, starting off with the land, the building and then feeding the kids. It will be unreal,'' Bec said in February, 2005.
The Hope for Children home is now up and running, but - without the approval of the Hewitts - TT has set out to find if the celebrity couple did properly oversee the project with the AIDS Trust of Australia.
While a Seven spokeswoman would not reveal the outcome of the "investigation'' when quizzed by Confidential yesterday, it's clear the gloves are off when it comes to the glamorous tennis mum -now signed to Channel Nine's magazine arm ACP as a weekly columnist on Woman's Day.
"We've come to Cambodia to see exactly what's been done and who's done it,'' Goyen said yesterday.
"Basically, we're going to put all the facts and financials out there and people can make up their own mind.''
However, AIDS Trust boss Terry Trethowan said the Hewitts had given what they had committed to - a figure believed to be about $65,000 - mainly from Bec's prize money from her winning performance on Seven's reality show Dancing with the Stars.
"They have done nothing wrong and gave exactly what they said they were going to give,'' Mr Trethowan said.
Read more!
Confidential can reveal that Today Tonight producer Phil Goyen and reporter Marguerite McKinnon have spent the past several days in Cambodia trying to expose the "truth'' behind the Hewitts' pledge to house AIDS-affected children two years ago.
"We will be involved from scratch, starting off with the land, the building and then feeding the kids. It will be unreal,'' Bec said in February, 2005.
The Hope for Children home is now up and running, but - without the approval of the Hewitts - TT has set out to find if the celebrity couple did properly oversee the project with the AIDS Trust of Australia.
While a Seven spokeswoman would not reveal the outcome of the "investigation'' when quizzed by Confidential yesterday, it's clear the gloves are off when it comes to the glamorous tennis mum -now signed to Channel Nine's magazine arm ACP as a weekly columnist on Woman's Day.
"We've come to Cambodia to see exactly what's been done and who's done it,'' Goyen said yesterday.
"Basically, we're going to put all the facts and financials out there and people can make up their own mind.''
However, AIDS Trust boss Terry Trethowan said the Hewitts had given what they had committed to - a figure believed to be about $65,000 - mainly from Bec's prize money from her winning performance on Seven's reality show Dancing with the Stars.
"They have done nothing wrong and gave exactly what they said they were going to give,'' Mr Trethowan said.
Cambodia smashes international human trafficking ring
Police from the Cambodian Ministry of Interior have smashed an international human- trafficking ring led by prominent expatriates which has allegedly been responsible for the illegal transit of hundreds of South Asians through Cambodia to first-world nations, local media said on Tuesday.
The ring, reportedly led by Sri-Lankan and Pakistani expatriates, had planned to transport over 200 people through Cambodia to several developed nations including Australia and destinations in the European Union, according to Chhay Sinnith, director of the department of information at the ministry, reported Cambodian-language newspaper the Rasmei Kampuchea.
There were three ringleaders in the case, all of whom managed to flee Cambodia before the police could arrest them, he said.
The first was Mariam Pillai Lerins Ranni, the 40-year-old Sri Lankan owner of the Raani Curry Leaf Restaurant in Phnom Penh. The second is Lipton Lerins, a relative of Ranni, and the third Mohammed Nadim, the Pakistani owner of the Taj Mahal Restaurant in Siem Reap, reported Chinese-language newspaper the Commercial News.
A further three suspects including two more Sri-Lankan nationals and a Pakistani were detained, and subsequently expelled from Cambodia for the crime over Sept. 1 and 2, said Sinnith.
The crackdown was the culmination of a months-long investigation conducted jointly by the Cambodian police, the Interpol and the police from other concerned nations, he said, adding that the traffickers had established a network in Phnom Penh, Siem Reap, Kampot and Sihanoukville.
The ministry cracked a similar case in 2002, which resulted in the rescue of 248 illegally trafficked persons and the arrest of the ringleaders involved, he added.
Source: Xinhua
Read more!
Monday, September 10, 2007
WHO warns over complacency on bird flu
JEJU ISLAND, South Korea (AFP) — The World Health Organisation warned Monday against complacency in the fight against bird flu, saying another human influenza pandemic is inevitable sooner or later.
"I am often asked if the effort invested in pandemic preparedness is a waste of resources," director general Margaret Chan told a regional meeting of the world organisation.
"Has public health cried wolf too often and too loudly?" she said in a speech.
"Not at all. Pandemics are recurring events. We do not know whether the H5N1 (avian influenza) virus will cause the next pandemic. But we do know this: the world will experience another influenza pandemic sooner or later."
WHO regional director Shigeru Omi noted that bird flu deaths in the Western Pacific -- which excludes Indonesia -- had fallen from 19 two years ago to five in the past year.
But he said the virus was still "entrenched" in several countries.
"Because the virus continues to evolve and mutate, we must maintain constant vigilance," he said.
Speed would be the key in handling any human pandemic triggered by bird flu, he said.
"If a human pandemic associated with avian influenza were to break out in the region, rapid containment would be our highest priority. Such an effort would require the massive deployment of antiviral drugs, personal protection equipment and other supplies."
A stockpile was established in Singapore in April with the support of Japan and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, he noted, urging members to consider using military transport planes to move equipment to affected areas.
Takeshi Kasai, WHO regional adviser for communicable disease surveillance and response, reiterated that the main fear is of H5N1 mutating into a forum easily transmissable between humans.
He told AFP in an interview that past experience and data indicated it might be high time for a new human global influenza outbreak, following pandemics in 1968, 1953 and 1918.
"Sadly, the H5 virus is mutating and changing very rapidly. Usually the bird flu virus changes slowly but this one changes very, very fast," he said.
Kasai said it was unclear if this was an indication that it could mutate into a form easily transmissible between humans. "But these are the facts that make the WHO concerned."
"I'm sure if people are ready, its impact would be low, but if they are not, there would be big disasters."
Omi in his speech noted progress in fighting other regional diseases. He said the Western Pacific had become the only WHO region to meet intermediate 2005 targets for tuberculosis control.
It was also making progress against HIV/AIDS, with prevalance among adults falling in some countries. In Cambodia the percentage had fallen from above two percent in 1998 to around 0.9 percent now.
Deaths from malaria continued to fall but drug-resistant strains hampered control efforts, Omi said. And dengue fever and dengue haemmorhagic fever remained "major public health problems" in many regional countries.
He noted a massive outbreak in Cambodia this year, with more than 30,000 infections and 327 deaths. Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Vietnam also reported increased cases this year.
Omi said the Western Pacific "continues to bear a disporoportionate share of the world's suicide burden." The WHO had begun a project to counter the trend in partnership with the Australian Institute for Suicide Research and Prevention.
Read more!
"I am often asked if the effort invested in pandemic preparedness is a waste of resources," director general Margaret Chan told a regional meeting of the world organisation.
"Has public health cried wolf too often and too loudly?" she said in a speech.
"Not at all. Pandemics are recurring events. We do not know whether the H5N1 (avian influenza) virus will cause the next pandemic. But we do know this: the world will experience another influenza pandemic sooner or later."
WHO regional director Shigeru Omi noted that bird flu deaths in the Western Pacific -- which excludes Indonesia -- had fallen from 19 two years ago to five in the past year.
But he said the virus was still "entrenched" in several countries.
"Because the virus continues to evolve and mutate, we must maintain constant vigilance," he said.
Speed would be the key in handling any human pandemic triggered by bird flu, he said.
"If a human pandemic associated with avian influenza were to break out in the region, rapid containment would be our highest priority. Such an effort would require the massive deployment of antiviral drugs, personal protection equipment and other supplies."
A stockpile was established in Singapore in April with the support of Japan and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, he noted, urging members to consider using military transport planes to move equipment to affected areas.
Takeshi Kasai, WHO regional adviser for communicable disease surveillance and response, reiterated that the main fear is of H5N1 mutating into a forum easily transmissable between humans.
He told AFP in an interview that past experience and data indicated it might be high time for a new human global influenza outbreak, following pandemics in 1968, 1953 and 1918.
"Sadly, the H5 virus is mutating and changing very rapidly. Usually the bird flu virus changes slowly but this one changes very, very fast," he said.
Kasai said it was unclear if this was an indication that it could mutate into a form easily transmissible between humans. "But these are the facts that make the WHO concerned."
"I'm sure if people are ready, its impact would be low, but if they are not, there would be big disasters."
Omi in his speech noted progress in fighting other regional diseases. He said the Western Pacific had become the only WHO region to meet intermediate 2005 targets for tuberculosis control.
It was also making progress against HIV/AIDS, with prevalance among adults falling in some countries. In Cambodia the percentage had fallen from above two percent in 1998 to around 0.9 percent now.
Deaths from malaria continued to fall but drug-resistant strains hampered control efforts, Omi said. And dengue fever and dengue haemmorhagic fever remained "major public health problems" in many regional countries.
He noted a massive outbreak in Cambodia this year, with more than 30,000 infections and 327 deaths. Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Vietnam also reported increased cases this year.
Omi said the Western Pacific "continues to bear a disporoportionate share of the world's suicide burden." The WHO had begun a project to counter the trend in partnership with the Australian Institute for Suicide Research and Prevention.
Cambodia arrest USA man for drugs
Phnom Penh (dpa) - Cambodian police said Monday that they had arrested a US national accused of possessing methamphetamines and not having a valid passport.
Phnom Penh Foreigner Police Chief Mom Sitha gave the man's name as Daniel Jakob Thoreaux Division, 39.
"He was arrested ... because he was sleepy on the street and behaving strangely," Sitha said. "Police found a small amount of methamphetamines on him as well as equipment for smoking drugs and a set of scales."
Sitha said it was unclear why the man was carrying scales because the amount of drugs was only enough for personal use but investigations were continuing. He said the American was detained over the weekend.
After we arrested him, we also found he had no passport, which is another serious charge," he added.
Sitha said Division was expected to face court Tuesday on the drugs charges and he was still awaiting orders regarding the immigration charges.
The 39-year-old could face a prison term as Cambodia continues to crack down on a growing methamphetamine problem, although deportation was also a possibility because of the small amount in his possession.
If the court finds he has a case to answer, Division might be detained up to six months under Cambodian law as he awaits trial.
Authorities did not reveal the exact amount of drugs recovered.
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RIGHTS-CAMBODIA: Will Sihanouk Appear at Khmer Rouge Trials?
By Marwaan Macan-Markar
BANGKOK, Sep 10 (IPS) - Cambodia’s colourful former king Norodom Sihanouk has emerged as the central figure in the latest controversy to plague the special tribunal established to prosecute the surviving members of the genocidal Khmer Rouge regime.
And the 85-year-old royal, who has carved a name for himself as a man who relishes the spotlight, has waded into the dispute in his own inimitable way. He chose to reveal his thoughts on the question that has gripped Phnom Penh: whether Sihanouk should or should not be called to appear before the United Nations-backed war crimes trial.
On Aug. 30 he took his first thrust by issuing an unusual invitation to the U.N. officials associated with the tribunal, including the international spokesman for the tribunal, Peter Foster, to visit the palace for a conversation on ‘’the affairs of the Khmer Rouge and Sihanouk.’’ The means of communicating the invitation was typical Sihanouk: it was posted on the personal web site that he maintains. The rendezvous in the royal court was set for Sep. 8 and expected to last for three hours, from 9 a.m. till 12 noon.
Sihanouk -- who stepped down as the monarch in October 2004 in favour of his son, Norodom Sihamoni -- took the liberty on that web posting to reveal how he views the Extraordinary Chambers in the Court of Cambodia (ECCC), as the tribunal is officially called. ‘’After this (meeting) it will no longer be necessary for me to present myself before the U.N.’s ECCC,’’ Sihanouk stated in his invitation. And if the U.N. officials failed to show up, he noted that he ‘’will not accept to see, speak or correspond with the U.N.’s ECCC.’’
As was expected, the U.N. officials did not participate in this royal conversation on the tribunal. ‘’I was not authorised to participate in this meeting, nor were other U.N. officials,’’ Foster said during an interview from Phnom Penh. ‘’We responded by saying that only the judges involved in the trial will be able to determine who will be a witness. The judges will do so based on procedural rules.’’
But like a character from a Shakespearian drama, Sihanouk continued to protest too much. In standing up for his cause, the former monarch ‘’complained that the ECCC wanted him to ‘take an oath to tell the truth, nothing but the truth on the subject of arch criminals’,’’ reported the ‘Phnom Penh Post’ English-language newspaper last Friday. ‘’I do not have to swear an oath after (the one I swore) with Buddha, to debase myself to take an oath in front of the ECCC.’’
Those familiar with Sihanouk’s penchant for grand gestures and a life peppered with drama are hardly surprised by this latest offering. Following his being crowned the monarch of his South-east Asian nation in 1941, at the tender age of 18 years, he has abdicated twice, served as king twice, held the post of prime minister twice and served as president once. His record in the world of the arts and entertainment has been as varied, dabbling as a film-maker, song writer, painter, saxophonist and a crooner of ballads.
What is equally well-known is the link Sihanouk maintained with the Khmer Rouge, responsible for an orgy of death during 1975 to 1979 when it took control of Cambodia after a prolonged battle with a pro-American puppet regime in Phnom Penh. The extreme Maoist group killed close to 1.7 million Cambodians, nearly a quarter of the country’s population at the time. The victims were executed, died from forced labour or starvation as the Khmer Rouge tried to turn the country into an agrarian utopia.
Sihanouk himself lost family members to the Khmer Rouge and was kept under house arrest by the genocidal regime between 1976 till 1979. Yet against those details are the roles he played in the four years up to the Khmer Rouge triumph in 1975 -- urging the Cambodian people to join the Khmer Rouge, in addition to serving as the head of state for the Khmer Rouge in the first year it held power. And when the Khmer Rouge was driven out of power by the invading Vietnamese troops, Sihanouk fled to the forests with the extreme Maoists and took on a new role as the global defender of the Khmer Rouge regime in exile.
It is this phase of Sihanouk’s life that has been brought into focus and raised the possibility of him going before the ECCC. The latter officially began work in July this year after long delays and hurdles placed in its way, including regular challenges posed by the Cambodian government of Prime Minister Hun Sen.
The push to get Sihanouk appear before the ECCC was triggered by a relatively unknown non-governmental organisation (NGO) based in the United States, the Cambodian Action Committee for Justice and Equity (CACJE). In late August, it made a request to authorities in Phnom Penh to strip Sihanouk of his immunity as a former monarch in order to be called before the tribunal.
The Hun Sen administration rose to Sihanouk’s defence by delivering a harsh rebuke. The premier called the request to strip Sihanouk ‘’very barbaric’’ and one that ‘’could have the result of jeopardising the peace and unity’’ of the country.
But human rights groups questioned the motives of the government, arguing that war-ravaged Cambodia’s quest to create a society governed by the rules of law and justice will be undermined if the former monarch is placed above the law and insulated from the ECCC. ‘’This could set a bad precedence, since the ECCC is expected to set new and high standards of justice for Cambodia,’’ says Lao Mong Hay, senior researcher on Cambodia at the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC), a regional rights lobby.
‘’The request does not mean he has to face trial as a defendant or as an accused, but it is to remove an unconstitutional clause in the constitution and make the former king available if the judges need him to appear,’’ Lao explained during an interview from Hong Kong, where AHRC is based. ‘’This is very important for the trial, since many Cambodians who lost family want to know about the past; how and why the Khmer Rouge pursued their murderous policies.’’
‘’It is a chance for the former king to clear his name if he did nothing wrong,’’ adds Lao. ‘’And he has been on the record in the past saying that he would be willing to face the trial like the former Khmer Rouge leaders.’’
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Military police deputy killed in Cambodia
A senior military policeman has been killed in an intense gunfight in the capital, Phnom Penh.
At least five gunmen, including an Interior Ministry police officer, attacked Phnom Penh's deputy Military Police chief, Reth Nika, firing into his car after a high-speed chase.
Phnom Penh police chief, Touch Naruth, told AFP news agency that the 27-year-old fled his vehicle for a nearby temple after his car got stuck in traffic.
His assailants hunted him down and shot him dead within the temple grounds.
One of the attackers also died - from wounds suffered during the attack.
Touch Naruth says it is unclear why the killing took place.
Two people are under arrest and a hunt is continuing for more members of the group of assassins.
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Cambodia approves agreements on cross-border transportation of cargo, people
The Cambodian National Assembly on Monday approved the agreements on facilitating cross- border transportation of cargo and people with other countries in the region.
Cambodia has already signed such agreements with China, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand, said Chhoum Eak, secretary of state in the Ministry of Public Works and Transportation.
These agreements will help to combat drug trafficking and stop expired products from flowing into Cambodia, Ky Lim Orng, chairwoman of the Committee of Transportation and Telecommunication, said.
They will also help to combat human trafficking and terrorism, she added.
In addition, they will help collect tax for national revenue and stop importing unqualified chicken and pork from neighboring countries, said Chheab Yeam, chairman of the Committee of Banking and Finance.
Source: Xinhua
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Sunday, September 09, 2007
Visiting Buddha land is 'dream fulfilled' for Buddhist delegation
Bihar may evoke negative images for many, but certainly not for Buddhists. This was evident from the glowing faces of a 110-member Buddhist tourist delegation from five Southeast Asian countries visiting the land of the Buddha - a fulfilment of a lifetime dream for them.
'We have fulfilled our lifetime dream to come and feel close to Buddha,' said He Khun Kok Hour, a Cambodian member of the Buddhist tourist delegation.
The Buddhist delegation from Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Thailand and Myanmar arrived here Wednesday afternoon has been declared as state guests by the government.
State tourism secretary Anjani Kumar Singh told IANS Thursday that elaborate arrangements have been made for the team to give them a feel of the Indian tradition of 'Atithi Devo Bhavo' (Guests are like god).
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has described the tourists as 'enlightened ambassadors' of Bihar to their respective countries. The state government is keen to impress them in order to promote religious tourism to Bihar from Buddhist nations.
The delegation was given a warm welcome by the state government after their arrival and invited to lunch by the chief minister, followed by dinner by Governor R.S. Gavai.
'Nitish Kumar presented the delegation Madhubani paintings as mementos,' officials sources said.
The Buddhist delegation visited Patna Museum and spent about 90 minutes there.
The members are feeling very upbeat and happy with their visit.
'We are lucky to be in the land of Buddha,' said Nabhasporn Bhuttarichva, who is from Thailand.
The delegation is to visit Bodh Gaya, considered the birth place of Buddhism where the Buddha attained enlightenment 2,550 years ago, Thursday. They will also visit other Buddhist places like Vaishali, Nalanda and Rajgrih before leaving for Varanasi on Sep 9.
According to official sources, the delegation comprises ministers, bureaucrats and media persons who are visiting Bihar under the banner of Mekong Ganga Cooperation (MGC)
The Mekong Ganga Cooperation was named after two major rivers - the Ganges in India and the Mekong, the 10th longest river in the world which originates in the Tibetan plateau and runs through China's Yunnan province, Thailand, Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia.
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Bush invites Southeast Asian leaders to Texas
SYDNEY, Sept 7, 2007 (AFP) — US President George W. Bush on Friday invited Southeast Asian leaders, including an official from Myanmar, to Texas despite his increasingly sharp attacks on the isolated nation's military regime.
In recent days, Bush has branded Myanmar's leaders as "tyrannical" and their crackdown on pro-democracy activists and protests over fuel prices as "inexcusable" as US officials talked about "next steps" to pressure Yangon.
Bush made the announcement as he met with leaders of countries that are members of both the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum, which was meeting in Sydney.
"I invited the ASEAN leaders to Texas at their convenience. I'm looking forward to hosting you down there," said Bush, who reserves invitations to Texas as a diplomatic plum for close allies.
He said democracy promotion, the war on terrorism, trade expansion, avian flu, and climate change would be on the agenda for the talks, which could take place at his ranch or "another location" in Texas, an aide said.
"I also am pleased to announce that we'll be naming an ambassador to ASEAN, so that we can make sure that the ties we've established over the past years remain firmly entrenched," said the US president.
White House national security spokesman Gordon Johndroe said all ASEAN heads of state had been invited, except Myanmar, whose "level of participation is to be determined."
Deputy National Security Adviser Jim Jeffrey said later that Bush had made "an invitation in principle" and stressed "we have to work out the details later," including what he called Myanmar's presence "hypothetically."
The US president unveiled the meeting as he held talks here with leaders of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. ASEAN's other members are Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar.
"ASEAN represents our fourth largest trading partner. In other words, this is a group of friends that represent more than just social acquaintances, you represent commerce and trade and prosperity," he said.
Bush's announcement came hours after he called on APEC leaders to pile pressure on the military rulers of Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, to free pro-democracy activists including Aung San Suu Kyi.
Myanmar's military rulers have held the Nobel Peace Prize winner and democracy icon under house arrest for 11 of the past 17 years.
"We must press the regime in Burma to stop arresting and harassing and assaulting pro-democracy activists for organizing or participating in peaceful demonstrations," he said in the keynote speech of his visit to Sydney.
His comments followed US State Department criticism of a Myanmar convention that drew up guidelines for a new constitution, and a political foray by First Lady Laura Bush who asked for UN condemnation of the crackdown.
"It's inexcusable that we've got this kind of tyrannical behaviour in Asia," he said at a joint news conference with Australian Prime Minister John Howard ahead of the 21-member APEC meeting in Sydney.
Bush had already last week criticised the junta's crackdown in a statement but his comments in Sydney were more direct and used harsher language.
Aung San Suu Kyi's party won elections in 1990 but the military never recognised the result, and instead opened the National Convention in 1993 to draft a new constitution.
According to Amnesty International more than 150 people have been detained in Myanmar since August 19, when activists began rare protests against a major hike in fuel prices that left some people unable to afford even a bus fare.
The military regime has long dealt harshly with the slightest show of dissent during 45 years in power, but the latest protests have spread across the country, defying the threat of arrests and beatings.
Bush's invitation came after he postponed indefinitely a planned trip to Singapore for a meeting with all 10 ASEAN members.
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In recent days, Bush has branded Myanmar's leaders as "tyrannical" and their crackdown on pro-democracy activists and protests over fuel prices as "inexcusable" as US officials talked about "next steps" to pressure Yangon.
Bush made the announcement as he met with leaders of countries that are members of both the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum, which was meeting in Sydney.
"I invited the ASEAN leaders to Texas at their convenience. I'm looking forward to hosting you down there," said Bush, who reserves invitations to Texas as a diplomatic plum for close allies.
He said democracy promotion, the war on terrorism, trade expansion, avian flu, and climate change would be on the agenda for the talks, which could take place at his ranch or "another location" in Texas, an aide said.
"I also am pleased to announce that we'll be naming an ambassador to ASEAN, so that we can make sure that the ties we've established over the past years remain firmly entrenched," said the US president.
White House national security spokesman Gordon Johndroe said all ASEAN heads of state had been invited, except Myanmar, whose "level of participation is to be determined."
Deputy National Security Adviser Jim Jeffrey said later that Bush had made "an invitation in principle" and stressed "we have to work out the details later," including what he called Myanmar's presence "hypothetically."
The US president unveiled the meeting as he held talks here with leaders of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. ASEAN's other members are Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar.
"ASEAN represents our fourth largest trading partner. In other words, this is a group of friends that represent more than just social acquaintances, you represent commerce and trade and prosperity," he said.
Bush's announcement came hours after he called on APEC leaders to pile pressure on the military rulers of Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, to free pro-democracy activists including Aung San Suu Kyi.
Myanmar's military rulers have held the Nobel Peace Prize winner and democracy icon under house arrest for 11 of the past 17 years.
"We must press the regime in Burma to stop arresting and harassing and assaulting pro-democracy activists for organizing or participating in peaceful demonstrations," he said in the keynote speech of his visit to Sydney.
His comments followed US State Department criticism of a Myanmar convention that drew up guidelines for a new constitution, and a political foray by First Lady Laura Bush who asked for UN condemnation of the crackdown.
"It's inexcusable that we've got this kind of tyrannical behaviour in Asia," he said at a joint news conference with Australian Prime Minister John Howard ahead of the 21-member APEC meeting in Sydney.
Bush had already last week criticised the junta's crackdown in a statement but his comments in Sydney were more direct and used harsher language.
Aung San Suu Kyi's party won elections in 1990 but the military never recognised the result, and instead opened the National Convention in 1993 to draft a new constitution.
According to Amnesty International more than 150 people have been detained in Myanmar since August 19, when activists began rare protests against a major hike in fuel prices that left some people unable to afford even a bus fare.
The military regime has long dealt harshly with the slightest show of dissent during 45 years in power, but the latest protests have spread across the country, defying the threat of arrests and beatings.
Bush's invitation came after he postponed indefinitely a planned trip to Singapore for a meeting with all 10 ASEAN members.
Cambodia can earn 174 mln USD from oil production in 2011: IMF
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has predicted Cambodia could earn 174 million U.S. dollars from oil production in 2011, with the windfall rising to 1.7 billion U.S. dollars after 10 years, said the latest issue of the Phnom Penh Post published this weekend.
The IMF said in its new report that 2011 is a realistic date to assume that U.S. oil giant Chevron would begin production given that oil is already produced on both sides of Cambodia's waters in the gulf of Thailand, the newspaper said.
It projected that after 10 years of production Cambodia's share of oil revenues would peak in 2021 at 1.7 billion U.S. dollars. Then revenues would begin to decline.
The IMF called the report a "moderate scenario", which was based on a variety of assumptions, such as oil production sharing agreements, size of recoverable resources and oil prices.
The Cambodian government's current revenues are 11.5 percent of current GDP, or 632 million U.S. dollars, so an additional 174 million U.S. dollars in new revenues from a new source is a significant windfall, the newspaper said.
Source: Xinhua
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They fled horrors of Vietnam, Cambodia but need help
BY ANDREW J. HAWKINS
DAILY NEWS WRITER
Lak Tev left war-torn Cambodia in 1985 with three children and only the memory of her husband, murdered by the brutal Khmer Rouge regime.
To find a better life, she came to the Bronx.
And life is better, but still a struggle. Tev, 52, and her children work hard, crafting bowls and hair accessories for money, and make do with the little help they get from the government.
But she is still haunted by her experience in Cambodia, working in the labor camps and watching as her family and friends disappeared, one after the other.
"I miss them a lot," she said through a translator. "Life hasn't been the same since."
She has pain, both mental and physical. But to her, the pain is one and the same.
Depression, trauma and war-related flashbacks are plaguing the Bronx's Southeast Asian community, and a new survey says treatment can be hard to come by.
Almost half of the Bronx's 10,000 Southeast Asians are at-risk for depression, according to a survey by New York University and local groups.
During the 1980s, many refugees fleeing war-ravaged Vietnam and Cambodia resettled in the Bronx, most making their home in Fordham.
Very few speak English and many live below the poverty line, relying on public assistance for their medical needs.
"The findings were quite striking," said Douglas Nam Le, director of NYU's Southeast Asian Program, who along with the Bronx-based Committee Against Anti-Asian Violence (CAAAV) documented the community's history and current health.
Many Southeast Asian immigrants in the Bronx had firsthand experience with the Khmer Rouge, the Communist regime responsible for more than 1.7 million deaths in Cambodia during the 1970s.
Some are even former Khmer Rouge members who feel they were "used by the system" and have experienced trauma of their own, Le said.
A huge problem in seeking help for depression and other mental health problems is finding someone who speaks their language.
The Indochinese Mental Health Clinic at the Montefiore Family Health Center on E. 193rd St., for example, has translators available over the phone, which many residents find confusing and disrespectful, said Chhaya Chhoum, director of CAAAV's Youth Leadership Project.
Sister Jean Marshall, the founder of St. Rita's Center for Immigrants and Refugees, agreed.
"The problem is dealing with these translation services on the phone," she said. "They don't work well enough to get everyone - the doctors, the patients, the translators - on the same wavelength."
Even those receiving medicine through Medicaid and other public assistance programs would prefer access to more traditional Asian methods of treatment, such as acupuncture, massage and horticultural therapy, Le said.
CAAAV recently set out to record the hardships and struggles of its community, recording and putting immigrants' stories on display for the public.
Tev was relieved to finally be able to tell her story. For years she had remained silent, not even telling her children in full detail what had happened to their father. "We all have to share these stories," she said.
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Writers meet in Ha Noi for Mekong Literature Award
HA NOI — Well-known writers from Viet Nam, Laos and Cambodia are getting together for a first-ever five-day conference in Ha Noi from Thursday.
Top of the agenda, the conference will mull over top-notch literary work from the three countries for the newly established Mekong Literature Prize. The meeting will also discuss translating a selection of outstanding pieces to be translated into two other languages.
Work to be presented at the event includes stories about the Indochinese resistance, Vietnamese volunteers in Laos and pieces about relations between people of the three countries.
Twelve Mekong Literature Prizes are up for grabs, with five allotted to Vietnamese writers, three to Laos and four to those from Cambodia.
The awards will be given out on Monday.
The conference is part of an agreement made at a meeting last December between chairmen of writers associations in the three countries. The move aims to encourage literary works exploring their friendship and solidarity. Both Cambodia and Laos will hold similar events.
Sidelining the conference, field trips with Vietnamese writers will be organised for foreign writers to learn about Vietnamese history and culture and their share experiences writing about Viet Nam. — VNS
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Saturday, September 08, 2007
Spread of dengue fever down in Cambodia
PHNOM PENH, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- The recent spreading rate of dengue fever has been down by 60 to 70 percent in Cambodia, thanks to the multi-level anti-epidemic efforts carried out by the government and international organizations, local media said on Saturday.
Earlier this year when the disease maintained its peak of spread, some 1,000 people were contaminated on average each week, and recently the figure was brought down to 300 to 400, Chinese-language newspaper the Commercial Daily quoted health official as saying.
The progress came along, after the Cambodian government, in conjunction with the anti-epidemic staff members at various levels, made concerted efforts to help residents clean their living areas and kill mosquitoes in large quantities, the paper said.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization, the World Bank and the Asia Development Bank extended huge aid to the country in the field of epidemic containment, which also resulted in the back-off of dengue fever.
According to the statistics from the Cambodian Ministry of Health, altogether 370 children died of the disease while 35,000 people were hospitalized for contamination so far this years.
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Private sectors urged Cambodian government to allow them own real estate property
Cambodia's private sector has urged the government to allow foreign ownership this week saying an open-minded real estate market would promote economic growth.
The Cambodian investment law was amended back in 2005 to allow foreign ownership of permanent fixtures, but as yet has not been enforced. The non-implementation of the act has in fact rendered the amendments as a forgotten law, and as such has now become out dated. In the current legal understanding, the old law will only allow a property investment in the name of a Cambodian national but with the pressure from the private sector to increase wealth, urgent action will be required.
Chris Green, Head of Research at Obelisk International says ‘The key improvements to the property investment law would open up a whole new economic world to the country of Cambodia. These measures would not only further develop Cambodia's property investment market, but the new interest from those investors who want to take advantage early, will not only create a boom putting Cambodia on the map, but will also make the country more competitive with its neighbours.’
American lawyer and chairman of the International Business Club, Bretton Sciaron comments on the property investment news ‘There are several reasons for urgent action, this is already a sector of the economy that is dynamic, but foreign ownership of apartments, condominiums and other such structures on the land will help spur further economic growth. Such a regulatory development will provide a dramatic indication that Cambodia has an investor-friendly environment.’
Vast new building projects have increased over the past few years, including a great number of satellite cities worth billions of dollars that when completed will fundamentally alter the appearance of the capital. After years of disorder within Cambodia, the country is now turning things around as a growing economy posting a steady 11% growth over the last three years, fuelled by a strong tourism industry and clothing manufactures.
Cambodian Commerce Minister, Cham Prasidh said that Cambodia still relies on international aid for half of its annual budget, but must now diversify by seeking more varied foreign investments. ‘There are other sectors we are trying to encourage, but we have to find out what are the sectors where we can be competitive. If we try to produce the same thing as Thailand or Malaysia, it will be very difficult’.
For more information on overseas property investments and to find out about Obelisk International’s latest projects, contact: Obelisk International on 0808 1600670 or email :
info@obeliskinternational.com or visit our website http://www.obeliskinternational.com/
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Sri Lanka confront Cambodia in their first match
S.M. Jiffrey Abdeen, Kandy Sports correspondent
RUGBY: Sri Lanka meet newcomers Cambodia in the opening match of the Singer SriLankan International Rugby Sevens which is also an IRB Satellite Tournament which will be played at the Nittawela Rugby Stadium in Kandy today. This match will be played at 10 a.m.
On form Sri Lanka should have no difficulty in overcoming the Cambodians who will be participating in this tournament for the first time. Sri Lanka who are in Pool A will take on Kazakhstan 11.40 a.m. Sri Lanka will play their third match for the day at 4.40 p.m. against Thailand. Their fourth match will be on Sunday against the defending champions Korea at 11.40 a.m.
This tournament will be played in two pools after Japan and Arabian Gulf pulled out of the tournament. The pool draw is as:
Pool A: Sri Lanka, Korea, Cambodia, Thailand, Kazakhstan
Pool B: Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, Malaysia, India, China.
The rest of the International matches for today are:
10 a.m Sri Lanka vs Cambodia, 10.20 a.m. Thailand vs Kazakhstan, 10.40 a.m. Chinese Taipei vs India, 11 a.m. Hong Kong vs Malaysia, 11.20 a.m. Korea vs Cambodia, 11.40 a.m. Sri Lanka vs Kazakhstan, 12 noon China vs India, 12.20 p.m. Chinese Taipei vs Malaysia, 12.40 p.m. to 2 p.m. Women's rugby, 2 p.m. Korea vs Kazakhstan, 2.20 p.m. Thailand vs Cambodia, 2.40 p.m. China vs Malaysia, 3 p.m. Hong Kong vs India, 3.20 p.m. to 4.20 p.m. Schools Cup Quarter finals, 4.40 p.m. Sri Lanka vs Thailand, 5 p.m. Chinese Taipei vs Hong Kong.
On Sunday the International and schools matches will be continued.
There will be a March past and elephant parade form 12.20 p.m. to 1.20 p.m.
Finals: Schools Bowl finals at 1.20 p.m., Schools Plate finals 3.40 p.m., Schools Cup finals at 4.50 p.m., International Bowl Finals at 4 p.m., International Plate finals at 4.20 p.m., International Cup Finals at 5.30 p.m.
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Friday, September 07, 2007
MAG-36 Marines make investment in Cambodia’s future
PHNOM PENH INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, Cambodia(Sept. 6, 2007) -- Marines from Marine Aircraft Group 36, 1st Marine Aircraft Wing, delivered almost 2,000 pounds of school supplies, clothing and toys to the Catholic charity Maryknoll at the Phnom Penh International Airport in Cambodia Aug. 29.
Sister Regina Pellicore, Maryknoll’s project director for health and education in Cambodia, accepted the donation for her organization, which, among a myriad of other charitable endeavors, works to educate underprivileged Cambodian children.
“What we want to provide for the children is a good education as well as other social services,” Pellicore said. “I believe Cambodia’s future lies in education, and this contribution will help to educate 1,200 children.”
MAG-36 service members collected materials from the military community on Okinawa for months and unit leaders enlisted help from the U.S. Embassy to find an organization that could best use the donation to benefit Cambodia’s people, according to Army Maj. Chris Mills, chief of the Embassy’s Office of Defense Cooperation.
“The embassy has a strong relationship with Maryknoll,” Mills said. “Many of these children are already struggling just for survival, and what (Maryknoll does) is truly commendable. We’re very happy to be able to support that.”
MAG-36 Commanding Officer Col. Ben Mathews and MAG-36 Sgt. Maj. James Peterson personally delivered the donation to Sister Pellicore. The unit leaders made the trip on a KC-130 from Marine Aerial Refueler Squadron 152 during a two-part mission to deliver the materials and pick up a detachment of service members from Marine Wing Support Squadron 172 who completed civil assistance projects in southern Cambodia Aug. 26.
“With MWSS-172 down here, we saw an opportunity for a good delivery,” Mathews said. “We’re going to try and keep this going for years to come.”
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Cambodia Humanitarian Mission rewarding for dental office
KAMPONG SOM PROVINCE, Cambodia(Sept. 6, 2007) -- Ask Lt. Nick Peterson how his first humanitarian mission in the Navy went, and he might say it was like pulling teeth. That is to say it was routine for Peterson, a dental officer who deployed to Cambodia in mid August with a detachment from Marine Wing Support Squadron 172. Routine, not because dental care is his job, but because the 31-year-old Salt Lake City native is, in the truest sense of the word, a humanitarian.
A quick look at his resume reveals a couple obvious points that qualify him for the title: a two-year stint between high school and college as a Mormon missionary in Guatemala, and five trips to the Caribbean during dental school as a student leader for the Dominican Republic Humanitarian Project.
What his resume doesn’t show is exactly how deep his passion for helping people goes, or for that matter, how deeply passionate he is in general. Whether he’s discussing photography, his wife and three boys, his love for Spanish, basketball, his faith, serving others, dentistry, or why Macintosh computers are better than PCs, he often speaks with a hint of urgency, and his bright, blue eyes widen.
“I’m very passionate,” he says. “Almost obsessive compulsive. When I want to do something or I enjoy something, I’m almostconsumed by it. I’ve always enjoyed serving people and causes. I like helping and making people happy.”
That consuming passion has been a driving characteristic in Peterson’s life. He says he grew up in Utah in “kind of a bubble,” referring to his privileged American middle-class lifestyle. At 19, he took the first step to burst that bubble by volunteering for his church mission, a common step for practicing Mormons, who work in pairs and have to fund their own missions.
“You’re on your own, and it’s very militaristic,” Peterson said. “You’re on the honor system. You’re preaching the gospel, but you’re also there to serve in whatever capacity you can and help people.”
In Guatemala, he says, he gained a great appreciation for Latin American culture, the Spanish language and cultural diversity in general.
“The dental path came about from me seeing other medical professionals helping people in Guatemala,” he said. “I saw it as an opportunity to use my passion for Spanish and the people.”
After Guatemala, the next step was college. Working as a tutor and teaching English as a second language to high school students, he put himself through the University of Utah, graduating with a bachelor’s degree in Spanish in 2001.
His application to the Case School of Dental Medicine in Cleveland was anchored by a personal statement describing his passion for humanitarian work and how he wanted to use dentistry to that end.
Once he got in, it didn’t take him long to demonstrate how sincere he was. Working with the G-3 Foundation, an organization run by an American dentist that provides dental care and education to those in need, he organized groups of 10 to 30 students for the Dominican Republic trips.
“Doing humanitarian work in a Spanish-speaking country was a dream come true,” he said.
His work in the Caribbean helped prepare him for Cambodia, but there was one distinct difference: in Cambodia, he was the only dentist.
“Essentially,” he explained. “What we just did in Cambodia – we used to do the same thing with grass roots fundraising and a much bigger group (of dentists).”
Operating independently, Peterson felt more pressure than he had on previous humanitarian trips. He knew he was ultimately responsible for the care of all patients, and he didn’t have other dentists to fall back on.
But experience and perseverance overshadowed apprehension. Peterson knew how to be a leader, and he knew how he wanted things to run in his field clinic.
“His experience helped a lot,” said Petty Officer 3rd Class Robert Rexroat, one of Peterson’s dental technicians in Cambodia. “He’s a very organized leader, and everything went smooth because we had good communication and workflow.”
The workflow in Peterson’s makeshift clinic was simple. In the remote southern region where the detachment’s humanitarian efforts were focused, oral hygiene standards fall far short of the American model. If a patient sat down in one of the three plastic chairs lined up in a dingy room at the Ma’Ahad El-Muhajirin Islamic Center, he was looking for relief from pain; he was asking Peterson to extract the painful, decaying teeth in his head. No fillings. No cleanings. Just relief.
It’s assembly-line dentistry, but it’s efficient under the circumstances, Peterson says. During the five days that he saw patients, he extracted about 175 teeth from 115 patients. And he said the expression “like pulling teeth” would be more accurate if it were “like pulling extremely decayed teeth.” At one point, he had to reference a textbook to spin himself up on using a mallet and chisel to section particularly difficult teeth.
“Usually you have a drill to do that,” he said.
The primitive conditions and unfamiliar procedures didn’t faze Peterson. In fact, they fueled him even more, says Rebecca, his wife of nine years. “He was thrilled to be able to do this kind of thing again,” she said. “When he was there, he was saying how he felt so comfortable in these situations. He feels part of his calling in life is to serve people of other cultures who don’t have as much as he does.”
Peterson summed up that sense of calling with a scripture from the book of Luke: When someone has been given much, much will be required in return.
“In our fast-paced American life, we sort of take things for granted,” he said. “Every time you go to impoverished places and countries, one thing that always sticks out is the inherent joy and happiness the people have despite the difficulties they face. When you see that these people have never seen an iPod or a computer and they make toys out of bottle caps, you start to count your blessings and realize that a lot of things you have are not important.”
At the top of Peterson’s list of important things in life are God and family. And perhaps it is his deep spiritual sense that binds him to his fellow man with an uncanny level of devotion.
“When a person prays to whomever or whatever they believe in, it’s not like God appears to them and hands them the answer or the help,” he says. “People are the answer to other people’s prayers.”
To the unfaithful, Peterson’s homily may sound like the romantic ramblings of a zealot, which he is not. He doesn’t weigh the value of helping others on a spiritual scale; he just helps people. He is that special breed of man who will never pass up a motorist broken-down on the side of the road; the kind who goes out of his way to help a stranger carrying a heavy load.
Despite that, he’s quick to deflect the suggestion that his benevolence is extraordinary.
“I truly feel that I don’t do nearly enough,” he says.
That’s how he sees it, but the woman who knows him best offered another perspective.
“If there were more people like Nick,” said Rebecca. “I think the world would be a better place.”
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Thursday, September 06, 2007
Cambodia's MobiTel to buy telecommunication materials from Singapore
MobiTel, Cambodia's largest mobile phone service provider, signed an agreement to purchase 150 million U.S. dollars worth of telecommunication materials from the Singapore-based Alcaltel-Lucent Company, officials said on Wednesday.
"Today we signed the purchase agreement of telecommunication materials from Alcatel-Lucent Company to further advance the availability of world-class cellular phone services in Cambodia," said Kith Meng, chairman of MobiTel.
The agreement will allow a major expansion of MobiTel's rural network, increasing the access to modern communication for many more people throughout Cambodia, he said.
Pierre-Alain Cadillon, vice president and head of the South Asia regional unit of Alcatel-Lucent, said that the expansion over the next four years will bring a new range of mobile communication services, ranging from voice mail, video transmission, mobile TV to internet access, to more three million subscribers in Cambodia.
Kith Meng said that MobiTel borrowed money from banks of the United States and Australia to finish the purchase, and the Cambodian government also provided support.
Kith Meng and Pierre-Alain Cadillon signed the agreement here Wednesday in the presence of Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister Sok An.
Cambodia opened the mobile telecommunication sector to private capital in 1992. Currently, around 21 percent of the kingdom's 14 million population adopt mobile phone as their major communication solution.
Source: Xinhua
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China, Cambodia pledge cooperation in fighting corruption
Senior officials of China and Cambodia called on Wednesday for more cooperation in combating corruption.
"China would like to deepen exchanges and cooperation with Cambodia in various fields including fighting corruption and administrative supervision," said He Yong, deputy secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Communist Party of China (CPC), when meeting with Cambodian Minister of the National Assembly and Senate Relations and Inspections Men Sam An.
He also briefed Men Sam An on the great efforts the Chinese government has made in building an honest and clean government, and in fighting against corruption.
Men Sam An hailed China's great achievements and success in reform and opening-up drive, and in the fight against corruption.
She said Cambodia would like to step up exchange and cooperation with China in the fields of administrative supervision and fighting against corruption.
Source: Xinhua
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S. Korean company starts building schools for Cambodia
The Booyoung Co., Ltd from South Korea has started to build 300 school buildings in Cambodia, local media said Wednesday.
"This donation from South Korea is good and real humanitarian behavior which aims at developing the human resources in Cambodia, " Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister Sok An was quoted by the Koh Santepheab newspaper as saying.
Cambodia needs cooperation and donation from national and international community to achieve its education development goals, Sok An said at the opening ceremony of construction for four school buildings in Banteay Srey district in Siem Reap Province.
Sou Phearin, Siem Reap provincial governor, said that the Booyoung company will build 44 school buildings with 260 rooms in the province, according to the newspaper.
Source: Xinhua
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Wednesday, September 05, 2007
Vietnam, Cambodia plan coastal tourism
Cambodia and Vietnam are developing tours along the coastline that connects the two countries, said the Cambodia Ministry of Tourism.
The plan is part of a cooperation framework between Cambodia, Vietnam and Thailand on opening a sea route linking southern coastal cities in the three countries.
The Cambodia ministry said local businesses would invest some US$3.7 million in building infrastructure and services in the Kep, a Cambodian beach town, to serve the tourism route.
Under the plan, tourists will travel on ship from Kep to Ha Tien in Vietnam and vice versa.
The Cambodia government also has decided to upgrade the international airport in the coastal city of Sihanoukville to facilitate flights to and from Siem Reap.
The number of tourists to Cambodia is on the rise, with nearly 2 million travelers in 2006.
Along with the garments industry, Cambodia aims to make tourism one of the country’s spearhead industries.
Source: TTXVN
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The plan is part of a cooperation framework between Cambodia, Vietnam and Thailand on opening a sea route linking southern coastal cities in the three countries.
The Cambodia ministry said local businesses would invest some US$3.7 million in building infrastructure and services in the Kep, a Cambodian beach town, to serve the tourism route.
Under the plan, tourists will travel on ship from Kep to Ha Tien in Vietnam and vice versa.
The Cambodia government also has decided to upgrade the international airport in the coastal city of Sihanoukville to facilitate flights to and from Siem Reap.
The number of tourists to Cambodia is on the rise, with nearly 2 million travelers in 2006.
Along with the garments industry, Cambodia aims to make tourism one of the country’s spearhead industries.
Source: TTXVN
Cambodia's ruling party reiterates support for one-China policy
The ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP) on Wednesday in Phnom Penh issued a statement to reiterate its adherence to the one-China policy and said no to the Taiwan authority's efforts to re-open its representative office in Cambodia.
"For the last many years, we have noticed that there were many efforts by Taiwan to re-open its representative office in Cambodia. All these efforts didn't effect, because the Royal Government of Cambodia, which is led by Prime Minister Hun Sen, has always strictly respected the one-China policy and CPP also adheres to the same stance," said the statement.
CPP's stance is based on the principle of sovereignty, said the statement, adding that "we respect the sovereignty of our friends, our friends will also respect our sovereignty. The respect of our friends' sovereignty is as precious as the respect of our own sovereignty."
The principle of one-China policy can't be discussed, bargained and exchanged and it is the principle that we can't walk back from, it said.
"CPP would like to reiterate the stance that we accept the one- China policy only. We only recognize the People's Republic of China, which has official diplomatic relations with the Kingdom of Cambodia and wide-ranging relations in other sectors," it said.
While CPP is still in power, Cambodia will strictly respect the one-China policy and will not allow any presence of representative office of Taiwan in Cambodia, it said.
"We can only accept the presence of Taiwanese business people and investors in their private capacities," it added.
Source: Xinhua
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Tuesday, September 04, 2007
Joyce Meyer Ministries Touches Nation of Cambodia
ST. LOUIS, Sep. 4 /Christian Newswire/ -- It is estimated that over 2 million people lost their lives during a genocide in Cambodia that took place in the 70s. In an effort to bring dreams back to life, Joyce Meyer Ministries recently held Hope Cambodia: 30 Days of Hope from July 14 to August 12.
Over the course of the month, Joyce Meyer Ministries was able to touch the lives of over 160,000 people. The Million Leaders Mandate (a training program for leadership) was launched, and there were five different leadership seminars in five different regions of the country.
With the help of our friends and partners, fifteen Hope Centers have been established. These centers will house at-risk children and serve as churches, schools, food distribution and community centers. A hospital is being constructed and arrangements have been made for a mobile medical unit.
In addition, more than eighty medical professionals volunteered to provide basic health and dental services, which are often uncommon because of poverty. The medical professionals treated more than 9,000 patients.
Joyce Meyer Ministries also partnered with Prison Fellowship and was able to visit twenty-five prisons, which house over 11,000 prisoners, delivering care packages containing hygiene items and a book to them.
"Being a part of Hope Cambodia has been a life-changing experience for all of us. Whether it's been a visit to the Hope Center, which cares for the wholeness of local Cambodian children, or a trip to one of the many amazing medical centers, God is at work here, and it's a privilege to see it firsthand," said David Meyer, CEO World Missions.
Joyce Meyer Ministries is an international nonprofit organization that focuses on reaching people through media, with a potential audience of 3 billion people. In addition, Joyce Meyer Ministries provides millions of meals to people every year, supports and provides major medical care in remote areas, operates and fully supports over fifty orphanages worldwide, and provides other humanitarian aid and disaster relief around the world. For more information, please visit www.joycemeyer.org .
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AIDS Infection Rate Drops in Cambodia
Like many small, poor countries in Asia and Africa, Cambodia faces a challenge from HIV - the virus that causes AIDS. By all measures, Cambodia should be devastated by AIDS. Brothels are commonplace, illegal drugs are widely available and Cambodia's health-care system is so poor the government can only spend about two dollars a person a year. Yet despite these problems, the rate of new infections has dropped steadily. VOA's Rory Byrne has more from Phnom Penh.
Reth is a tuk-tuk taxi driver in Phnom Penh. He was diagnosed as HIV positive in 1997.
He nearly died from an AIDS-related illness about five years ago before free drug therapy became available.
Today, about 80 percent of all HIV-positive people in Cambodia receive free life-saving anti-retroviral drugs. International aid groups largely pay for the medications. U.N. officials say Cambodia spends about $49 million in public and private funds to combat the virus. "Now I make power enough, that I can do a job, anything, it's no problem now," says Reth.
The number of AIDS cases here has fallen in the last decade from 3.2 percent of the population to 0.9 percent today. Credit is given to condom distribution programs and education on how to prevent transmission of the virus.
The United Nations AIDS co-ordinator in Cambodia, Tony Lisle, says the government has done a good job. "I think the main reasons behind this remarkable success is the enormous commitment of government. I think very strong partnerships between government and civil society, NGOs, and other partners to ensure that we had a very, very comprehensive program that addressed the high points of the epidemic, the epicenter of the epidemic, which is basically sex workers and their clients."
Cambodia is poor and is recovering from decades of conflict. Thousands of women see no choice but to become sex workers.
Health workers, like Dr. Sophal Kaing, teach safe-sex practices in brothels. "We prevent HIV from (by) using 100 percent condom use. It means she use the condom to (with) every client, even her sweetheart."
One Cambodian prostitute says, "We have to beg the customer, we have to talk to him. And if he still does not agree to use a condom, I will refuse to have sex with him."
Despite the progress, experts warn there remains a chance the infection rate could still rise, particularly among gay men, injecting drug users and so-called indirect sex-workers -- women working in bars and clubs.
Tony Lisle from UNAIDS adds, "I think the biggest challenge for all the partners who are at the front line of the response is to really ensure that we address indirect sex work (ers) and their clients because behavioral trends are changing, people are moving to sweethearts and indirect sex work so that's what we really need to keep our accelerator on."
Despite these dangers, experts say the lesson from Cambodia is that if the political will is there, the disease can be contained, even in the poorest nations.
Reth is a tuk-tuk taxi driver in Phnom Penh. He was diagnosed as HIV positive in 1997.
He nearly died from an AIDS-related illness about five years ago before free drug therapy became available.
Today, about 80 percent of all HIV-positive people in Cambodia receive free life-saving anti-retroviral drugs. International aid groups largely pay for the medications. U.N. officials say Cambodia spends about $49 million in public and private funds to combat the virus. "Now I make power enough, that I can do a job, anything, it's no problem now," says Reth.
The number of AIDS cases here has fallen in the last decade from 3.2 percent of the population to 0.9 percent today. Credit is given to condom distribution programs and education on how to prevent transmission of the virus.
The United Nations AIDS co-ordinator in Cambodia, Tony Lisle, says the government has done a good job. "I think the main reasons behind this remarkable success is the enormous commitment of government. I think very strong partnerships between government and civil society, NGOs, and other partners to ensure that we had a very, very comprehensive program that addressed the high points of the epidemic, the epicenter of the epidemic, which is basically sex workers and their clients."
Cambodia is poor and is recovering from decades of conflict. Thousands of women see no choice but to become sex workers.
Health workers, like Dr. Sophal Kaing, teach safe-sex practices in brothels. "We prevent HIV from (by) using 100 percent condom use. It means she use the condom to (with) every client, even her sweetheart."
One Cambodian prostitute says, "We have to beg the customer, we have to talk to him. And if he still does not agree to use a condom, I will refuse to have sex with him."
Despite the progress, experts warn there remains a chance the infection rate could still rise, particularly among gay men, injecting drug users and so-called indirect sex-workers -- women working in bars and clubs.
Tony Lisle from UNAIDS adds, "I think the biggest challenge for all the partners who are at the front line of the response is to really ensure that we address indirect sex work (ers) and their clients because behavioral trends are changing, people are moving to sweethearts and indirect sex work so that's what we really need to keep our accelerator on."
Despite these dangers, experts say the lesson from Cambodia is that if the political will is there, the disease can be contained, even in the poorest nations.
Cambodia seeks investors for economic expansion
PHNOM PENH: Cambodia’s private sector met Tuesday with government officials for talks on the future of the economy, with a clear call from businesses for the country to seek more foreign investment.
The underlying point from business leaders was that investment must be encouraged, even if that meant loosening controls in sectors on which the government has historically kept a firm grip.
Chief among these is the country’s real estate market, which in the past few years has enjoyed an unprecedented boom as land prices soar and dozens of building projects get underway in the capital.
Business people have urged the government to deepen its investment base by opening property ownership to foreigners for the first time — a measure that many expect could dump tens of millions of dollars into the economy and spur on greater industrial growth.
Under the current rules, foreign property investments must be made in the name of a Cambodian national, and many are unwilling to risk losing their assets to unscrupulous local partners.
While Cambodia’s investment law was amended in 2005 to allow foreign ownership of permanent fixtures, the legislation has yet to be implemented and the initiative has floundered.
“This is already a sector of the economy that is dynamic, but foreign ownership of apartments, condominiums and other such structures on the land will help spur further economic growth,” said Bretton Sciaroni, an American lawyer who serves as the chairman of the International Business Club.
“Such a regulatory development will provide a dramatic indication that Cambodia has an investor-friendly environment,” he added.
After decades of turmoil, Cambodia has emerged as a rising economy in the region — posting an average of 11 percent growth over the past three years on the back of strong tourism and garment sectors.
But these economic pillars are by no means insulated from growing regional competition, and officials said moves must be made to protect the gains made over nearly a decade of rapid expansion.
Cambodia’s 2.5 billion-dollar textile industry has posted double-digit export growth year-on-year and employs some 350,000 workers, making it the country’s largest industrial operation.
But it also continues to be buffeted by labour disputes which will become especially critical next year when restrictions against Chinese garment exports expire, forcing Cambodia into greater competition with this Asian giant.
“In short, there are too many unions,” said Van Sou Ieng of the Garment Manufacturers Association of Cambodia (GMAC), urging greater government regulation of the more than 1,000 workers’ groups.
Illegal strikes, sometimes as many as two a day, and repercussions against workers who do not walk off the job are also endemic, he told government leaders.
“The frequency of these occurrences ... is becoming alarming, and if left unattended and unresolved, they will destroy Cambodia’s reputation for attracting and maintaining investors,” he said.
The tourism sector, which has also enjoyed significant yearly growth, must also adapt if it is to attract both visitors and investors, business leaders said.
Already, several private companies have been granted licenses to develop Cambodia’s islands off its southern coast as the country tries to scale up its resort offerings.
Officials Tuesday also mooted for the first time the revival of a national air carrier that is hoped to take advantage of growing regional tourism.
The country’s last national carrier, Royal Air Cambodge, was shuttered in 2001 after running up losses of 30 million dollars.
Domestic air routes are expected to prove vital to developing some of Cambodia’s more remote locations, as well as encouraging travelers to seek sights beyond the famed Angkor temples in northwest Cambodia, which remain its most popular tourist draw.
“National carriers are an important tool for promoting destination tourism for any country,” said Ho Vandy, president of the Cambodian Association of Travel Agents. afp
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Cambodia's long look backwards; doctors struggle to heal a troubled country
PHNOM PENH (AFP) — "I always have nightmares about being chased by something black, a shadow," says doctor Sotheara Chhim, describing the aftermath of peering into the dark places most Cambodians are trying to forget.
"It is not something clear, but it is probably relevant to the Khmer Rouge," says Chhim, one of only 26 psychiatrists providing care for a rising tide of Cambodians who are no longer able to cope with the damage caused by the brutalities of the past.
"I listen to so many stories. I dream about being in a kind of trap, a cage," says Chhim, himself a survivor of the apocalypse that engulfed Cambodia in the late 1970s, explaining the personal toll exacted by confronting, again and again, other people's demons.
Chhim, who directs the Transcultural Psychosocial Organisation (TPO), one of the country's few mental health facilities, warns that worse could be yet to come as a genocide tribunal forces Khmer Rouge victims to re-live atrocities inflicted by the regime.
But the psychological fallout of the trials only highlights a much broader need for mental health services in one of the region's most traumatised countries.
"The incidents of mental illness are getting higher from year to year, but still a lot of psychological problems are not being cared for," says Dr Ka Sunbaunat, dean at the University of Health Sciences and director of the National Programme for Mental Health.
Some 30 percent of Cambodia's nearly 14 million people reportedly suffer from a debilitating mental condition -- from anxiety and chronic unexplained physical pain to unpredictable mood swings or sudden eruptions of rage.
Millions more are thought to be plagued by less profound problems, but the true extent of mental illness in Cambodia -- caused as much by today's crushing poverty, neglect and abuse as by past upheavals -- is unknown.
What is clear to Chhim and other healthcare providers is that Cambodia is woefully unprepared to address this issue, with one psychiatrist for every half a million people.
"At the government mental health clinics, one psychiatrists sees over 30 patients a day -- you would be exhausted. I can see only three or four a day in order to provide good care," he says.
As many as 100 people line up each day outside Phnom Penh's municipal referral clinic, where the government established a psychiatric ward two years ago, one of 61 now open throughout the country.
They wait for a chance to speak with the psychiatrist on duty, or perhaps to see one of a handful of medical residents drafted from the nearby university.
"Sometimes we have problems. With mental patients you have to spend time and when we're overcrowded like this there is not enough time," says Dr Chak Thida, walking briskly amidst the dozens of mostly middle-aged men and women arriving one recent morning at the clean and, for Cambodia, well-equipped clinic.
But even with facilities such as this, Chak Thida says, "we need more resources ... we need more psychological education for the public. People don't know that they are ill".
A decade of peace following the country's long civil conflict has ironically led to an eruption of mental health problems, as Cambodians, freed from the daily traumas of war, have time for perhaps unwanted reflection, stirring sometimes devastating memories, doctors say.
"After the Khmer Rouge the trauma was still going on -- people were struggling to survive. Somehow even if they felt pain, they put it aside," Chhim says.
"For Cambodia the fighting stopped less than 10 years ago, so the people have just started getting on with their lives and that pain is starting to come back."
But many do not understand the cause of that pain, and a majority of mental health cases are often un-diagnosed or mis-treated.
As many as 80 percent of Cambodians going to see general practitioners are actually suffering from psychological trauma, Ka Sunbaunat explains.
"They don't believe they have psychiatric health problems -- they believe this is normal for everybody after the war," he says.
Doctors say they are battling ignorance or heavy social stigmas that often associate mental problems with witchcraft or sorcery.
"There is no recognition of mental health, most of the people we meet never come to us straight away -- they go to traditional healers, they think that their problems are caused by black magic," Chhim says.
Chhim's TPO is engaged in an ambitious public education campaign that he says reaches as many as 10,000 people a year.
The group trains traditional village authority figures such as monks to recognise the symptoms of mental trauma, and organises counselling sessions for alcoholics or victims of domestic violence. Substance abuse and physical attacks are the most common causes and affects of mental trauma today, Chhim says.
"To help people deal with trauma, a lot of things have to be involved, we need a holistic approach bringing in things like religion and social justice," he says.
"We are purely community-oriented. We train the stakeholders, especially the traditional healers, the monks, the nuns, those who help the people in the communities with their problems so that they are able to recognise these problems and provide support."
Ahead of the Khmer Rouge trials, TPO is preparing a campaign to deal specifically with mental issues that are expected to arise as a result of dredging up the blackest chapter in Cambodia's modern history.
Chhim says the group plans to distribute leaflets detailing the symptoms of post traumatic stress syndrome and other related illnesses, a well as provide counselling for those directly involved in the trials as witnesses.
"The tribunal can trigger memories," Chhim says. "The people who experienced these terrible events will (re-live) the experience when they hear about investigations or crimes. It will reactivate the traumatic memories."
Up to two million people died of starvation and overwork, or were executed by the communist Khmer Rouge which took over the country in 1975 and set about erasing modern Cambodia and trying to create an agrarian utopia in its place.
Millions were exiled to vast collective farms, while money, schools and religion were outlawed. The educated, including doctors, were systematically hunted down and killed.
Khmer Rouge leaders called the first year of their rule "Year Zero".
For most Cambodians it was simply the end of the world -- the fall of the regime in 1979 was followed almost 20 years of famine and conflict, the effects of which still echo today.
"Some people say the Khmer Rouge (regime) was so long ago that maybe the Cambodian people forgot," Chhim says. "But actually we don't forget. People have not had the chance to deal with this."
While some healthcare experts hope the trial will bring into sharp relief the failings of the current system, others are less optimistic.
"From the beginning people believed the tribunal had some miraculous healing power, when in fact it does not," says Ka Sunbaunat.
"My parents died. After a year of trial my parents remain dead -- how can I feel better? We should think about what Cambodian people are really suffering from.
"People who are victims (of the Khmer Rouge) suffer more from the poverty and hardship in their daily lives."
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"It is not something clear, but it is probably relevant to the Khmer Rouge," says Chhim, one of only 26 psychiatrists providing care for a rising tide of Cambodians who are no longer able to cope with the damage caused by the brutalities of the past.
"I listen to so many stories. I dream about being in a kind of trap, a cage," says Chhim, himself a survivor of the apocalypse that engulfed Cambodia in the late 1970s, explaining the personal toll exacted by confronting, again and again, other people's demons.
Chhim, who directs the Transcultural Psychosocial Organisation (TPO), one of the country's few mental health facilities, warns that worse could be yet to come as a genocide tribunal forces Khmer Rouge victims to re-live atrocities inflicted by the regime.
But the psychological fallout of the trials only highlights a much broader need for mental health services in one of the region's most traumatised countries.
"The incidents of mental illness are getting higher from year to year, but still a lot of psychological problems are not being cared for," says Dr Ka Sunbaunat, dean at the University of Health Sciences and director of the National Programme for Mental Health.
Some 30 percent of Cambodia's nearly 14 million people reportedly suffer from a debilitating mental condition -- from anxiety and chronic unexplained physical pain to unpredictable mood swings or sudden eruptions of rage.
Millions more are thought to be plagued by less profound problems, but the true extent of mental illness in Cambodia -- caused as much by today's crushing poverty, neglect and abuse as by past upheavals -- is unknown.
What is clear to Chhim and other healthcare providers is that Cambodia is woefully unprepared to address this issue, with one psychiatrist for every half a million people.
"At the government mental health clinics, one psychiatrists sees over 30 patients a day -- you would be exhausted. I can see only three or four a day in order to provide good care," he says.
As many as 100 people line up each day outside Phnom Penh's municipal referral clinic, where the government established a psychiatric ward two years ago, one of 61 now open throughout the country.
They wait for a chance to speak with the psychiatrist on duty, or perhaps to see one of a handful of medical residents drafted from the nearby university.
"Sometimes we have problems. With mental patients you have to spend time and when we're overcrowded like this there is not enough time," says Dr Chak Thida, walking briskly amidst the dozens of mostly middle-aged men and women arriving one recent morning at the clean and, for Cambodia, well-equipped clinic.
But even with facilities such as this, Chak Thida says, "we need more resources ... we need more psychological education for the public. People don't know that they are ill".
A decade of peace following the country's long civil conflict has ironically led to an eruption of mental health problems, as Cambodians, freed from the daily traumas of war, have time for perhaps unwanted reflection, stirring sometimes devastating memories, doctors say.
"After the Khmer Rouge the trauma was still going on -- people were struggling to survive. Somehow even if they felt pain, they put it aside," Chhim says.
"For Cambodia the fighting stopped less than 10 years ago, so the people have just started getting on with their lives and that pain is starting to come back."
But many do not understand the cause of that pain, and a majority of mental health cases are often un-diagnosed or mis-treated.
As many as 80 percent of Cambodians going to see general practitioners are actually suffering from psychological trauma, Ka Sunbaunat explains.
"They don't believe they have psychiatric health problems -- they believe this is normal for everybody after the war," he says.
Doctors say they are battling ignorance or heavy social stigmas that often associate mental problems with witchcraft or sorcery.
"There is no recognition of mental health, most of the people we meet never come to us straight away -- they go to traditional healers, they think that their problems are caused by black magic," Chhim says.
Chhim's TPO is engaged in an ambitious public education campaign that he says reaches as many as 10,000 people a year.
The group trains traditional village authority figures such as monks to recognise the symptoms of mental trauma, and organises counselling sessions for alcoholics or victims of domestic violence. Substance abuse and physical attacks are the most common causes and affects of mental trauma today, Chhim says.
"To help people deal with trauma, a lot of things have to be involved, we need a holistic approach bringing in things like religion and social justice," he says.
"We are purely community-oriented. We train the stakeholders, especially the traditional healers, the monks, the nuns, those who help the people in the communities with their problems so that they are able to recognise these problems and provide support."
Ahead of the Khmer Rouge trials, TPO is preparing a campaign to deal specifically with mental issues that are expected to arise as a result of dredging up the blackest chapter in Cambodia's modern history.
Chhim says the group plans to distribute leaflets detailing the symptoms of post traumatic stress syndrome and other related illnesses, a well as provide counselling for those directly involved in the trials as witnesses.
"The tribunal can trigger memories," Chhim says. "The people who experienced these terrible events will (re-live) the experience when they hear about investigations or crimes. It will reactivate the traumatic memories."
Up to two million people died of starvation and overwork, or were executed by the communist Khmer Rouge which took over the country in 1975 and set about erasing modern Cambodia and trying to create an agrarian utopia in its place.
Millions were exiled to vast collective farms, while money, schools and religion were outlawed. The educated, including doctors, were systematically hunted down and killed.
Khmer Rouge leaders called the first year of their rule "Year Zero".
For most Cambodians it was simply the end of the world -- the fall of the regime in 1979 was followed almost 20 years of famine and conflict, the effects of which still echo today.
"Some people say the Khmer Rouge (regime) was so long ago that maybe the Cambodian people forgot," Chhim says. "But actually we don't forget. People have not had the chance to deal with this."
While some healthcare experts hope the trial will bring into sharp relief the failings of the current system, others are less optimistic.
"From the beginning people believed the tribunal had some miraculous healing power, when in fact it does not," says Ka Sunbaunat.
"My parents died. After a year of trial my parents remain dead -- how can I feel better? We should think about what Cambodian people are really suffering from.
"People who are victims (of the Khmer Rouge) suffer more from the poverty and hardship in their daily lives."
Cambodia's garment mills face impasse
Phnom Penh, Cambodia - Not much gets made in Cambodia except clothes.
Garments account for an astonishing 80 percent of this impoverished Southeast Asian nation's exports, and the World Bank estimates that the industry, which was worth $2.5 billion last year, helps support – directly or indirectly – about 1 in 5 Cambodians, according to government estimates.
US trade policy essentially created Cambodia's garment industry, thanks to a 1999 bilateral deal that granted Cambodia preferential access to US markets in exchange for guarantees on labor standards. Now some argue that US trade policy – in the form of high tariffs – is helping to undo it.
The irony is especially acute because many observers now look to Cambodia as a model of labor-friendly manufacturing, and they say that if Cambodia fails, it will mean the death not just of one industry in one nation, but of the dream of ethical manufacturing itself.
"There was a door for small countries like Cambodia," says Cambodia's minister of commerce, Cham Prasidh. "Now there is no more door. Those who can produce cheaper and faster will sell more."
And that means China.
Shifts in the global garment industry are favoring more developed nations, like China, over the world's poorest. US quotas that benefited Cambodia have expired – or will soon – and the question Cambodia now faces is how to compete with nations that have better infrastructure, more qualified labor forces, deeper supply chains, faster productivity growth, and cheaper electricity.
One easy answer for Cambodia would be to have its major trading partner – the United States, which accounts for nearly two-thirds of Cambodia's garment exports – eliminate its tariffs. Cambodian officials have been lobbying Congress since 2004 to cut those tariffs, which last year averaged nearly 16 percent. China paid, on average, just over 3 percent on its top US exports.
Mr. Cham led a delegation to Washington in July to drum up support in Congress for the TRADE Act, a bipartisan bill introduced in the Senate in February that would slash tariffs on goods from 14 poor Asian nations, including Cambodia.
The US already provides generous trade benefits to many of the world's poorest countries through regional agreements in Africa and the Caribbean, and the EU and Canada already grant Cambodia access to their markets nearly duty- and quota-free.
Cambodian officials are hoping that later this month, House Democrats will introduce legislation that would exempt all of the world's poorest nations, including Cambodia, from tariffs.
Roland Eng, Cambodia's former ambassador to the US, maintains that legislation favoring poor countries won't affect the level of US imports, merely the pattern. "Instead of importing from China, you will import more from least-developed countries," says Mr. Eng. "We're not preventing jobs from going to the US; we're preventing jobs from going to China," he adds.
For an underdeveloped nation, Cambodia already pays relatively more in duties than some developed economies. Edward Gresser, the director of the trade and global markets project at the Washington-based Progressive Policy Institute, said in an e-mail that as of mid-2006, the US had collected $196 million in tariffs on $1.1 billion worth of Cambodian goods, but only $199 million on $27 billion in imports from Britain.
For its part, the US Embassy in Phnom Penh says that the United States is considering trade benefits for Cambodia, but within the stalled Doha round of negotiations at the World Trade Organization. Government and garment-industry officials in Cambodia are hoping for a faster, more localized solution. They say they can't afford to wait.
Next year, US safeguards on Chinese garment imports are set to expire and international monitoring of Cambodia's factories, a cornerstone of Cambodia's 1999 trade deal with the US, may also cease. That could spell the end of Cambodia's labor-friendly garment sector, which has been held up as a model by the industrialized world.
But despite the good intentions, Cambodia's good labor practices cost money in the long term, and Van Sou Ieng, the chairman of the Garment Manufacturer's Association of Cambodia, says it will be hard to live up to those standards if Cambodia can't compete on price, which he says is impossible without tariff relief.
Eng says the social and economic costs of a garment sector slowdown would be enormous. Most garment workers are women, who have left the traditionally protective structures of family and village that govern rural life. Unemployed, Eng says they will be particularly vulnerable to HIV infection and human trafficking. "All the social efforts of the past ten years will be in vain," he says.
It wasn't supposed to be that way. Rachel Louise Snyder, author of the forthcoming book "Fugitive Denim: A Moving Story of People and Pants in the Borderless World of Global Trade," says that if Cambodia's garment industry fails, the ramifications will extend far beyond the borders of this tiny nation.
"The industrialized world has set them up as an example of great positive social change that can be achieved with political and economic will," says Ms. Synder, who lives in Phnom Penh. "What does it say to the rest of the world if we allow them to fail?"
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