Story Highlights•
More than one million children in global sex trade each year, U.S. State Dept. says• 50,000 to 100,000 women and children involved in Cambodia's sex industry• Gang rape, AIDS, torture afflict the women and children in this field.
By Dan Rivers CNN
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (CNN) -- At an age when most children might be preparing for their first day of school, Srey, 6, already has undergone trauma that is almost unspeakable.
She was sold to a brothel by her parents when she was 5. It is not known how much her family got for Srey, but other girls talk of being sold for $100; one was sold for $10.
Before she was rescued, Srey endured months of abuse at the hands of pimps and sex tourists.
Passed from man to man, often drugged to make her compliant, Srey was a commodity at the heart of a massive, multimillion-dollar sex industry in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
"It is huge," said Mu Sochua, a former minister of women's and veteran's affairs who is an anti-sex trade activist.
The precise scale of Cambodia's sex trade is difficult to quantify. International organizations -- such as UNICEF, ECPAT and Save the Children -- say that anywhere from from 50,000 to 100,000 women and children are involved. An estimated 30 percent of the sex workers in Phnom Penh are under the age of 18, according to the United Nations. The actual figure may be much higher, activists say.
Global sex industry
Around the world, more than one million children are exploited in the global commercial sex trade each year, according to the U.S. State Department. The State Department believes Cambodia is a key transit and destination point in this trade.
"Trafficking for sexual exploitation also occurs within Cambodia's borders, from rural areas to the country's capital, Phnom Penh, and other secondary cities in the country," the State Department wrote in a 2006 report. "The Government of Cambodia does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so."
Sochua said that with millions of Cambodians struggling to live on less than 50 cents a day, many women turn to the sex industry. Poverty is also often what drives parents to sell their child or themselves on the streets.
"Always a child is left behind, often a girl, who is preyed on by traffickers," Sochua added.
An unlikely saviour
Srey was rescued from the life of a sex slave by Somaly Mam, a former prostitute who runs shelters for the victims of Cambodia's sex trade. Somaly has rescued 53 children, so far. Many of them have profound psychological trauma. Some clearly are mentally ill.
"A lot of them, when they arrive, have psychological problems ... very big problems. ... And they never have love by the people, by their parents," Somaly said.
One girl at Somaly's shelter appears especially disturbed. She was rescued after being imprisoned for two years in a cage, where she was repeatedly raped.
She needs psychiatric care, but there is none available. Somaly says she does her best to give this girl love and support, but that it's not easy with so many other needy children around.
Somaly herself suffered terrible ordeals when she worked the streets, including seeing her best friend murdered. She is determined to build something positive out of so much despair.
Her work has caught the attention of world leaders, celebrities and religious figures. Her office in Phnom Penh is adorned with photos of her meeting Pope John Paul II and messages of support from governments and charities.
Despite the attention, Somaly said the situation on the street is not getting better. Gang rapes of prostitutes are becoming more common, she said, and many of the attackers don't use condoms. Instead, they share a plastic bag.
"Poor women, they have been raped by eight, 10, 20, 25 men ... they hit them. They receive a lot of violence," she said.
HIV-AIDS also remains a persistent, though declining, problem among Cambodia's female sex workers.
About 20 percent of Cambodia's female sex workers are HIV-positive, according to Cambodia's Ministry of Health. This compares with the 39 percent of sex workers who tested positive in 1996, according to the Health Ministry.
To help sex workers transition to a more normal life, Somaly is hoping to expand her refuge in the countryside outside Phnom Penh, where former sex workers attend school and learn skills like weaving and sewing.
Asked what the future holds for Srey, Somaly stroked the girl's hair and paused.
Srey is HIV-positive, she said.
In such a poor country, without decent hospitals or medical care, Srey's future is bleak. Somaly just hopes she can make this girl's life bearable for as long as it lasts.
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Wednesday, January 24, 2007
Girl, 6, embodies Cambodia's sex industry
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
Former Khmer Rouge photographer seeks redemption through museum
Tuesday January 23rd, 2007
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) - A former chief photographer at a torture centre run by Cambodia's Khmer Rouge wants to set up a museum, featuring pictures of the notorious group's leaders, as his way of apologizing for the death and destruction they caused.
Ngem En, now 47, documented for the Khmer Rouge the thousands taken into Phnom Penh's S-21 prison for torture and eventual execution in the late 1970s. Haunting photos of the victims are the centrepiece of an existing genocide museum at the prison site, also known as Tuol Sleng.
Historians estimate that more than 1.7 million Cambodians died of execution, starvation, overwork and inadequate medical care due to Khmer Rouge policies. Ngem En wants to set up a museum at Anlong Veng, a former Khmer Rouge stronghold in northern Cambodia where he now serves as a deputy district chief.
The project would be his "opportunity to apologize to all the victims who have suffered during that era," he said Tuesday. He would exhibit pictures of all Khmer Rouge leaders who ruled Cambodia from 1975-79, including Pol Pot, Nuon Chea, Ieng Sary, Khieu Samphan and Son Sen, he said."
It was these leaders who caused destruction and misery to Cambodia."The project would "let the next generation of Cambodians understand about Pol Pot's cruel regime," he said. Khmer Rouge chief Pol Pot died in 1998 but other former leaders of the group are still alive and living freely in Cambodia. Ngem En said he has a collection of photographs he has taken or obtained over the past few decades and that as many as 1,000 pictures could be suitable for display. The project, if realized, could also help the local economy, he said.
The museum would be an added attraction for tourists coming to visit Anlong Veng, where Pol Pot died and the Khmer Rouge movement finally collapsed in 1999. The government has designated Anlong Veng, about 300 kilometres northwest of Phnom Penh, an official historical site. Tourist attractions include the house of Ta Mok, the former Khmer Rouge army chief who died in July last year, and the spot where Pol Pot was cremated. While apologizing for his work as a photographer for the Khmer Rouge, Ngem En said he had no choice if he wanted to survive."I deeply regret it but nobody could help anyone," he said.
Youk Chhang, director of the Documentation Centre of Cambodia, an independent group researching the Khmer Rouge's crimes, said Ngem En's readiness to apologize publicly through his project provides an example to the remaining Khmer Rouge leaders and would help national reconciliation. He said he admires Ngem En's "frankness, courage and initiative" in undertaking a project based on his own work."
He came to us with a bunch of photographs saying that he wanted to tell the history to the public as a Khmer Rouge person," said Youk Chhang, himself a survivor of the regime. Ngem En said he does not know yet how much the project will cost and is looking for interested partners to join in the venture.
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The Chinese Government had signed approval for loan to Cambodia
Cambodian children are in debt for 207 million US. dollars more. Will Cambodia be able to pay back all the Debts or Cambodia will sell its conscience to the Maoist regime like Khmeer Rough? Or will it sell the Kingdom to China to deal with debts?
Officials here on Monday signed an agreement for China to provide 207 million U.S. dollars of loans to Cambodia to develop its infrastructure construction.
Li Jun, Vice President of the China Import-Export Bank, and Cambodian Minister of Economy and Finance Keat Chhun signed the agreement in the presence of Chinese Ambassador Zhang Jinfeng.
According to a press release issued by the Cambodian Ministry of Economy and Finance, 190 million dollars' worth of preferential buyer's credit loan will go for the construction of National Road No. 8 from Khsach Kandal to the Cambodian-Vietnamese border, the Perek Tamak Bridge, the Prek Kdam Bridge, and the National Road 76 from the junction of National Road No. 7 in Snoul to Sen Monorom District, Mondulkiri Province.
Meanwhile, 17 million dollars of preferential loan will be used for the construction of the Cambodian section of the Greater Mekong Sub-region Information Superhighway.
During the ceremony, Keat Chhun expressed appreciation for China's consistent help, while Li said he expected the loans to contribute more to Cambodia's economic development and the Chinese- Cambodian ties.
Foreign loans have been one of the major economic propellers for the kingdom, which altogether received some 6.2 billion U.S. dollars of various loans from 1922 to 2005, according to official statistics.
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Cambodia reopens Sihanoukville airport
Tue, Jan. 23,200
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia - The airport at Sihanoukville, Cambodia's main coastal city, has reopened with hopes high that it will further spur travel and the country's burgeoning tourism industry. A Soviet-made Antonov-24 plane belonging to a locally owned airline company landed at the Sihanoukville airport following an opening ceremony Jan. 13, said Norinda Khek, spokesman for Societe Concessionnaire des Aeroports, or SCA, a subsidiary of the French construction group Vinci.
He said the plane flew from Siem Reap province, Cambodia's main tourist hub, and that it carried 11 passengers, who were airline staff flying on the promotional trip. It was the first landing at the airport in the last three years, he added.
The airport had been closed for reconstruction.
The airport, located about 115 miles southwest of the capital Phnom Penh, is expected to serve as the first air link between Sihanoukville and Siem Reap, home to the famous Angkor temples, deputy tourism minister Thong Khon said.
He said he hoped the airport's reopening would encourage tourists to extend their stay to enjoy Cambodia's sandy beaches after touring the temples.
"This is part of our strategy in linking the two tourist destinations," he said, adding that 1.7 million tourists visited Cambodia last year, about a 20 percent increase over 2005.
Tourism has become a major source of income for the cash-strapped Southeast Asian country.
Norinda Khek said that the airport will host only domestic flights because its mile-long runway can accommodate only propeller planes.
But he said the company plans to extend the runway to 1.4 miles to handle jet aircraft by the end of the year.
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Cambodia will claw poachers
BANGKOK, Jan 23 (IPS) - A regional wildlife body is aiming to spread its net wide to trap poachers and illegal loggers, now that a section of Cambodia's nature crime investigators have been armed with new legal tools. A week-long training programme held at Sihanoukville, the main beach resort in that South-east Asian nation, was geared to plug a gap that has long helped major wildlife criminals to get away -- investigations that were too weak to build legal cases.
''Prosecution has always been a problem in Cambodia. There have been very few successful cases,'' Steven Galster, director of field operations at WildAid, the global conservation lobby, told IPS from the site of the training, which ended Tuesday. ‘'We have trained them to set up long-term investigations and to build strong cases to catch the criminals.'' The skills that the 31 Cambodian officers from agencies like the police, the forest department and the customs have acquired are part of a drive by the ASEAN Wildlife Enforcement Network (ASEAN-WEN) to mount a counter offensive against the region's illegal wildlife trade, a multimillion-dollar industry. ASEAN, which stands for the Association of South-east Asian Nations, is a 10-member bloc that includes Brunei, Burma (or Myanmar), Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines and Vietnam. ASEAN-WEN was set up in December 2005.
The need to save Cambodia's wildlife is best captured in the fate of one of its prized predators, the tiger, which is on the verge of extinction. WildAid has also documented other species that have been targeted by poachers, such as pythons, elongated tortoise and pangolins. Other conservation groups like TRAFFIC, the global wildlife trade monitoring network, say that Cambodia's bears, monitor lizards, crocodiles and macaques are as vulnerable to the claws of the poachers. Cambodia's wildlife has become increasingly in demand as ‘'stocks run dry in Vietnam,'' James Compton, TRAFFIC's South-east Asia regional director, said in an interview.
The growing demand from Vietnam and China, neighbouring countries which have been enjoying a long spell of rapid economic growth, has seen the demand for wildlife and wildlife products rise, he said. ‘'(They are used) for traditional medicine, wild meat, pets and private zoos.'' TRAFFIC recently noticed Vietnamese traders on the Vietnam-Cambodian border ‘'commissioning Cambodian poachers to hunt a shopping list of wildlife species,'' Compton revealed. ‘'Wildlife trade is very lucrative and is therefore attracting the business and entrepreneurial community who stand to gain significantly from this trade.''
A study by the World Bank in 2005 offers a glimpse at the profits involved. The wildlife trade in Vietnam in 2002 was estimated at 66.5 million US dollars, the Bank noted in ‘Going, Going, Gone: The Illegal Trade in Wildlife in East Asia and Southeast Asia.' In Indonesia, the study added, an average of over 50 tigers were killed every year from 1998 to 2002. Cambodia's wildlife had been part of this supply chain in the 1970s, too, when the country, caught in a bloody civil war and drawn into the war in Vietnam, came under the genocidal Khmer Rouge regime. ‘'By the late 1970s, Cambodia's Khmer Rouge had traded 25 million dollars worth of wild animal parts to the Chinese for weapons and supplies,'' adds the Bank's study. And as Cambodia's small team of rangers working in the country's pristine forests well know, trying to fight the poachers or illegal loggers comes with a high risk, including being attacked by poachers.
In September 2005, for instance, two forest rangers were killed by loggers along the boundary of the Phnom Aurual Wildlife Sanctuary, which lies east of Phnom Penh. A daunting challenge, says the London-based environmental group Global Witness, is one posed by the corruption linked to highly-placed government officials thriving on the illegal logging trade, which has severely depleted the forests. ‘'Wherever there is a forest in Cambodia, there is illegal logging,'' Jon Buckrell, forest policy coordinator at Global Witness, told IPS. ‘'It goes hand-in-hand with systemic corruption. Illegal logging is the preserve of the powerful and well connected -- if you are a poor farmer you cannot simply walk into a forest and start cutting down valuable trees.''
Recent policy decisions by Phnom Penh are expected to worsen this environment, Buckrell said, pointing to new economic land concessions granted ‘'to create plantations'' in natural forest areas. ‘'These permits are illegal and designed to provide a pretext for companies to undertake clear-cutting operations and sell the timber.'' Cambodia's loss of an estimated 2.5 million hectares of forest cover between 1990 and 2005 has even alarmed the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Troubled by the rampant scale of illegal logging in the 1990s, the IMF cancelled a 120 million US-dollar loan. Galster, of WildAid, concedes that corruption will be an issue for the newly trained nature crime investigators, ‘'Corruption is an issue, but half the problem is the lack of skills to deal with the major criminals.''
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Psychologist seeks to examine 'jungle woman' in Cambodia
Jan. 23,2007
A SPANISH psychologist traveled to see Cambodia's "jungle woman" yesterday to evaluate her condition since she was recently discovered naked and unable to speak after apparently spending nearly two decades alone in the wild. Hector Rifa, a doctor of psychology from Spain's University of Oviedo, said he wanted mainly to make sure the woman was treated properly for what appears to have been a traumatic experience. But it is also possible he may find clues to the woman's true identity - whether she is indeed a local girl who went missing in 1988, as claimed by a family in northeastern Cambodia who has taken her in as their long lost daughter.
Rifa was driving 13 hours yesterday from Cambodia's capital Phnom Penh to meet with the woman in Rattanakiri province's Oyadao district. The family of a village policeman there, Sal Lou, says they are certain the woman is Rochom P'ngieng because of a scar they can recognize on her right arm. The girl disappeared while tending water buffalo when she was eight years old.
With no other evidence supporting the claim, however, her actual identity is a mystery to other people, who speculate that she may just be a troubled person who became lost much more recently in the jungle. In any case, her inability to communicate and evident attempts to escape from the family that has given her shelter indicate she is in a difficult psychological situation."We need to make an evaluation of the situation because until now nobody was taking care" of her, said Rifa, who has been working in Cambodia on health promotion for indigenous people in the province over the past four years for the Spain-based group Psychology Without Borders.
He said he thinks the woman's case may not be anything more extraordinary than that of any other person having difficulty adapting to normal life after being lost in the jungle for an extended period."It is not extraordinary ... or anything coming from another world," he said.
Many villagers believed she may be possessed by a jungle spirit. On Monday, two Cambodian human rights groups expressed fear the woman may be suffering from the spotlight cast on her since she emerged from the wild, and offered to provide any necessary medical and psychiatric treatment.
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EU increasingly impatient with Cambodia over anti-corruption law
Jan 23, 2007, 7:55
Phnom Penh - International donors are increasingly impatient with delays in implementation of a long-awaited anti-corruption law, German Ambassador to Cambodia Pius Fischer said Tuesday.
Fischer, who is the acting European Union (EU) president, called it an important issue for EU policy in Cambodia and could not be sidestepped.
'We strongly advocate the fight against corruption and the early adoption of an anti-corruption law in Cambodia,' he said after addressing a seminar on EU-Cambodian relations in Phnom Penh.
'We cannot debate any longer. For 10 years the royal Cambodian government has discussed a law against corruption. Now is the time to act and implement that law.'
Fischer also warned that implementation was as important as the law itself, and donors would be happy with no less than a politically independent anti-corruption body which can 'locate, integrate and develop cases against corruption.'
Endemic corruption has consistently been cited as a major hurdle to Cambodia's development.
Last November, Berlin-based Transparency International ranked Cambodia at 151 out of 163 countries in its 2006 corruption perceptions index survey.
The group made its ranking on a definition of corruption as 'the abuse of public office for private gain.' Cambodia scored just 2.1 points out of 10, earning it the second lowest position in Asia, ahead of only Myanmar.
Donors have repeatedly threatened to withhold funds from aid-dependent Cambodia if it continues to delay adopting the law. The government promised a new law by the end of last year but later announced that it needed to make changes to the penal code first.
As well as being an important donor to Cambodia, the EU is also a powerful trading partner, ranking as Cambodia's second most-important destination for exports and its sixth leading source of imports, according to 2005 trade statistics, with Germany at the top of the list.
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Hun Sen to allow firms to import oil over borders
Prime Minister Hun Sen has announced that he will allow private companies to import gasoline from Thailand, Laos and Vietnam in order to cut down its prices and contain smuggling, local media said on Monday.
The high price of gasoline because of gas smuggling by paying the sum to currupted border authorities. The price of gasoline had been staying high for several months and causing economic harship. The government had lost million dollars in tax.
Hun Sen declared his decision during a meeting at the Council of Ministers here on Friday, after Ministry of Finance and Economy failed to convince the five main gas traders operating in the country to lower their prices, the Cambodian Daily quoted government spokesman and Information Minister Kiheu Kanharith as saying.
"Hun Sen is allowing any company to import lower-priced gasoline to Cambodia. We can not wait for the companies (to lower their prices), or it will be too late," he said.
The five companies are Caltex Cambodian Ltd, Total Cambodge, Sokimex, Kampuchea Tela Co. Ltd, and PTT (Cambodia) Ltd.
They told the paper that the introduction of new traders to import gasoline will not affect the current gasoline price, but it may help combat smuggling. The question is why is not going to affect gas prices? are some of the above gas companies belong to high ranking government officials, may be? or they have to pay some bribe to high ranking officials.
About 30 percent of gasoline price is paid to the government as tax, they added.
The opposition Sam Rainsy Party has been pressing the government in recent months to make efforts to decrease gasoline price in order to benefit the mass.
Cambodia's gas prices are among the highest in the region, almost one U.S. dollar per liter. There is something wrong in somewhere that force the gas price have to be high in order to survive their business. Or may be the Law disorder in Cambodia is good for the looting.
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Monday, January 22, 2007
France donates over 124 mln euro to Cambodia
France has donated 124.5 million euro (some 161.5 million U.S. dollars) for Cambodia to promote its work in various sector from 2006 to 2010, an official told Xinhua here on Monday.
"The finance will be used for help Cambodia upgrade its work in the sectors of health and anti-HIV/AIDS missions, education, agriculture, court and law system, environment and bio-diversity, food security, French language study, irrigation system, restoration of ancient temples in Angkor Wat complex, training of Cambodian judges, scholarship for Cambodian students to study in France," said Ros Simara, director of Information Department of Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.
About 4.5 million euro (some 5.8 million U.S. dollars) of the fund will be going for Siem Reap to optimize its tourism layout to facilitate influx of more foreign visitors.
The donation was made recently when Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Hor Nam Hong met with a French delegation, she said.
The deputy prime minister also requested the French to help Cambodia develop its rubber plantation sector, she added.
Source: Xinhua
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Bomb substance for Bangkok blast not from Cambodia: Official
The chemical substance for making the bombs of the Bangkok explosion on the eve of the new year is not from Cambodia, government spokesman Khieu Kanharidh said here on Monday.
Thai people could buy the chemical substance for making the bombs in their own country, they did not have to buy them from Cambodia, said Kanharith, who is also Information Minister.
Thai security authority should show the evidence while telling out the powder provider for the blast that killed three and injured about 40 Thai people, he said.
Cambodia has been cooperating closely with other countries to fight against terrorism and other criminal acts, he added.
The minister made his remarks after a Thai security agency official told an Australian Newspaper that the Jihad Islam (JI) terrorist group bought the chemical substances in Cambodia to make the bombs of the New Year's Eve explosion.
Source: Xinhua
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Experts: Cambodia Needs Tourism Overhaul
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — Cambodia should not rely on its famous Angkor Wat temple complex to sustain its tourism industry, and should be looking to develop other destinations as well, officials said Monday. Cambodia has so many beautiful things that could be developed as tourist places.
The advice was given by tourism experts at the launch of a booklet meant to encourage tourists to stay longer to enjoy other attractions that Cambodia has to offer beside its centuries-old monuments.
The country's tourism sector has been developing rapidly in the past few years, becoming a major source of income for the cash-strapped Southeast Asian country. About 1.7 million tourists visited Cambodia last year, roughly a 20 percent increase over 2005.
About half of the visitors went to see Angkor temples in Siem Reap province, Cambodia's main tourism hub.
"One never can take rising streams of tourists for granted," Daniel Haas, first secretary of the German Embassy in Cambodia, said at the launch of the "Stay Another Day Cambodia" booklet.
"Having a wonderful attraction like Angkor Wat is no guarantee that tourists will keep coming to Cambodia," he said, noting the country has attractions beyond its historic culture.
The booklet features products and services including eco-tours, local cuisine and cooking classes, traditional massage, visits to development projects, orphanages, rehabilitation centers, artisans and the concerts of master musicians.
Kate Lloyd-Williams _ tourism program manager of the Mekong Private Sector Development Facility, which produced the booklet with sponsorship from Germany _ said most tourists simply "fly away" after touring the temples, buying some souvenirs and taking some pictures.
"As we all know, tourists spend less time and money in Cambodia than they do in neighboring countries," she said.
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Japan donates 10.5 mln USD for Cambodia to develop economy
Japan has donated 10.5 millions U.S. dollars to Cambodia to help it construct infrastructure and improve its economic structure adjustment, Deputy Prime Minister Hor Nam Hong said in Phnom Penhon Monday.
"This grant aid will be used for the detailed design of the execution of the project for flood prevention and drainage improvement in Phnom Penh and the improvement of the economic structure adjustment efforts by the Royal Government of Cambodia, said Hor, who is also Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.
"The finance can help develop the Cambodian economy and social development," Hor added at a press conference held at his ministry.
Earlier, Hor and Japanese Ambassador Fumiaki Takahashi signed the exchange of notes about the extension of the grant aid in presence of Prime Minister Hun Sen.
Meanwhile, Phnom Penh Governor Ke Chu Tema told reporters that later this year Japan is expected to offer 22 million U.S. dollars for Phnom Penh to build riverbanks, flood prevention facility and drainage system.
Since 1993, Japan has extended more than 142 million U.S. dollars of non-project grant aid to Cambodia to help solve its economic difficulties, according to official statistics.
Source: Xinhua
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Sunday, January 21, 2007
World survey: Thailand 'no longer free'
(BangkokPost.com, Freedom House)
The year 2006 saw little change in the global state of freedom in the world and the emergence of a series of worrisome trends that present potentially serious threats to the expansion of freedom in the future, Freedom House says in its annual survey of global freedom made available today."Freedom in the World 2007," a survey of worldwide political rights and civil liberties, found that the percentage of countries designated as Free has remained flat for nearly a decade and suggests that a “freedom stagnation” may be developing.
Two countries experienced negative status changes: both Thailand and Congo (Brazzaville) moved from Partly Free to Not Free. Freedom House had condemned the Thailand coup from the beginning. "Along with friends of Thailand everywhere, Freedom House hopes for a speedy return to constitutional rule," it said last year."Thailand has ipso facto ceased to be a democracy.
No matter the rationale - and the restoration of democracy and the end of corruption are frequently cited as justification for coups the world over - no group that gains power through a coup can be accepted as legitimate by democratic governments."Asia experienced the largest proportion of lowered scores in 2006. The dominant development was the military-led coup that ousted Thailand’s democratically elected prime minister.
But other countries previously considered showcases of Asian freedom, including the Philippines and East Timor, also experienced setbacks. In addition, ethnic and religious divisions were a major problem in Sri Lanka, Malaysia, and Fiji. The region’s most important positive development was Nepal’s climb from Not Free to Partly Free due to the end of direct rule by the king and the return of parliament.Sixteen of Asia’s 39 countries are Free (41 per cent), while 12 are Partly Free (31 per cent) and 11 are Not Free (28 per cent). The continued weakness of democratic institutions—even after holding democratic elections—in a number of countries continues to hamper further progress.
“Although the past 30 years have seen significant gains for political freedom around the world, the number of Free countries has remained largely unchanged since the high point in 1998. Our assessment points to a freedom stagnation that has developed in the last decade,” said Jennifer Windsor, Executive Director of Freedom House, “and should lead to renewed policy attention to addressing the obstacles that are preventing further progress.” Regionally, major findings include a setback for freedom in a number of countries in the Asia-Pacific region, a more modest decline in Africa, and a solidification of authoritarian rule in the majority of countries of the former Soviet Union.
Three countries experienced positive status changes: Guyana moved from Partly Free to Free, and Haiti and Nepal moved from Not Free to Partly Free. Freedom House also noted that the trends reflected the growing pushback against democracy driven by authoritarian regimes, including Russia, Venezuela, China, Iran, and Zimbabwe, threatening to further erode the gains made in the last thirty years. The pushback is targeted at organisations, movements, and media that advocate for the expansion of democratic freedoms.
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Cambodia's `jungle woman' trying to escape
TIRED OF CIVILIZATION: Villagers in Oyadao have turned the family's hut into the must-see attraction, with dozens of locals and journalists stopping by to peer inside.
At their rural home in Oyadao, Rattanak Kiri Province, about 660km north east of Phnom Penh. Cambodia's "jungle woman" seemed to be tiring of civilization and has repeatedly tried to escape back into the wild where she lived for nearly two decades before being discovered last week, her presumed brother said yesterday.
"Last night, she tried some tricks to run back to the jungle," said Rochom Khamphi, who has claimed Rochom P'ngieng as his long-lost older sister.
He said his sister -- who does not speak any intelligible language and only uses hand signals to indicate her basic needs -- indicated she wanted to go outside to relieve herself and then made a break for freedom.
"On the second visit to toilet, she removed her shirt ... and was about to make a move to run," he said.
He said his mother managed to grab her and called out for the rest of the family to help bring her back into the house.
But inside the house, the woman refused to sleep and made several moves toward the front door, Rochom Khamphi, 25, said, adding that the entire family was "sleepless the whole night" because they had to guard her.
Rochom P'ngieng, now believed to be 27, disappeared in the jungle of Rattanakiri Province in Cambodia's northeast while herding water buffaloes when she was 8 years old, according to Sal Lou, who has claimed the woman as his daughter.
Her family says she was found on Jan. 13 walking like a "monkey" out of the jungle. But since then, she continues to mesmerize villagers in Oyadao town, about 70km east of the provincial capital.
Villagers in Oyadao, a town of 100 people, have simply dubbed her "jungle woman" and turned the family's hut into the must-see attraction, with dozens of locals and journalists stopping by to peer inside for a look at her.
Unable to communicate in a language the villagers understand, Rochom P'ngieng's whereabouts the past two decades remain unclear.
Many questions remain about the circumstances of her disappearance and what happened to her, said Mao San, police chief of Oyadao District.
"I suspect there may be a family or someone out there still alive that might have gotten hold of her the whole time," he said on Saturday.
"I still have many questions unanswered," he said. "We would like to have blood taken for DNA testing to ascertain the case. Only by that can we end the suspicion," he added.
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Silent jungle girl poses yet more riddles for Cambodia
Saturday, January 20, 2007
Cambodia opts for ePassport labels
Malaysian ePassport systems supplier IRIS Corporation has signed a contract with Southeastasianet Technologies (SEANET) to supply ePassport labels, ePassport systems and automated border control systems to The Ministry of Interior, Kingdom of Cambodia. SEANET is the prime contractor on the project having been awarded a 15-years concession by the Cambodian Government.
The Cambodian project appears to be the first in Asia to use ePassport labels. According to IRIS, this gives the country the ability to laminate contactless IC chips into existing passport books (either previously issued or stock items). This addresses a challenge faced by countries who have large stockpiles of conventional passport books.
The scope of the project also includes the IRIS’ ePassport system for enrolment, personalization and issuance of ePassports, and IRIS’ automated border control solution. IRIS’ electronic identity management system, IdenCraft, will also be used. This system handles security, inventory, workflow, personalization and lifecycle requirements.
According to the supplier, the deliverables will adhere to International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) standards and deliver a multi-level identity management solution combining fingerprints, facial characteristics, biodata and signature capture.
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5 kids injured in Cambodia mine blast
PHNOM PENH, Jan. 21 (Xinhua): The explosion of two mines wounded five children on Saturday in Thmor Pouk district, Battambang province, some 250 km northwest of the capital city, police source told Xinhua by phone.
Two of them were heavily injured, while the other three slightly over the blast in Sre Laor village, said Yort Rai, Deputy Police Chief of the district.
"They found the two mines in a black plastic bag behind their village and thought that it was make-up powder boxes. They hit them with a stick in order to take off the shells and sell them to waste-pickers. They then exploded," he said.
The two injured seriously were sent to a children's hospital in Battambang provincial town, he added.
"The girl suffered from injuries on face, hands and chest. Both children may become blind and lose their hands," he said, adding that the four boys and one girl were from four to seven-years-old.
Earlier on Friday, seven mine cleaners died over the blast of three anti-tank mines in Komrieng district, Battambang province.
According to the Cambodia Mine Action Center, there were more than 400 human casualties over mine and UXO (unexploded ordnance) explosions in 2006 in Cambodia, or 50 per cent decrease over the average number of the previous six years.
Due to 30 years of armed conflicts, Cambodia has become one of the world's most heavily mined countries with an estimated four to six million of such "hidden killers" buried underground in areas as extensive as 2,900 square kilometers.
All the mines and UXO may take another 150 years for the kingdom to clear out, statistics say.
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A retired Hawaii Kai couple uses deposites to help villagers
By Pat Gee
They just returned from their third trip to poverty-stricken Cambodian villages with an outreach group from the University Avenue Baptist Church. The group started going seven years ago and is made up mostly of Cambodian refugees, led by Bible teacher Hongly Khuy.
This year, they bought $2,000 worth of rice (equivalent to 20,000 pounds) in Cambodia, along with other items, such as saimin, small toiletry items, medicine, Bibles and reading glasses for 300 villagers.
Friday, January 19, 2007
Cambodia 'Jungle Woman' yields no clues
"I was so scared, scared of evil spirits that might have come with her," she said. "At night before we went to sleep, after seeing her, I told my children to lock the door for fear that some evil might come and strangle us.
Thursday, January 18, 2007
Congress acted to rein in Nixon over Cambodia during Viet War
Thursday, January 18, 2007By Jerome L. Sherman
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
WASHINGTON -- As Pennsylvania's Rep. John Murtha prepares to use his considerable budgetary power to challenge President Bush on Iraq, he could look to the Vietnam War era for examples of successful congressional confrontations with the president over military authority, several historians say.
In April 1970, then-President Richard Nixon announced that he was sending ground troops into Vietnam's southern neighbor, Cambodia. His decision prompted protests across the country and pushed Congress to pass the Cooper-Church Amendment, blocking further troop deployments across the Vietnamese border.
"That is the first concrete example where Congress, through legislation, says 'no' to the president [on the war]," said Julian Zelizer, a Boston University congressional history specialist.
Dr. Zelizer argued that the president's call for 21,500 more troops for Iraq, opposed by a solid majority of Americans, could provide a similar impetus for the new Democrat-controlled 110th Congress.
Mr. Murtha, D-Johnstown, who chairs the House Appropriations Committee's defense spending subcommittee, has said he hopes to limit any escalation of the U.S. commitment in Iraq by requiring strict readiness levels for the military's strategic reserves, units that could react quickly to crises in other parts of the world. He also wants the United States to withdraw its forces from Iraq as quickly as possible.
For an example of how to proceed, Mr. Murtha could look to former Idaho Democratic Sen. Frank Church: "It's time to acknowledge the futility of our continued military intervention in Vietnam," Mr. Church said on the Senate floor the day after Mr. Nixon's announcement of the Cambodia incursion.
The following week, Mr. Church and then-Sen. John S. Cooper, R-Ky., attached an amendment to an appropriations bill that would block spending on U.S. troops in Cambodia.
"Church's strategy was to show they could limit presidential actions," said history professor David F. Schmitz at Whitman College in Walla Walla, Wash., and author of "The Tet Offensive: Politics, War and Public Opinion." "He would have liked withdrawal, but he knew it was politically infeasible."
Mr. Church's amendment eventually passed the Senate, despite heavy lobbying by the Nixon administration. It died in the House. A different version passed both the House and Senate several months later, but it allowed the president to take action when the safety of U.S. troops was at stake. Mr. Nixon used that loophole to continue the air war in Cambodia, Dr. Schmitz said.
In 1973, Congress overwhelmingly approved a new Church-backed amendment, blocking U.S. military involvement in Southeast Asia without congressional authorization. By that point, the last U.S. combat troops had already left Vietnam.
The troop "surge" in Iraq could be creating the conditions for a similar showdown between the president and Congress. "There's this sense that, if the executive doesn't start winding the war down, Congress is going to have to do it," Dr. Schmitz said.
The House Democratic leadership hasn't developed a detailed strategy, but Speaker Nancy Pelosi has a close relationship with Mr. Murtha, such that she will likely support his plans when the Bush administration comes to Congress for a supplemental spending package on Iraq next month.
Besides limiting the troop surge, Mr. Murtha also hopes to try to force closure of the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. He calls it a stain on America's international credibility.
Any broad actions by the House will face tougher terrain in the Senate, where Democrats hold only a one-seat majority. But several Republicans also have voiced concern about Mr. Bush's Iraq policies.
Indeed, the president and his party may face more political peril today then Mr. Nixon did in the Vietnam era, when he was directing a war that grew under predecessors Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson. Dr. Zelizer said the Iraq war is more closely linked to Mr. Bush alone.
Congress also clearly has the power to make the president acknowledge calls for change. "When you control the budget, you really control everything," Dr. Zelizer said. "Congress can create amazing headaches for the president."
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Wild jungle girl found in Cambodia
POSTED: 0312 GMT (1112 HKT), January 18, 2007
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) -- A woman who disappeared in the jungles of northeastern Cambodia as a child has been found 19 years later, police and a man claiming to be her father said.
The woman -- identified as Rochom P'ngieng, 27 -- does not speak any intelligible language, according to Sal Lou, a village policeman who said he is her father. Sal Lou said Thursday he recognized his daughter by a scar on her right arm.
Rochom P'ngieng, then 8, disappeared in 1988 while herding buffalo in a remote area, said Chea Bunthoeun, a deputy provincial police chief in Rattanakiri province some 200 miles northeast of the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh.
The woman was found Saturday after a villager noticed that food had disappeared from a lunch box he left near his farm, Chea Bunthoeun said.
"She was shaking and picking up grains of rice from the ground to eat," Sal Lou, 45, told The Associated Press by telephone from the province's Oyadao district, where the woman was found.
When she is hungry, she pats her stomach as a signal, he said.
"If she is not sleeping, she just sits and glances left and right, left and right," Sal Lou said. He said his family was closely watching the woman, who he said took off her clothes Thursday and acted as if she was going back into the jungle.
Many questions remain about the circumstances of the girl's disappearance and what happened to her, said Mao San, police chief of Oyadao district. Officials want to take DNA samples from the parents and the woman to see if they match, and the parents have agreed, he said.
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Wednesday, January 17, 2007
Cambodia arrests 3 army generals for involvement in armed robberies
Three army generals were arrested in Phnom Penh on Tuesday for involvement in armed robberies and conspiracy to commit armed robbery, and sent to Battambang province on Wednesday, Sao Sokha, military police commander of Cambodia confirmed to Xinhua by phone.
"We arrested them in Phnom Penh city according to the arrest warrants from Battambang provincial court, so we sent them back to Battambang province today because they committed crimes there ( some 250 kilometers northwest of the capital)," he said.
One-star general Kheang Savorn, 46, two-star general Outh Sakhan, 48, and two-star general Men Saran, 49, were believed to have been involved in "weapon robberies" and conspiracy to commit armed robbery, Sao Sokha said.
Meanwhile, the arrest warrants signed by investigating judge Du Sok Sa Rin from the Battambang provincial court also confirmed that the court accused the three generals of being involved in 18 gun robberies since 2005. Details of the accusation has been disclosed yet.
If found guilty of such crimes, they will face 25 years of imprisonment.
The first general belongs to the opposition Sam Rainsy Party, while the other two are supporters of the co-ruling Funcinpec Party. Cambodia currently has 619 generals nationwide.
Source: Xinhua
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China's CPC delegation holds talks with Cambodia's CPP deputies
A good-will delegation of the Communist Party of China (CPC) on Wednesday in Phnom Penh met with senior representatives of the Cambodian People's Party (CPP) on bilateral exchange and cooperation.
The CPC wants to exchange experiences about governing state with the CPP, said Chen Jianguo, delegation head and secretary of the CPC Ningxia Hui Autonomous Regional Committee.
He also introduced the situation in China, especially that in Ningxia.
Yos Son, member of the CPP Central Committee and chairman of CPP Committee of Foreign Affairs, welcomed the delegation's visit and exchanged views with them in certain fields.
The delegation arrived here on Wednesday on the final leg of a regional tour which also included Laos and Vietnam.
It paid the visit as guest of the CPP and the co-ruling Funcinpec Party.
The delegation is scheduled to meet Funcinpec representatives on Thursday.
Source: Xinhua
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Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Cambodia's gambling industry contributes 17 mln USD in tax revenues in 2006
The Cambodian Ministry of Finance and Economy in 2006 collected about 17 million U.S. dollars in tax revenues from the gambling industry, including casino, lottery and electronic gaming, the Cambodia Daily reported in Phnom Penh on Tuesday.
Casino tax revenues alone amounted to 13 million U.S. dollars, which exceeded the target casino revenues of 12.5 million U.S. dollars laid out in the 2006 national budget, Bankosal Ming, deputy director of the ministry's finance industry department, was quoted as saying.
According to another senior ministry official, Phnom Penh's NagaCorp Casino paid the lion's share of the revenues, or 2.4 million U.S. dollars, to the state coffers in 2006, while smaller casinos paid at varying levels based on their sizes.
In contrast to casinos, which are geared almost exclusively toward foreigners, the lottery, betting and electronic gaming cater to ordinary Cambodians, Bankosal Ming said.
The gambling industry is expected to contribute 19 million U.S. dollars in tax revenues in 2007, he added.
Source: Xinhua
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By Ker Munthit
ASSOCIATED PRESS
5:19 a.m. January 16, 2007
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia – Scores of Asian and European companies have expressed an interest in tapping Cambodia's oil wealth, though it will be years before the country realizes the benefits from its offshore reserves, a government official said Tuesday.
Te Duong Tara, the director-general of Cambodian National Petroleum Authority, told The Associated Press Tuesday that the country was still assessing the situation and was a “long way” from reaching a production phase.
Impoverished Cambodia was set abuzz in 2005 following the discovery of oil off the southwestern coast by U.S. energy giant Chevron Corp.
Since then, Te Duong Tara said oil firms from Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, France, Indonesia and China, have been lining up for licenses to explore other potential blocks in the Cambodian waters.
The Chinese state-owned oil company CNOOC Ltd. is presently negotiating terms of agreement with the Cambodian government, which could be signed in the near future, he said without elaborating.
“We are bringing in highly experienced operators,” Te Duong Tara said on the sidelines of a petroleum seminar.
Chevron, meanwhile, is conducting exploration drillings in Block A where it first discovered oil, a site located about 87 miles southwest of the seaport of Sihanoukville, which is about 115 miles southwest of the capital, Phnom Penh.
The company discovered crude oil in 2005 in four wells in the block and has plans to drill 10 more through 2007.
Te Duong Tara said that oil revenues could have a “profound” impact on the future of Cambodia, where 35 percent of the country's 14 million people live below national poverty line of 50 cents a day.
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54 U.S. soldiers still missing in Cambodia: Official
Charles A. Ray, former U.S. ambassador to Cambodia, said on Tuesday that there are 54 U.S. soldiers still missing in action (MIAs) in Cambodia.
"The parents of those soldiers are still asking us about their sons and if they died. Their parents need the evidence," Charles told some 100 media management students at the Royal University of Phnom Penh.
Ray, also a veteran in the Vietnam War, said that in the ASEAN (the Association of Southeast Asian Nations) countries, his team will conduct investigation of archives and villages to seek out details that might lead them to aircraft crash sites or to potential burial location.
"But we are faced with rigid border-crossing rules and regulations. Our investigations have often been halted for months or longer, while negotiations must take place. Such delays are devastating to the progress of a case, and especially to the families who are waiting and hoping that answers on their missing loved ones will be forthcoming," said Ray, who arrived here on Monday in capacity of Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for POW/Missing Personnel Affairs.
"Cambodia has set up an example for the other nations in this region and the citizens of the U.S. recognized that," added Ray, who was ambassador to Cambodia from 2002 to 2005 and got his current post in September 2006.
Meanwhile, he noted, Prime Minister Hun Sen said in Siem Reap in 2004 that the mission of recovering the remains of U.S. soldiers offered new venues of cooperation between Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.
"The relation between Cambodia and the U.S. is up and down and sometimes is rocky," he said, adding that presently both sides cooperate nearly in all sectors and "it is a positive sign." Ray, reportedly on a special mission to find out the whereabouts of the missing U.S. soldiers in Cambodia, is expected to meet King Sihamoni and Hun Sen on Wednesday.
Source: Xinhua
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Monday, January 15, 2007
Bush's New Iran Policy
POLITICS:Bush's New Iran Policy - War Plan or Propaganda?Analysis by Gareth Porter*
WASHINGTON, Jan 15 (IPS) - President George W. Bush's seemingly aggressive Iran policy of taking direct action against alleged Iranian "networks" involved in attacks on U.S. troops in Iraq, combined with the deployment of a second carrier group off Iran's coast, triggered speculation that it is related to a plan for an attack. But the revelation by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice that the campaign against Iranian officials had already been in effect for several months before Bush's speech last Wednesday indicates that the new rhetoric is aimed at serving the desperate need of the White House to shift the blame for its failure in Iraq to Iran, and to appear to be taking tough action.
Rice told the New York Times in an interview Friday that Bush had ordered the U.S. military to target Iranian officials in Iraq allegedly linked to attacks on U.S. forces some time last fall. Bush and Rice had previously created the impression that the administration had launched a new initiative against Iran in connection with its proposed increase in troop strength in Iraq. The Bush speech coincided with an attack by an unidentified U.S. military unit on the building used by Iranian consular officials in Erbil and the seizure of six Iranian officials in the compound.
But all indications are that the U.S. military has no real intelligence on any Iranian direct involvement in supplying lethal weapons to insurgents. The statement issued by the U.S. military but clearly written in the White House said the detainees, who were not identified as Iranians, were "suspected of being closely tied to activities targeting Iraqi and coalition forces".
That statement shows that the seizure was not based on any prior evidence of the officials' complicity in insurgent attacks. U.S. troops also seized documents and computers, indicating that the attack was really nothing more than an intelligence operation, launched in the hope of finding some evidence that could be used against Iran. The only other such U.S. military raid came in late December and targeted four Iranian officials visiting Baghdad at the invitation of Iraqi President Jalal Talabani. That operation bore similar evidence of being a fishing expedition against Iranians, based on nothing more than the "suspicion" that they were connected with the Quds force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps. Contrary to the impression conveyed by the administration, therefore, it is not targeting those who it knows to be involved in supplying insurgents with weapons but is still trying to find some evidence to justify its tough rhetoric against Iran. The initial rhetoric from Bush suggesting a possible intention to expand the Iraq war into Iran or Syria in response to alleged Iranian and Syrian support for anti-coalition insurgents had been followed by clarifications and new details that point to a very carefully calibrated propaganda offensive aimed at rallying his own political base.
Bush's identification in his Jan. 10 speech of Iran and Syria as "allowing terrorists and insurgents to use their territory to move in and out of Iraq" and the more specific reference to Iran as "providing material support for attacks on American troops" seemed to hint at such a plan to expand the war across the board into Iran. Rice seemed to be dropping even more pointed hints of such a plan in television interviews on Thursday. On the NBC Today show, Rice vowed, on behalf of Bush, "[W]e are going to make certain that we disrupt activities that are endangering and killing our troops and that are destabilising Iraq." And when asked if that meant "attacks inside Iran and Syria" were "on the table", she responded that Bush "is not going to take options off the table..." Rice went on to declare, "The Iranians need to know, and the Syrians need to know, that the United States is not finding it acceptable and is not going to simply tolerate their activities to try and harm our forces or to destabilise Iraq."
Asked in an interview with "Fox and Friends" whether Bush's speech could mean "going over the border to chase down those who are providing the technology and possibly the training", Rice coyly replied, "Well, I don't want to speculate on what kinds of operations the United States may be engaged in," as if to leave that possibility open. Then she added, "But I think you will see that the United States is not going to simply stand idly by and let these activities continue." In testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee last week, Rice refused to answer a question from Chairman Joe Biden on whether the president has the authority to conduct military missions in Iran without congressional approval.
That provoked expressions of alarm from both Democratic and Republic senators. Sen. Chuck Hagel, Republican of Nebraska, said this ambiguity reminded him of the Richard Nixon administration's policy toward Cambodia in 1970 during the Vietnam War. Some analysts viewed Rice's rhetoric as evidence of an administration plan to justify an air offensive against Iran on the basis of alleged Iranian complicity in attacks on U.S. forces in Iraq, rather than on the more abstract threat of Iranian progress toward a possible nuclear weapons capability. But the careful wording used and the explicit caveats issued by administration officials belied the impression of menace against Iran that Bush and Rice had clearly sought to convey.
Bush's reference to the issue in his Wednesday night speech avoided any actual threat to Iran. Instead he said, "We will seek out and destroy the networks providing advanced weaponry and training to our enemies in Iraq." That formulation was carefully chosen to limit the scope of U.S. actions. The next day, even though Rice was provoking Congressional fears of a wider war, the whole Bush team was qualifying that rhetoric in remarks to reporters by specifying that U.S. actions to stop the alleged Iranian interference in Iraq will be confined to Iraq itself.
Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who is considered a full member of the Bush administration team, limited the threatened aggressive U.S. actions to "those who are physically present trying to do harm to our troops..." He concluded, "We can take care of the security of our troops by doing the business we need to do inside of Iraq." And spokesman for the National Security Council Gordon Johndroe, after repeating the new line that the administration would "not tolerate outside interference in Iraq", went on to say that the actions would be taken only inside Iraq, not across the border.. Secretary of Defence Robert Gates also said on Friday the United States had no intention of going into Iranian territory.
The contrast between the general impression of steely resolve toward Iran conveyed by Bush and the unusual clarity about the limited geographical scope of the response points to a sophisticated two-level communications strategy prepared by the White House. For those who get their news from television, the message conveyed by Rice was one of effective action against the Iranians supposedly causing harm to U.S. troops; for the Congress and the media, the message conveyed to reporters was much more cautious.
The two-level communications strategy suggests, in turn, that the White House was acutely aware that a single message of menace toward Iran could have triggered a negative Congressional response that would have defeated the purpose of the tough rhetorical line.
Ironically, therefore, the net effect of the new tough line toward Iran may actually have been to force the administration to admit, if only tacitly, that it is not free under present circumstances even to threaten to go to war against Iran. *Gareth Porter is an historian and national security policy analyst. His latest book, "Perils of Dominance: Imbalance of Power and the Road to War in Vietnam", was published in June 2005. ** This article is the first of a two-part series on the escalation of hostile rhetoric and actions toward Iran by the Bush administration. (END/2007)
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NZ prisoner in Cambodia says he faces human rights abuses
The lawyer for a New Zealander serving a 20 year sentence in a Cambodian jail says he is facing serious human rights abuses.
Graham Cleghorn is appealing his sex charge convictions which involve young girls who worked for him.
His lawyer, Greg King, says he has voiced his concerns to Prime Minister Helen Clark if she will ask Dame Silvia Cartwright, who is in Cambodia, to investigate.
He says prisoners are being beaten, shackled and locked in dark 'punishment rooms'.
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China pledges 100 mln USD of loans for Cambodia to build infrastructure
China has pledged to offer 100 million U.S. dollars of preferential loans for Cambodia to build its infrastructure, said Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister Hor Nam Hong here on Monday upon his return from the Philippines.
"The loan from China will be used to build National Road No. 10 from Battambang province to Pailin city and the Takhmao Bridge in Kandal province," said Hor, who is also Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.
This finance aims to encourage Cambodia to develop and offer benefits to the rural area, Hor told a press conference at the Phnom Penh International Airport upon his return from the ASEAN ( the Association of Southeast Asian Nations) meetings.
Some of the loans will be dedicated to other road and bridge projects, he said, adding that China made this promise during the ASEAN meetings in Cebu, Philippines, in accordance with the Cambodian government's request made in 2006.
The loans were a follow-up to the 200 million U.S. dollars of aids and loans for Cambodia nodded by Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao in April, 2006, when he paid an official visit to the kingdom. Part of them have been earmarked to Cambodia to build bridges and roads.
Prime Minister Hun Sen also returned from the ASEAN summits on Monday evening.
Source: Xinhua
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Roundup: Hub in Sihanoukville re-opened to perfect Cambodia's air travel network
A triangular air travel network over western Cambodia was formed as a world-class airport was re-opened on Monday in seaside resort Sihanoukville to embrace anticipated influx of foreign visitors.
The network can apparently serve to link up the kingdom's major sight-seeing spots in Phnom Penh, Siem Reap and Sihanoukville, so as to provide more selectable travel routes for those curious about this colorful country.
"The re-opening of the airport is really good for our tourism," said Thong Khon, secretary of state at the Ministry of Tourism, adding that it is part of the ministry's strategy to connect Siem Reap and Sihanoukville by airlines to encourage tourists to extend their stay to enjoy the kingdom's sandy beaches after seeing the Angkor temples.
Upon the inauguration of the Sihanoukville International Airport, a former Soviet Union-made Antonov-24 propeller-driven aircraft from Siem Reap landed on the runway in its maiden flight with 11 passengers and four crew members on board.
Currently, flights by domestic airliner PMT have started to shuttle between Sihanoukville and Siem Reap around three times a week, while the beach city's connection with Phnom Penh, some 300 kilometers away, is yet worth of air travel and can be easily handled with automobiles at around three hours' drive on the national road.
Meanwhile, said Thong Khon, there is still another option for non-domestic travelers, who can first reach Sihanoukville by marine route and then transfer to Siem Reap by airlines and, of course, vice versa.
The Societe Concessionnaire des Aeroports (SCA), a French- Malaysian joint firm entrusted to run the hub, is now in talks with several other airliners about using the airport, whose runway will be extended from the current 1,800 meters to 2,200 meters with a further investment of 200 million U.S. dollars to accommodate jet flyers such as Boeing 737 by the end of 2007, said Norinda Khek, SCA's communications and marketing manager.
By then, international routes will also be opened, thus tapping the potential of Siem Reap's already established air links with countries such as South Korea, Thailand and China to expand foreign tourists' access to Cambodia, he said, adding that SCA, a subsidiary of France's biggest construction group Vinci, is licensed to operate the hub until 2040.
The Sihanoukville airport was closed in the early 1980s due to financial difficulties. Renovation by SCA started in June 2006 to preliminarily extend the terminal and the runway suitable for propeller-driven aircraft to land.
According to official statistics, some 280,000 tourists visited Sihanoukville in 2006, up by 30 percent over 2005. Among them 60, 000 were foreigners.
In addition, tourist arrivals in Cambodia jumped more than 20 percent to about 1.7 million in 2006, bringing in 1.4 billion U.S. dollars in revenue for the government.
Each visitor was estimated to have spent some 700 U.S. dollars in Cambodia, while 300,000 local people have found jobs in the industry, according to the Ministry of Tourism, which expects to receive 3 million foreign travelers in 2010.
Source: Xinhua
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Chaotic Streets of Phnom Penh update
Posted by Admin / 14. January 2007, 19:55
Sunday, January 14, 2007
China-ASEAN Free Trade Area
China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries signed The Agreement on Trade in Services of China-ASEAN Free Trade Area on Sunday in Cebu, the second largest city of the Philippines.
The agreement was signed at the 10th China-ASEAN Summit attended by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and leaders of the 10 ASEAN member countries.
The signing is another major achievement in China-ASEAN economic cooperation and trade. It will mark a key step forward in the building of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area and lay the foundation for full and scheduled completion of the China-ASEAN FTA.
The following are some basic facts about the China-ASEAN free trade area.
On Nov. 4, 2002, then Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji and leaders of the 10 ASEAN nations signed at the sixth China-ASEAN summit the landmark Framework Agreement on ASEAN-China Comprehensive Economic Cooperation, marking the beginning of the process of setting up a China-ASEAN free trade zone.
Under the agreement, the free trade zone would be completed by 2010, and the four new ASEAN members -- Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar and Vietnam -- have been allowed an additional transitional period of five years and are slated to complete the building of the free trade area in 2015.
The China-ASEAN free trade area, which will comprise China, Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, is expected to be one of the biggest free trade areas in the world.
The China-ASEAN free trade area will have a total population of 1.8 billion and a combined gross national product of 2 trillion U.S. dollars when completed in 2010.
The estimated total trade volume of 1.2 trillion U.S. dollars will make it the third largest market in the world, after theEuropean Union and the North American free trade area.
Since 2003, China and ASEAN have held consultations on agreements concerning the building of the free trade area. Beginning from July 1, 2005, China and ASEAN countries started their tariff-reducing process. The two sides will gradually reduce or cancel tariffs on 7,000 kinds of products.
By 2010, China and six old ASEAN member nations -- Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand will impose zero tariffs on most normal products, while China and the other four new ASEAN members -- Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam -- will do the same in 2015.
Source: Xinhua
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Villagers Oppose More Dams in Vietnam
ENVIRONMENT-CAMBODIA:Villagers Oppose More Dams in Vietnam
Sam Rith - Newsmekong*PHNOM PENH, Jan 14 (IPS) - Chao Chantha, one of 10 community representatives from the north-eastern Cambodian province of Stung Treng became agitated as officials of the Electricity of Vietnam (EVN) fielded questions at a meeting called to discuss the neighbouring country's plans to build more dams on its side of the border.
''We have no hope that Vietnam will give any compensation to Cambodian people affected by their dams,'' Chantha, 46, said on the sidelines of the Jan. 12 meeting. Cambodian activists say this was the first time in more than a decade of Nordic aid-backed hydro-planning along rivers shared by Vietnam and Cambodia that Nordic consultants and the state-owned EVN met with affected residents and non-government organisations (NGOs). ''Since 2004, we have been experiencing unnatural floods two to three times a year. We are aware that the floods are caused by hydroelectric dams built upstream in Vietnam,'' Chantha explained, referring to construction activity that started in 2003 for a series of dams in the Srepok river basin.
Chantha says that in her village in Banmei, 83 families are already negatively affected by dams across the Srepok that flows into Cambodia. For two years, releases of water have unleashed floods that caused rice plants to rot. Their livelihoods affected, most residents are being forced to go to other provinces and find work in the garment or construction industries. A few families have decided to stick it out, but their crops are ruined by repeated flooding.
Thun Bunhean, who comes from Deilo village in Lumpat district in Rattanakkiri, said: ''During last year's floods, the water flowed very fast so that we did not have enough time to prevent our cows, pigs, chickens and ducks from being carried away by the waterà and now we have nothing to eat.'' In the Rattanakkiri and Stung Treng provinces, 11,000 villagers living along the Srepok have been facing negative impacts from hydropower development of the river basin, said Bean Sokun, dialogue project officer for the Sesan, Srepok and Sekong Rivers Protection Network (3SPN). Many fear that the Srepok projects will bring the same environmental and economic impact from that others experienced from the time dam projects began in the basin of the Se San river, a Mekong tributary shared by Vietnam and Cambodia, a decade ago.
The affected villagers, including from the Yali Falls dam, are still awaiting compensation. The Srepok and Sesan rivers merge some 30 km east of Stung Treng. In August-September 2006, 3SPN, a group banded together in the wake of the adverse impact of the cross-border dams, reported that villages, houses, schools, pagodas, and roads have already been inundated by fast-moving waters from the dammed Srepok. In mid-September, over 1,000 hectares of rice fields in Rattanakkiri were submerged, the group added. But EVN vice president Lam Du Son told the 20 community representatives from Rattanakkiri and Stung Treng, NGOs and others at the meeting here that the dams in Vietnam cannot yet have caused problems to Cambodians living downstream. ''We have not yet completed the dam to curb the Srepok river's water,'' said Du Son, referring to the fact that the dam does not yet store water and does not impact flow yet.
"Last year's floods might have been caused by storms -- not the dams." Plans for hydropower projects on the Srepok river basin upstream in Vietnam include four dams -- the Buon Kuop (280 Mw), Buontua Srha (86 Mw), Srepok 3 (220 Mw) and Draylinh (28 Mw). Two other projects are at the feasibility study stage, such as Srepok 4 (70 Mw) and Duc Xuyen (49 Mw), according to Luong Van Dai, director of appraisal for EVN. Do Son's remarks did not satisfy Tep Bunnarith, executive director of the NGO Culture and Environment Preservation Association (CEPA). "What he (Lam Du Son) replied was just his ideas, it is not factual information that he collected from the people who are the victims.
In nature, floods happen in the rainy season, but recently the floods occurred in the dry season.'' While the two sides stuck to their respective positions, the fact that a face-to-face venue was held on the issue is an indicator of the gravity of the issue. The Jan. 12 meeting was actually called to take up the environmental impact assessment (EIA) report done by the consulting firm SWECO Groner with funding from Swedish and Norwegian aid agencies, Sida and Norad.
''This discussion is to strengthen cooperation between the two countries by finding ways to keep the environmental impact to the minimum -- as the speech of Prime Minister Hun Sen said, no one benefits, no one loses," said Mok Mareth, minister for environment, and vice chair of the Cambodia National Mekong Committee. ''And if after we discuss, we cannot find any way to reduce impacts, that means the impact remains serious, and that the plan (for hydropower development) would not be continued.
'' A draft version of the EIA report, Cambodian NGOs say, predicts major changes for people living along the river on the Cambodian side of the border, ranging from unpredictable water fluctuations, riverbank erosion, water pollution and impact on fish migration. The EIA report is part of Vietnam's master plan study that looks into potential dam sites in the country. But at the Jan 12 meeting, representatives of the Srepok communities sought a suspension of dam construction, compensation from dam builders, and a stop to the financing of dam projects that had no people's participation and EIA processes.
If dams are ultimately built upstream, they would like a notification system for water releases and fluctuations to be set up for Cambodian communities. "We are still concerned that the draft EIA report would get approval from the two governments when they do not agree with our recommendations on what's lacking in the report," said Bunnarith. ''Our other concern is that Vietnam would not pay any compensation to Cambodians who are the victims of the dams because when we asked Vietnam about that, they replied that hydropower development is the important agenda of the three governments (Vietnamese, Cambodian and Lao).
" EVN's Du Son pledged that his government would implement dam projects with bilateral agreements, follow international treaties, look to having the citizens of Vietnam and Cambodia gain income, reduce environment impact and improve the Srepok EIA report.
Tore Hagen, vice president of SWECO Groner, acknowledged that his Company could only manage a ‘'rapid EIA report'' on the Cambodian part of the Srepok. His team spent only a few weeks in Rattanakkiri and Stung Treng in November 2005. "To complete the EIA report, it takes at least one more year because the work force needs to research during different seasons in Cambodia," explained Hagen.
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