In the Newsemployer. The vast majority
of its workers are young
women from the provinces.
They migrate, often alone, to
work long hours in sweltering
conditions in factories around
the capital Phnom Penh, and
try to send money home to
their families and the children
they leave behind.
The recent gains in
these workers’ pay and
conditions are thanks to the
pressure of the country’s few
independent unions. Their
factory representatives often
face legal threats and risk
being fired. In May 2019,
Yang Sophorn, a former
garment worker and the
only female head of an
independent union, finally
had convictions overturned,
along with six other union
leaders, for charges that
stemmed from mass protests
in 2014 in which security
forces opened fire, killing five
and wounding over 20.
Cambodia’s poor human
rights record may have put
all its workers in jeopardy.Concerned about its
deteriorating democracy, the
EU is considering temporarily
suspending Cambodia from
the Everything But Arms
(EBA) preferential trade deal,
which allows some of the
world’s poorest countries
to export to the EU without
paying tax or tariffs. A third
of Cambodia’s exports go to
the EU, supplying well-known
brands such as H&M. A
permanent termination of
the arrangement would
likely result in mass layoffs. Precarious lives: garment workers,
mostly women, make sportswear in
Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
CHRIS STOWERS/PANOS PICTURESThe country’s prime
minister, Hun Sen, has been
in power since 1985. The main
opposition party was banned
from competing in the last
national elections and their
leader has remained under
house arrest for the past two
years.
DANIEL QUINLANNOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2019 11