“The national activity plan aims at reducing the number of children between the ages of 5 and 17 who are doing work in Cambodia to only 10.6% in 2010, and to 8% in 2015. Also, the Royal Government of Cambodia has joined in some programs led by the USA to stop the most serious forms of child labor in different sectors, as stated by the US Department of Labor.
“The USA hopes that continued cooperation to solve this problem will totally eliminate child labor in Cambodia, and they hope that all forms of exploitation and human trafficking are being reduced.
“According to the statement, the Bureau of International Labor Affairs of the US Department of Labor released three reports about child labor and forced labor at some countries around the world on 10 September 2009. Those documents include ‘List of Goods Produced by Child or Forced Labor’ which is prohibited by the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2005 (TVPRA List).
“The list required by the TVPRA details 122 types of products from 58 countries which are believed by the Office of Child Labor, Forced Labor, and Human Trafficking, which is part of the Bureau of International Labor Affairs of the US Department of Labor, to be produced using also child labor and forced labor, violating international standards. Furthermore, the Office of Child Labor, Forced Labor, and Human Trafficking of the US Department of Labor released recent information, as it is required to put it into the ‘List of Goods Produced by Child or Forced Labor’ and its annual 'findings ... to eliminate the worst forms of child labor,’ as required by the Trade and Development Act of 2000, about efforts of local authorities of 141 countries in their fight against child labor exploitation.
“The major intention of the TVPRA list is to promote understanding among the public about child labor and forced labor in producing goods, in the countries listed, and to boost efforts to eliminate such practices.
“This report mentioned four products in Cambodia that are suspected to being made with child labor: bricks and roof tiles, shrimps, rubber, and salt. The USA has closely has cooperated with the Royal Government to reduce child labor at those places of production, and in the whole economy. The Royal Government of Cambodia has made improvements in this work by creating a national level activity plan about the most serious forms of child labor (2008-2012).” Rasmei Kampuchea, Vol.17, #4997, 12.9.2009
Newspapers Appearing on the Newsstand:
Saturday, 12 September 2009
Deum Ampil, Vol.3, #287, 12.9.2009
[Forty Nine] Khmer Americans Criticize the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission Meeting in the United States as Biased [for inviting only representatives from the Sam Rainsy Party and non-government organizations. The commission is named after the late Rep. Tom Lantos, the only Holocaust survivor elected to the US Congress who worked there for 27 years with a special concern for human rights. He died 2008 at the age of 80]
A/H1N1 Rises to 46 in Cambodia
Police Actions Responding to Gold Robbers: Police Arrested 15 Robbers
[Former] Taiwanese President Chen Shui-Bian – 陳水扁- and a Family Member [his wife] Are Jailed [for the rest of their lives] for Committing Corruption
Khmer Machas Srok, Vol.3, #589, 12.9.2009
Ms. Mu Sochua Told the US Congress to Break Fake Democracy in Cambodia
Koh Santepheap, Vol.42, #6753, 12-13.9.2009
Research Found that More Cambodian People, Both Men and Women, Like to Drink Alcohol [according to the Center for People’s Development and Peace, among 1,400 respondents in 7 provinces and cities, 85% said that they like drinking alcohol, 94% of the responding men said so, and 58% of the women]
[About 100] Students of the University of Health Science Strike [demanding that the university should release the test results of those who failed and of those who passed the exams, and also requesting that more students should be admitted for the year 2008-2009, and to reduce the tuition fees by half for 2008-2009 students, so that they can continue their studies]
Rasmei Kampuchea, Vol.17, #4997, 12.9.2009
America Suspects Four Products in Cambodia Involve the Use of Child Labor
Thai Protesters Allow [Thai] Trucks to Load Cassava from Cambodia, but Set Conditions [this week they allow trucks to load cassava, but next week, they will use their own small transport vehicles to transport cassava]
An International Monetary Fund Delegation Comes to Check Annual Economic [and Banking] Performance [in Cambodia this week - similar to about one year ago in Rasmei Kampuchea]
Mobile Tax Officials Seized 62 Luxury Trees in Ou Ya Dav District; after Putting the Trees on Trucks and Transporting them to Ratanakiri, a Forestry Chief Blocked the Trucks to Confiscate Those Trees [resulting in a quarrel between tax officials and the forestry chief; the problem was temporarily solved after an intervention by the Ratanakiri governor: the governor denied the right of the Forestry chief to keep control over the trees, but they were transported instead to the Military Police station for later clarification]
Poverty Affects 40 Million Americans [according to an official report by the US Census Bureau]
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