DPA
Phnom Penh - Thousands of Cambodian garment factory employees who had refused to work nightshifts have returned to work after assurances by unions and police that a rumour they were being targeted by the human organ transplant trade was false, officials said Thursday. The story of powerful men driving cars with tinted windows and abducting garment workers to harvest their corneas and kidneys for rich international clients began spreading late last week.
By Tuesday, the Interior Ministry was concerned enough to issue a press release denouncing the story as a lie and saying a full investigation had found no evidence to support it.
Interior Ministry Criminal Police chief Mok Chito said Thursday that police were now seeking the people who began the false tale, which threw the country's garment industry into turmoil when it spread through the factories earlier this week.
"It was the plan of a group of people who wanted to cause turbulence and hooked into the workers' minds, but it did not succeed because the workers now have knowledge," Chito said in a telephone interview.
But he said the rumour was proving hard to pin down because it had apparently been spread by word of mouth, unlike previous rumours, which have been spread through SMS text messaging and can be traced.
"Cambodia is the easiest place for a rumour to get out of control," he said.
Chea Mony, the president of the Free Trade Union Workers of Cambodia, said the story had caused up to 20 per cent of garment workers on night shifts to stay at home out of fear for their lives.
"This affects the Cambodian economy and businesses might be afraid to invest if they see this sort of panic and what it does to production," Mony said by telephone.
The rumour came less than a month after the Cambodian parliament voted to amend the labour law and slash overtime rates for garment workers despite protests from unions.
Nightshift garment workers had previously earned about 100 dollars a month as opposed to around 50 dollars a month earned by their day shift counterparts, but the amendment cut that difference to 30 per cent more for nightshift workers.
Cambodia employs about 300,000 garment factory workers, many of whom are young female migrants from small rural villages to the city.
Previous rumours that have swept the country have included unsubstantiated claims in January 2003 that a Thai actress had claimed the national icon, the Angkor Wat temple, was Thai. Angry mobs then burned the Thai embassy and several Thai businesses.
A story that eating a palm sugar dessert before midnight would prevent severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, caused a hysterical rush on sugar stalls a few years ago. Both those rumours were spread through SMS messaging. The sugar scare was later blamed on sugar merchants near the Thai border.
Police said they had received reports of motorbike taxi drivers spreading the garment factory rumour but currently had no suspects.
The garment industry is Cambodia's primary source of foreign trade and one of the national economy's most important sectors.
By Tuesday, the Interior Ministry was concerned enough to issue a press release denouncing the story as a lie and saying a full investigation had found no evidence to support it.
Interior Ministry Criminal Police chief Mok Chito said Thursday that police were now seeking the people who began the false tale, which threw the country's garment industry into turmoil when it spread through the factories earlier this week.
"It was the plan of a group of people who wanted to cause turbulence and hooked into the workers' minds, but it did not succeed because the workers now have knowledge," Chito said in a telephone interview.
But he said the rumour was proving hard to pin down because it had apparently been spread by word of mouth, unlike previous rumours, which have been spread through SMS text messaging and can be traced.
"Cambodia is the easiest place for a rumour to get out of control," he said.
Chea Mony, the president of the Free Trade Union Workers of Cambodia, said the story had caused up to 20 per cent of garment workers on night shifts to stay at home out of fear for their lives.
"This affects the Cambodian economy and businesses might be afraid to invest if they see this sort of panic and what it does to production," Mony said by telephone.
The rumour came less than a month after the Cambodian parliament voted to amend the labour law and slash overtime rates for garment workers despite protests from unions.
Nightshift garment workers had previously earned about 100 dollars a month as opposed to around 50 dollars a month earned by their day shift counterparts, but the amendment cut that difference to 30 per cent more for nightshift workers.
Cambodia employs about 300,000 garment factory workers, many of whom are young female migrants from small rural villages to the city.
Previous rumours that have swept the country have included unsubstantiated claims in January 2003 that a Thai actress had claimed the national icon, the Angkor Wat temple, was Thai. Angry mobs then burned the Thai embassy and several Thai businesses.
A story that eating a palm sugar dessert before midnight would prevent severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, caused a hysterical rush on sugar stalls a few years ago. Both those rumours were spread through SMS messaging. The sugar scare was later blamed on sugar merchants near the Thai border.
Police said they had received reports of motorbike taxi drivers spreading the garment factory rumour but currently had no suspects.
The garment industry is Cambodia's primary source of foreign trade and one of the national economy's most important sectors.
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