24 November 2008
Around 200,000 Cambodians work abroad, in agriculture, construction and other sectors.
Some 25,000 migrant workers will receive free passports over the next five years, as the government seeks to promote poverty reduction by encouraging outside labor.
Reading from a directive issued Friday, Prime Minister Hun Sen said laborers and those engaged in outside on-the-job training “will be provided free passports.”
A Cambodian passport typically costs around $125, but the government will subsidize $100, with the employer expected to pay the difference.
More than 200,000 Cambodians are working abroad, in Malaysia, Thailand and South Korea, in industry, construction, agriculture and housework, Oum Mean, secretary of state for the Ministry of Labor, said.
“They have a working contract for between two and three years, and the laborers who work in Thailand get a benefit between $200 and $300 per month,” he said. “In Malaysia, they get between $200 and $400 per month. In South Korea, in agriculture, it’s a little lower than $1,000, and in industry, it’s more than $1,000.”
About half of their salaries are remitted to Cambodia, he said.
Seng Sakada, general director for employment at the Ministry of Labor, said the government has a policy to promote work both inside and outside the country.
A government program has sent 30 laborers to Japan, more than 5,000 to Korea, more than 12,000 to Malaysia and nearly 8,000 to Thailand, Seng Sakada said.
The government is negotiating agreements with Qatar and Kuwait to send workers there, he said.
Developed countries like Poland, Canada and others are also seeking labor agreements with Cambodia, he said.
Chea Mony, president of the Free Trade Union, welcomed the initiative as a way to help already poor laborers. Each laborer must pay between $2,000 and $3,000 to travel abroad for work, he said. Much of that is paid to middlemen and the companies themselves.
Sometimes this money comes from the sell of cattle or land, he said.
The government and trade union officials said that workers outside the country get proper salaries they can send back to their families.
Some 25,000 migrant workers will receive free passports over the next five years, as the government seeks to promote poverty reduction by encouraging outside labor.
Reading from a directive issued Friday, Prime Minister Hun Sen said laborers and those engaged in outside on-the-job training “will be provided free passports.”
A Cambodian passport typically costs around $125, but the government will subsidize $100, with the employer expected to pay the difference.
More than 200,000 Cambodians are working abroad, in Malaysia, Thailand and South Korea, in industry, construction, agriculture and housework, Oum Mean, secretary of state for the Ministry of Labor, said.
“They have a working contract for between two and three years, and the laborers who work in Thailand get a benefit between $200 and $300 per month,” he said. “In Malaysia, they get between $200 and $400 per month. In South Korea, in agriculture, it’s a little lower than $1,000, and in industry, it’s more than $1,000.”
About half of their salaries are remitted to Cambodia, he said.
Seng Sakada, general director for employment at the Ministry of Labor, said the government has a policy to promote work both inside and outside the country.
A government program has sent 30 laborers to Japan, more than 5,000 to Korea, more than 12,000 to Malaysia and nearly 8,000 to Thailand, Seng Sakada said.
The government is negotiating agreements with Qatar and Kuwait to send workers there, he said.
Developed countries like Poland, Canada and others are also seeking labor agreements with Cambodia, he said.
Chea Mony, president of the Free Trade Union, welcomed the initiative as a way to help already poor laborers. Each laborer must pay between $2,000 and $3,000 to travel abroad for work, he said. Much of that is paid to middlemen and the companies themselves.
Sometimes this money comes from the sell of cattle or land, he said.
The government and trade union officials said that workers outside the country get proper salaries they can send back to their families.
6 comments:
welcome to the new era, cambdoia. look around the entire world, every country is doing it; they allow or send their citizens to work in other country. the philipines send millions overseas to work so they can send millions and billions of dollars back to the philipines, mexico is doing the same thing, thailand is also, and not to mention the chinese, of course. so, why is cambodian people worry about this new phenomenon? stop being a frog confined only in a local pond, please; go out and see the world! your old politicizing stragedy is outdated in cambodia, to say the least, my dear. please get with the program! god bless cambodia
oh, sending your people to work overseas is good for them, considering they gain insight from other country and work ethnics and experience and technological know-how as well, not to mention earning some money to help the cambodian economy and their poor families in cambodia as well. so, i think, it is a good thing to have this system in place, and not to worry. just have gov't to gov't liason to protect the workers' rights and establish a good labor law to protect workers is a better way to address this issue. everybody has got to start somewhere, somehow; nobody is born with a job skill. please be smart and clever in the gov't. thank you. god bless cambodia.
I hope HUN SEN will have to tell his administration not to charge more money when those people want to do the pass.
He said that $125 but I hope his underboss will not charge them $2k-$3k.
Khmer PP,
yes, sending people to work overseas is not unique to cambodia, my dear. it is new or unprecedented in the history of cambodia, but most definitely not unique! please get educated about other countries in the world! open mind, open book. god bless cambodia.
Sending Cambodian oversea to work only to take pressure off the government of their lagging and slacking to create jobs. It is a short term gain but a long tern pain. Cambodian people deserve to be working close to their family, not depriving them from their love ones, and certainly not slaves for other foreigners to abuse.
let the people speak for themselves! philipino, mexican, and many others don't think or speak like you, so if you want to be narrow-minded, then keep that to yourself, but don't try to tell others not to do it for their own freedom. i hope individual like you won't become the khmer leader because it will only take the country backward like during the stupid KR rule! didn't you learn from that era already, mr. mister or whoever you are! go figure.
I believe this is good thing,Show our people to fish and they Never run out of fist to eat.But please help them..Do not hurt them.
Thank you!!
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