Maid nightmare continues

Monday, 05 September 2011
Sen David
The Phnom Penh Post

Opposition MP Mu Sochua said the fact no company had lost its licence or been sanctioned by the government suggested they were owned by well-connected individuals.

Two more women recruited from villages to work as maids in Malaysia by a government-licensed company returned at the weekend, saying they were penniless and scarred by abuse.

Both had been recruited by Philimore Cambodia Co Ltd, a member of the Association of Cambodian Recruitment Agencies. They said they had been beaten, forced to work long hours and not given enough food.

Hok Pov, 21, said she was paid for only one month after working for five months in a house as well as a factory. She said she worked from 4am to 1am.

“I had no day off,” she said. “I was forced to work in my employer’s house and at his factory. Sometimes he slapped me and pulled my hair. All he gave me to eat were noodles.”

Cambodians jailed for torturing 11-year-old maid

2010-02-20
Associated Press

A Cambodian schoolteacher and her husband were sentenced to lengthy prison terms for torturing an 11-year-old girl they had purchased to be their domestic helper and held captive for more than a year, an official said Saturday.

Meas Neary, 41, was sentenced to 20 years in prison, and her husband, Va Sarouen, a 62-year-old retired Ministry of Education official, will serve 10 years behind bars, said judge Chan Madina.

Police arrested the couple in October, acting on a tip from neighbors that their young maid was being abused.

Officers found that the girl's body was covered with more than 200 wounds that the couple said they had inflicted with coat hangers, brooms, electric wires, and sometimes used pliers to pull her flesh, police said at the time.

The Phnom Penh Municipal court convicted the couple on Friday on charges of torture and human trafficking. Each had faced a maximum of 25 years in prison.

The couple had paid $400 to the girl's 62-year-old guardian in early 2008 for the girl to help with domestic chores, authorities said. Both of the child's parents were deceased.

Desperately poor Cambodia has been working to crack down on the buying and selling of children for domestic work, brothels or street-begging rings inside and outside the country.

The court also sentenced the girl's former guardian, Thoeng Reth, to five years in prison for human trafficking, the judge said.

All three were also ordered to pay a combined 20 million riel ($2,000) in compensation to the victim. The girl, who was not identified, is now in the care of a Swiss-based Christian organization, Hagar International, which provides assistance to victims of trafficking and exploitation.

Couple held for torturing girl

Oct 19, 2009
AP

PHNOM PENH - A CAMBODIAN schoolteacher and her husband have been charged for repeatedly torturing an 11-year-old girl they bought to be their domestic helper and held captive for more than a year, a court official said on Monday.

Prosecutor Heung Bunchea said Meas Neary, a high school teacher in Phnom Penh, and her husband, Va Sarouen, a retired Ministry of Education official, were charged with torture and human trafficking in Phnom Penh Municipal Court. If convicted, they could face 25 years in prison, he said.

Acting on a tip from the couple's neighbors, police arrested them Friday while they were fleeing in a car with the girl, said Major Mok Hong, of the Sen Sok district.

The girl's body was covered with more than 200 wounds, which were allegedly inflicted by the suspects, he said, adding: 'The couple said that they beat the girl with coat hangers, brooms, electric wires, and sometimes used pliers to pull her flesh.'

The couple paid US$400 (S$557) to the girl's 62-year-old guardian in early 2008 for the girl to help with domestic chores, Mok Hong said, adding that the girl's parents were both deceased.

Mr Heung Bunchea said the girl's former guardian, Thoeng Reth, was also charged with human trafficking for selling the girl to the couple.

Phuket welcomes tourists, but not workers, especially those from Cambodia, Laos and Burma

Tue, May 1, 2007
PHUKET: Warm welcome for tourists doesn't extend to workers

The Nation (Bangkok, Thailand)

Province imposes curfew on foreign labourers, tracks their cell phones, bans them from driving cars or motorbikes

Phuket may have acquired a global reputation for warmth and hospitality, but since late last year authorities there have imposed controls on migrant workers that are so stringent they may violate fundamental human rights.

Phuket provincial authorities now prohibit migrant workers from leaving their residence after 8pm, unless they are under the supervision of their employer.

They also keep tabs on their mobile phones and prohibit them from getting behind the wheel or driving a motorbike.

Deputy governor Worapot Ratthasima said yesterday the province had issued 10 such administrative regulations since last December 19.

They are meant to control the 32,070 migrant workers from Burma, Laos and Cambodia who have registered to work on the island since last year.

A labour shortage in Phuket has brought a flood of workers from neighbouring countries.

Another regulation prohibits employers from hiring migrant labourers who lack work permits.

Mobile-phone use is regulated to adhere to the province's security policies.

Employers were required to submit a list of their migrant workers who have mobiles, the registration numbers of the phones and the names of those who own the phones and SIM cards to the provincial authorities, Worapot said.

Phuket will soon hold a meeting for business operators, to ensure that they accurately understand the new rules controlling migrant workers, he said.

Employers will be informed that they are required to provide clean and hygienic accommodation for migrant workers, and the ratio of toilets to workers must meet Public Health Ministry rules.

Worapot warned that those who violated the new regulations would be punished under the Immigration Act of 1979.

Penalties range from a Bt500 fine to three years in jail.

Worapot said Phuket pioneered these regulations, which followed complaints from Thai residents who wanted controls on migrant workers using mobile phones, riding motorcycles and going out at night.

Eight upper-South provinces with a high number of migrant workers have followed Phuket's lead, including Chumphon, Ranong, Surat Thani and Prachuap Khiri Khan.

Migrant workers in Ranong are prohibited from leaving their residence between 10pm and 6am unless their employer gives permission or they face a health emergency, said Governor Kanchanapa Khiman.

Seven regulations for migrant workers have been in effect in the province since February, she said.

In Ranong, migrant workers are prohibited from gathering in groups of five or more - unless they are working - in order to prevent illegal activities, the governor said.

They also face controls on mobile-phone use, she said. The mobile-phone controls are meant to control human trafficking, she added, explaining that investigations found many members of trafficking gangs used mobiles to communicate with each other, and numerous arrests were made from phone records.

The regulations were imposed on migrant workers following discussions on security issues between upper-South provinces and the commander of Army Region 4.

They are also a response to complaints from employers, Kanchanapa said. Some had complained they could not understand when they were listening to their migrant workers speaking Burmese over the phone, she explained.

Most employers are satisfied now that the regulations are in effect, she said.

Despite the controls, migrant workers can still use mobile phones but only under certain conditions, she said, adding that the regulation was not a violation of their human rights, but rather a move to protect national security.

National Human Rights Commissioner Surasee Kosolnavin disagrees.

It is a basic human right to allow people to speak with each other, he said.

The commission will investigate any complaint filed, because the rational behind such regulations must be examined, he said.

Using national security as a justification is unconvincing, because Thailand is not at war, he said. Migrant workers are human.

Wasan Sathorn, director of the Labour Ministry's Alien Workers Registration Office, said Phuket's regulations controlling migrant workers had nothing to do with national labour regulations.

Provincial governors have the authority to issue regulations to solve problems dealing with migrant workers, Wasan said.

Many provinces prohibit migrant workers from using mobile phones, in order to protect national security and prevent them from engaging in criminal activity, he said.