Japanese NGOs in Cambodia are concerned about the NGO law

04 October 2009
By Savyut
Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by Socheata
Click here to read the article in Khmer

Katsuya Okada, the Japanese Foreign Minister, indicated that a number of Japanese NGOS currently operating in Cambodia have expressed their concerns that the Cambodian government will adopt a law that could affect the freedom of operation of all Japanese NGOs currently operating in Cambodia.

Kazuo Kodama, the information secretary of the Japanese Foreign Ministry, said, following the bilateral meeting between Katsuya Okada and Hor 5 Hong, his Cambodian counterpart, during the 2nd Mekong-Japan FM meeting in Siem Reap on Saturday 03 October, that he does not know the issues that Japanese NGOs are facing in Cambodia.

Kazuo Kodama said: “I don’t know if there is anything happening to the Japanese NGOs currently operating in Cambodia, and I understand that their concerns may stem from the fact that they want to provide information to the Japanese FM to let him know only.”

Kazuo Kodama added that Mr. Okada met with Japanese NGO representatives who are currently working in Cambodia, and that some of these NGOs have expressed their concerns that the Cambodian government will enact a law that affect the freedom of Japanese NGOs currently working in Cambodia.

Vice-PM and minister of Foreign Affairs Hor 5 Hong said, during the bilateral meeting between Japan and Cambodia, that Mr. Okada told him about this issue, and Hor 5 Hong replied by saying that, currently, there are several thousands of NGOs operating in Cambodia, and among all these NGOs, the Japanese NGOs never create any problem for Cambodia.

Hor 5 Hong said: “I told him (Okada) that, in the world, maybe Cambodia is the only country that counts thousands of NGOs, and among these thousands of NGOs, the Japanese NGOs never create any problem for Cambodia. In fact, they help Cambodia a lot.”

The concerns expressed by the Japanese NGOs come at a time when numerous local NGOs are also expressing the same concerns because the Cambodian government is drafting a law ruling on the NGOs.

Ny Chariya, the investigation director for the Adhoc human rights organization, NGOs do not want to see the enactment of the NGO law, because, at this time, it is not necessary [for the government] to rule over the NGOs.

[Tokyo-based Amatal House of Cambodia] NGO fetes 15th school it's built in Cambodia

Class act: Students wave flags during the completion ceremony of a new school built by AMATAK House of Cambodia in Pingpong village, Battambang Province, last January. COURTESY OF AMATAK HOUSE OF CAMBODIA

Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2008
By ALEX MARTIN
The Japan Times

Ever since its founding in 1995, Tokyo-based nonprofit organization AMATAK House of Cambodia has been dedicated to building schools and promoting better education in the poverty-stricken Southeast Asian nation.

Under the direction of the Rev. Fumio Goto, founder of the organization, AMATAK has so far built 14 elementary schools throughout Cambodia, and a 15th, a school in Poytasek village in Banteay Meanchey Province, will hold a completion ceremony on Jan. 26.

"With our limited number of staff members and funding, building one school per year is the best we can currently do," Goto said, noting some of the education facilities funded by AMATAK are now more than 10 years old and are in dire need of maintenance.

"The locals have low cash income, and the municipalities are very poor," forcing them to be overly dependent on our help, Goto said, expressing concern that starting next year, the NGO might have to direct its activities toward repairing schools instead of building new ones.

This year, AMATAK received ¥178,119 from the 2007 Japan Times Readers' Fund — support Goto says is "very, very important for us."

"We need to be careful that we ourselves don't become too dependent on contributions," Goto laughed.

It's not only the building of schools that AMATAK is involved in.

Goto recalled how he was overjoyed when he visited Cambodia in August and met a girl AMATAK saved from child prostitution.

"She had just finished elementary school when we first met her," Goto said, "and her parents were about to sell her off as a prostitute."

AMATAK prevented this from happening, and helped her attend junior high and high school. Goto said she began teaching at one of their schools in September.

"I told her to let us know if she encountered any other children who might be facing similar hardships. We are here to help them," Goto said.

AMATAK plans to invite a Japanese violinist to perform for the new school's completion ceremony in January.

"We couldn't find a piano anywhere in the village to accompany the violin, but the violinist told me that wasn't a problem," Goto said.

"He said he'll play Bach's 'Unaccompanied Violin Sonata,' " Goto continued. "When I asked him whether that won't be too complicated for the children, he said they'll understand the beauty of the music whether it be the first time they've ever listened to a violin."

Japanese NGO awarded for mine removal work in Cambodia

Friday 12th December, 2008
Kyodo News

FUKUOKA — A Japanese nongovernmental organization working to remove landmines in Cambodia for the past 10 years has been selected to receive the 10th Asia Human Rights Award. The Cambodia Mines-Remove Campaign, based in Fukuoka City, is the first Japanese organization to receive the award given to individuals or groups that have contributed to improving human rights issues in Asia.

Established in 1998, the Cambodia Mines-Remove Campaign has undertaken a range of activities to help remove landmines in Cambodia, including donating artificial legs and medicine to mine victims and building schools for Cambodian children. ‘‘On this occasion, we want as many people as possible to know about the damage caused by landmines that is still continuing,’’ said Kenji Otani, who heads the organization.