Trapped under a mountain of crippling debt, Cambodian farmer Roeurn Reth fears she will have to sell her land to repay microfinance loans that have ballooned due to pandemic-spurred job losses in her family.
What started as a US$3,000 sum from a loan shark for her son’s wedding has now grown to about US$7,000, she says – the result of additional financial needs that have cropped up.
Her sons – who crossed illegally into neighbouring Thailand – previously sent money home to help with repayments, but they are now out of work.
