Chheut Dina was only a few days into her reduced shift cleaning Siem Reap International Airport when she was told not to come back to work.
After 10 months with practically no tourism, the airport dropped its contract with Dina’s employer in December 2020, forcing her to cut spending on her family of seven and refinance an $11,000 loan she took out before the pandemic. HCC Angkor, the cleaning company contracted by the airport, had earlier reduced Dina and her colleagues’ employment to just one month out of the year due to COVID-19 restrictions.
“Sometimes my kids, when they don’t have to study, they go to the pond or creek or lake to catch fish or snails and vegetables, so we spend less than [before] but we eat less proper food than before,” Dina told Al Jazeera.
