Human rights advocates are calling for renewed efforts to end debt bondage in Cambodia’s brick industry as the country’s slowing property market hits demand for building materials.
In a report released on Monday, the rights group LICADHO presented the results of a monthslong study conducted this year into conditions within brick factories, saying debt bondage, child labor and dangerous working conditions persist.
The group found the practice, in which entire families can remain indebted to brick factory owners for indefinite periods, remains “endemic,” despite repeated vows by authorities to tackle it.
