News

Phal Sokhun Sambath has not worked since mid-March, when the garment factory where she labored for $1 an hour was shuttered to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

Women in Cambodia have taken to social media to protest a proposed law that would police women’s clothing in the name of keeping “public order.”

Experts fear sweeping public order proposals, including ban on loud talking, could be used to stifle protests.

As the coronavirus has ravaged its way across the world, some countries in Asia have shown a remarkable ability to evade its worst effects.

The proposed law would prohibit women from wearing anything ‘too short’ and ban men from going out shirtless.

Cambodia decided Thursday to allow all cinemas and arts performing facilities across the kingdom to reopen following the temporary shutdown in mid-March due to the COVID-19 pandemic, said a Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts (MCFA) statement.

Animal rights activists in Cambodia have gained a small victory in their effort to end the trade in dog meat, convincing a canine slaughterhouse in one village to abandon the business.

Cambodian women have rallied on social media to condemn a proposed law governing the way people dress in public, including by posting images of themselves in swimwear and skimpy outfits, with a petition also set up to block the move.

The Health Ministry has instructed Phnom Penh and provincial authorities to tighten security at Covid-19 quarantine centers after two men who have tested negative escaped from a designated site in Prey Veng province for several hours on Monday.

The Prey Veng Provincial Court is investigating a case of alleged police brutality after two men filed a complaint of physical violence and extortion against an anti-drug officer last month, a court official said on Wednesday.

Cambodia’s government has decided against COVID-19 testing for students returning to their studies at 20 schools in the capital Phnom Penh and other areas of the country after parents protested, claiming the tests are unnecessary.

Ministry of Interior secretary of state Ouk Kim Lek responded on Tuesday (Aug 5) to criticism concerning a draft law that would ban women from wearing overly revealing clothing, saying that input from all parties will be considered as the law moves through the promulgation process.

Cambodia on Wednesday confirmed two new imported COVID-19 cases, raising the total number of infections in the country to 243, said a Health Ministry's statement.

Thousands remain stranded as coronavirus case numbers creep up.

Cambodia on Wednesday (Aug 5) required foreign diplomats and international organisation officials, who intend to travel to the country, to provide a "Covid-19-free" health certificate prior to their departure, according to the Ministry of Health.

An Interior Ministry official on Wednesday said the draft Law on Public Order, which rights advocates say looks to control Cambodians’ behaviors, does not prevent women from wearing revealing or see-through clothing, and was being misrepresented.

Twenty villagers engaged in a dispute with a rubber plantation over more than 400 hectares of land in Tbong Khmum province were released from custody on Tuesday after they were arrested the day before for allegedly damaging the company’s land-clearing machinery, an official said.

The Cambodian Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports (MoEYS) has confirmed that several schools will no longer require their staff and students to conduct COVID-19 tests when they are allowed to reopen this month.

With international support, the country plans to be free of land mines by 2025.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) on Tuesday donated medical supplies to Cambodia for the Covid-19 fight, said a press statement from the Cambodian Ministry of Health (MoH).