Center Helps Rural Women Start Over in City

Pegn Saneth had a fight with her friends. And then her mother. Finding no way to resolve her problems at home, the 17-year-old shoved 10,000 riel (about $2.50) into her pocket, climbed in­to a taxi in Battambang province’s Mong Russei district and told her driver not to stop until she reached Phnom Penh.

“I was short-minded,” Pegn Saneth said. And afraid.

She is one of many young mi­grants fleeing the provinces searching for work or a dream, only to find an underworld of sex, drugs and desperation.

But be­fore seeking employment in the sex trade, Pegn Saneth sought the advice of local authorities. They led her to the city’s newest Young Migrants Drop-In Center, where she has been since it opened in late February.

“We can be considered a ‘bridge center,’” said Sarah Lo­wing, technical adviser for Mith Samlanh/Friends, which manages the facility with support from the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.

At the March 8 ribbon-cutting, Lowing said the Daun Penh district center should serve as a launching ground from which newly arrived provincial girls and women might spring into a brighter future.

Eight outreach workers are trained to provide clients with job and education placements, emergency medical care, food and a place to sleep, Lowing said.

As many as 10 young women ar­rive in the city each day at more than five main entry points, in­cluding the train station and taxi hubs at Phsar Thmei and Phsar Olympic, Lowing said, quoting the results of a survey conducted in June to map where migrants are coming from and where they end up once they arrive.

The Unesco survey is one of the country’s few formal migratory reviews, said Sue Fox, Unes­co’s non-formal education officer. It precedes the second phase of the $45,000 two-year project, which will entail further migration studies, Fox said.

“There are no statistics about how many [migrants] are coming in, but the number is increasing based on numbers in the squatter community,” said Lim Phai, manager of the Urban Sector Group.

He said people previously moved to town only during the dry season, but now they are staying longer since more squatter communities and shelters are available. “A formal study would help us identify what are their needs and help [the government] develop some intervention,” Lim Phai said.

Cambodia is one of three countries using Unesco’s help to identify migrant issues.

Projects also are taking place in China and Laos, Fox said. Phnom Penh will host a regional workshop in June involving representatives from each site, as well as the Inter­national Labor Organization, Fox said.

Pegn Saneth is grateful that Cambodia is taking part. “I don’t want anyone to say I brought a bad name to my family,” she said.

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