Status of Four Women Signed By VC Manpower Uncertain

A human rights worker with the Community Legal Education Cent­er said yesterday that four workers were being held against their will by the troubled recruitment firm VC Manpower, whose general manager was charged this month with illegal detention.

However, the chairman of the Association of Cambodia Recruit­ment Agencies, an organization that does not include VC Man­power, said he thought the quartet had gone home.

The conflicting reports came outside of negotiations that were continuing yesterday over details of the workers’ departure, with government officials arriving in the evening after talks failed to move forward.

Moeun Tola, head of the labor project at CLEC, said the workers “are not allowed to leave” the company’s training center in the capital.

VC Manpower has demanded that the four workers each pay back a loan of about $700 made to their families, according to Mr Tola, who said the four were being held illegally.

“I think if people want to go some­where, it’s freedom of movement. We can’t stop them from moving,” Mr Tola said. “Regarding the loan, it is another thing. If it is an exact loan, they have to pay it back. But look at the facts. They didn’t un­derstand it was a loan.”

The four women, all under 21, had signed contracts with the firm and received training for some four months but recently decided they did not want to work as maids in Malaysia, according to Mr Tola.

Officials from the Ministry of Interior and Ministry of Labor ar­rived late yesterday to take part in the negotiations, Mr Tola added.

Labor Ministry officials were u­n­available or said they were unaware of the negotiations. A representative of VC Manpower also was unavailable.

An Bunhak, chairman of the As­so­ciation of Cambodian Re­cruit­ment Agencies, said he thought they had already gone home.

The firm’s general manager, Sen Ly, was charged with illegal detention on Sept 3 and is being held in Prey Sar Prison.

  (Additional reporting by Hul Reaksmey)

 

Related Stories

Latest News