January 27, 2023
Soun Chanraksmey, who took out a $15,000 microfinance loan before being evicted from Angkor Archaeological Park, pictured in Run Ta Ek on January 18, 2023. (Fiona Kelliher/VOD)

‘Everyone Has Loans’: MFIs Used Angkor Land as Collateral for Years

As thousands of families evicted from Angkor Wat move to a desolate relocation site, they are leaving behind plots of land they have used as collateral for microfinance loans — putting them in the tenuous position of having to repay loans without income or access to the land itself.

People gather in a house in Kang Meas district's Raka-ar commune in Kampong Cham province. (Courtesy of CJ News Khmer)

Police Demands Money Over Facebook Mistake

A Kampong Cham man says local police demanded $250 in compensation for damage to their honor after he posted a photo from outside the province alongside an article about illegal gambling in the area.

Candlelight Party members raise an election sign in Pursat province on March 4, 2022. (Candlelight Party Facebook page)

Pailin Officials Block Candlelight From Putting Up Signs

Commune officials in Pailin have stopped the Candlelight Party from installing four party banners, claiming that other political parties had reserved the same locations but refusing to name the parties.

Workers remove barbed wire from a Sihanoukville compound in September 2022. (Mech Dara/VOD)

‘Maintain Reputation’ Tops Cambodia’s Priorities on Slavery

Cambodia pledged “drastic measures” against scam compounds in response to U.N. queries about 100,000 alleged human trafficking victims in Sihanoukville, but also denied finding any debt bondage and placed the country’s “reputation, dignity and benefits” at the top of its principles for combating the crime.