In Floating Village, an Exodus From Barren Lake to Banana Plantation
Hundreds of fishing families in a Pursat floating village are escaping barren conditions on the Tonle Sap to take on new jobs elsewhere.
Tran Techseng Oct 20, 5:29 pm
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Hundreds of fishing families in a Pursat floating village are escaping barren conditions on the Tonle Sap to take on new jobs elsewhere.
Microlender Prasac has been considered as being in default of more than $800 million in liabilities to funders due to the quality of its assets, according to its interim financial report, as credit risks rise across the microfinance sector amid a Covid-19-driven economic slump.
The Labor Ministry this week warned a labor leader and her union that it could be dissolved over her allegedly illegal incitement of workers to protest over a garment factory closure that left workers without contracts and compensation.
Tens of thousands of garment workers, who are facing slashed work hours and wages amid the global pandemic and economic downturn, will struggle to repay mounting microfinance debt, a new civil society report says.
Prime Minister Hun Sen said he encouraged banks and microlenders to confiscate property from any borrowers who participate in debt repayment refusal movements and purposefully fail to pay back loans.
Prime Minister Hun Sen on Monday warned that those stirring up social unrest by calling for borrowers not to repay their debts, apparently alluding to opposition CNRP figure Sam Rainsy and his supporters, would be arrested — the same day a CNRP member was jailed.
More than half of surveyed families in a Banteay Meanchey village said the need to repay microfinance loans compelled some in their households to migrate to Thailand for work, which researchers say is part of a longtime, well-documented trend of debt-driven migration.
Ten petitioners who called on the government this week to provide debt relief and protective health supplies to poor citizens were detained and questioned in Phnom Penh and Kampong Speu province, and then released after agreeing not to petition the state again.
After the National Bank suggested lenders cut struggling borrowers a break, some financial institutions say they are relieving customers affected by Covid-19 disruptions on a case-by-case basis. But civil society groups say the measures won’t offer debt relief quickly enough.
For indebted garment workers who have been suspended from work due to coronavirus disruptions, money owed to microfinance institutions is a more immediate threat than Covid-19, leading some to consider selling assets before they’re repossessed.
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