Civil Society (10th – 14th Nov. 2025)
| After spending 18 months in Prey Sar prison for a Facebook post criticizing a casino owner, union leader Morm Rithy was released on November 7, calling his conviction “unjust” and pledging to continue advocating workers’ rights despite threats and health problems. https://bit.ly/3LuJubM; Hundreds of families from Prey Chan, a disputed village along Cambodia’s Banteay Meanchey border, were evacuated about 30 km away after Cambodia and Thailand accused each other of opening fire killing one Cambodian civilian and wounding three others. https://bit.ly/49OZ8Zu; Cambodia ranked among the world’s worst countries for organized crime and its weak ability to fight it, according to the 2025 Global Organized Crime Index. The global criminality score is 5.08, which Cambodia and all of its regional neighbors including Myanmar, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam surpassed. The global resilience score is 4.78, well above Cambodia’s 3.46, making it the third worst in the region behind Laos and Myanmar. https://bit.ly/4qK3t6m; Threats from U.S. tariffs on Cambodia’s economy remain limited at current rates, the Asian Development Bank said in a report this week, but warned that Washington’s shifting trade policies could still hit jobs and poverty reduction if steeper duties return. A higher 36% levy, applied after early rounds of negotiations between Phnom Penh and Washington before the 19% rate was implemented, would have reduced growth by about 1% and cost more than 130,000 jobs, the bank said, noting the scenario remains relevant given the risk of additional transshipment duties. |
