"Questioned: Survey which finds indebted workers’ suffering worsened by pandemic lay-offs", 01 July 2020

A survey, the methodology and accuracy of which has been questioned by the Ministry of Labour and conducted by two NGOs and a union has found that tens of thousands of garment workers in Cambodia are struggling to repay microfinance debts following work stoppages and factory suspensions caused by COVID-19.

The survey was conducted by Cambodian Alliance of Trade Unions, the Center for Alliance of Labour and Human Rights and the Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights ...

The survey showed that for years, a poor living wage has forced workers to take on more and more debts to survive, adding that most of the loans taken out were borrowed from MFIs and collateralised with family land titles...

CATU president Yang Sophorn said that garment workers have worked tirelessly to provide food for their families. “Now they can barely afford to feed themselves.”...

... The NGOs and union representatives have called for immediate debt relief programmes from both MFIs and international investors who have offered out hundreds of millions of dollars, burdening Cambodians with towering debts.

... Central programme manager Khun Tharo said the fact that so many workers have taken on this level of debt just to cover their cost of living is alarming.

“Getting deeper into debt is just going to hurt those who’ve already been hit hardest by this crisis,” he said...

Ministry of Labour spokesman Heng Sour said ... that he has not seen the survey and was not informed on the method of research behind the report...