"Economic woes back home for migrants", 7 January 2021

Since the outbreak of Covid-19 …, more than 120,000 out of 1.2 million Cambodian migrant workers in Thailand have returned home, with many facing difficulties to sustain themselves and their families.

To ease the burden, the Ministry of Planning has encouraged returning migrants to apply for IDPoor cards with their local authorities. So far, however, only a small portion have applied to join the programme despite widespread hardships.

Phorn Chantha is a 51-year-old farmer from Kors Kralor district’s Chhnal Mann commune in Battambang province. Before the outbreak, he had worked with family members as gardeners for a real estate company in Thailand’s Pathum Thani province for four years.

He earned over $400 per month in that time, working day and night – until the Covid-19 crisis began and he decided to return to Cambodia … over fears of contracting the virus…

According to the IOM survey, although many have expressed concerns about income and work shortages, only about five per cent receive government subsidies through IDPoor cards.

CENTRAL executive director Moeun Tola said migrant workers returning from abroad, especially Thailand, should be incorporated into the IDPoor system because many of them had borrowed money in order to go abroad for work. Given the circumstances of the Covid-19 crisis, they have been impacted more severely than most, returning to Cambodia without money and still in debt…