Debt relief measures by micro-loan providers in Cambodia are failing to alleviate the serious financial burdens on indebted families affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, Human Rights Watch said ... Indebted families risk having to sell land and housing they depend on to survive…

“Many Cambodians fear losing their land more than catching the coronavirus because they can’t pay back their loans and the government has done little to help them,” said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director…

…, 135 communities, unions, and local civil society groups appealed to the government for an urgent response to the debt crisis exacerbated by Covid-19, rejecting case-by-case debt relief measures upon borrowers’ requests, and calling instead for a debt collection moratorium.

…, the United Nations independent expert on the effects of foreign debt presented his report on private debt and human rights at the UN Human Rights Council, and stated that “There have been many cases of over lending and over borrowing that led to microfinance crises in countries such as … Cambodia.”

…, the Center for Alliance of Labor and Human Rights (CENTRAL), the Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights (LICADHO), and the Cambodian Alliance of Trade Unions (CATU) released a joint report based on surveys with 162 garment workers directly affected by the Covid-19 crisis. The groups found that many workers have already sold or were planning to sell land to repay a micro-loan debt…