Michael Dickison
Workers remove barbed wire from a Sihanoukville compound in September 2022. (Mech Dara/VOD)

‘Maintain Reputation’ Tops Cambodia’s Priorities on Slavery

Cambodia pledged “drastic measures” against scam compounds in response to U.N. queries about 100,000 alleged human trafficking victims in Sihanoukville, but also denied finding any debt bondage and placed the country’s “reputation, dignity and benefits” at the top of its principles for combating the crime.

Long tailed macaques packed in transport crates photographed by advocacy group Action for Primates.

No Clarity on Monkey Exports Restart After Smuggling Charges

Wildlife smuggling charges against Cambodian officials have caused only a “delay” in macaque shipments, a U.S. importer said, as the Agriculture Ministry offered no clarity on whether it was taking any additional precautions as the trade resumes.

The burnt down Grand Diamond Casino in Poipet city on December 31, 2022. (Michael Dickison/VOD)

Casino Cleaner Recalls Three Hours in Poipet Inferno

Workers stuck inside the Grand Diamond City Casino told VOD their harrowing accounts of escaping the burning buildings, with the incident also raising serious questions about fire safety measures in the casino.

Plastic trash on Phnom Penh’s Chroy Changva shore on September 15, 2021. (Michael Dickison/VOD)

Mekong River Body Raises ‘Alarm’ Over River Plastics

Mekong countries are producing 8 million tons of plastic waste a year — three-quarters of which is littered or inadequately disposed of — polluting rivers and endangering environmental and human health, the intergovernmental Mekong River Commission said.

Photos from one year of the NagaWorld strike.

Thousands of Workers Swept Up in a Year of Union Busting

The NagaWorld workers’ strike began on Saturday, December 18, 2021, over alleged union-busting at the well-connected casino. The year since has seen the trampling of labor movements there and elsewhere in Cambodia with violence, obstruction and imprisonment.