Cmabodian Police fire on Sweat Shop Protest
DJ | 13.06.2003 10:30
At least one person has died after Cambodian police opened fire on hundreds of protesting garment workers in the capital, Phnom Penh.
From the BBC website:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/2986702.stm
Cambodian police fire on protest
At least one person has died after Cambodian police opened fire on hundreds of protesting garment workers in the capital, Phnom Penh.
Riot police fired shots into the air to disperse the crowd of protesters, after a demonstration became violent.
According to the Associated Press news agency, the workers had been demonstrating peacefully outside their factory for two days.
But when police prevented them from marching into the city centre on Friday, they started to throw stones, and the police responded with live bullets.
Several policemen were reportedly injured during the disturbance.
Security in Phnom Penh has been tightened in preparation for a meeting of the Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean) next week, when foreign ministers from more than 20 countries will convene in the capital.
Police in the city are also on heightened alert in the run-up to planned general elections on 27 July.
Past elections in Cambodia have been preceded by civil unrest.
Exploitation claims
Friday's demonstration was organised to push for higher wages in the factory - which has yet to be named, but is one of about 10 large firms in the south of Phnom Penh, most of which are foreign-owned.
"We just wanted to complain against the manager because he refused to negotiate with us," one female worker told Reuters news agency.
"The manager always tries to get rid of anybody who tries to challenge them," said another worker.
According to the Cambodian Development Resource Institute, the country has more than 200 garment factories, which produced about $1.1 bn in exports in 2001, $820m of which went to the United States.
Human rights groups have accused some of the factories of exploiting their workers.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/2986702.stm Cambodian police fire on protest
At least one person has died after Cambodian police opened fire on hundreds of protesting garment workers in the capital, Phnom Penh.
Riot police fired shots into the air to disperse the crowd of protesters, after a demonstration became violent.
According to the Associated Press news agency, the workers had been demonstrating peacefully outside their factory for two days.
But when police prevented them from marching into the city centre on Friday, they started to throw stones, and the police responded with live bullets.
Several policemen were reportedly injured during the disturbance.
Security in Phnom Penh has been tightened in preparation for a meeting of the Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean) next week, when foreign ministers from more than 20 countries will convene in the capital.
Police in the city are also on heightened alert in the run-up to planned general elections on 27 July.
Past elections in Cambodia have been preceded by civil unrest.
Exploitation claims
Friday's demonstration was organised to push for higher wages in the factory - which has yet to be named, but is one of about 10 large firms in the south of Phnom Penh, most of which are foreign-owned.
"We just wanted to complain against the manager because he refused to negotiate with us," one female worker told Reuters news agency.
"The manager always tries to get rid of anybody who tries to challenge them," said another worker.
According to the Cambodian Development Resource Institute, the country has more than 200 garment factories, which produced about $1.1 bn in exports in 2001, $820m of which went to the United States.
Human rights groups have accused some of the factories of exploiting their workers.
DJ