As a second group of migrant workers returned from Jordan on September 17, employees of two garment factories there have recounted the strenuous conditions they faced, made worse after Covid-19 forced the companies to suspend operations and cut workers’ pay earlier this year.

Oen Sreyna, a 25-year old migrant worker who is now in self-quarantine in her hometown in Kampong Chhnang province’s Kampong Tralach district, said September 21 that she had gone to work at Camel Textile factory in Al-Karak, Jordan 2.5 years ago. She said she found the job through Cambodia-based Lotus factory, which began a partnership with the Vega and Camel Textile seven years ago.

“My contract was terminated a month before I came back to Cambodia,” Sreyna said, adding that as Covid-19 began spreading in Jordan earlier this year, she and other migrant workers were suspended for three months from March until June. She and dozens of other employees from Cambodia were compensated at 50 percent of their salary for the period.

Despite being asked to return to work, her contract was terminated in August, along with more than 20 other Cambodian migrants.