"Cambodia: End Food Insecurity, Abuses During Lockdown", 5 May 2021

The Cambodian government should immediately grant United Nations agencies and aid groups unrestricted access to residents under strict lockdown in Covid-19 “red zones,” Human Rights Watch said ... The UN Country Team and donor countries should also publicly call on the government to end abusive police enforcement of public health measures.

In response to a rapid spike in Covid-19 cases, Cambodian authorities, ..., had labeled six communes and parts of four others in Phnom Penh “red zones,” affecting more than 300,000 people. The residents of these areas face the country’s most restrictive lockdown measures, including a ban on leaving their homes except for specific medical reasons. Many have not been able to get food, medicine, and other necessities for weeks...

“Prime Minister Hun Sen’s government is failing to meet its obligations during the pandemic lockdown to protect poor and vulnerable communities,” said Brad Adams, Asia director. “The government should immediately allow UN agencies and aid groups full access so they can help hungry people with food, health care, and other essentials necessary for their survival.”...

Many red-zone residents have protested the hardships they have faced. During an ... protest in Phnom Penh’s Meanchey district, protesters held cardboard signs reading, “We are starving.” One protester said, “We are not rich. We live hand to mouth.” In response, a local commune chief labeled protesters the “opposition” and complained they were giving the authorities “headaches.”...

... UN experts have criticized the law for violating a number of rights and fundamental freedoms protected under international human rights law...