"Bound by Bricks: An Opportunity to End Debt Bondage and Child Labour in Cambodia", 20 November 2023

Debt bondage and child labour plague Cambodia’s brick factories, as decades of inaction by the Cambodian government and construction and real estate sectors have allowed these human rights abuses to continue unchecked.

…, on World Children’s Day 2023, the Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights (LICADHO) is renewing its call for all actors to immediately end these shameful practices. Workers must be freed from bonded labour; child labour laws must be properly enforced and strengthened; and international garment brands must stop their waste from being burnt in brick kilns, harming the health of workers and their children.

“Bound by Bricks: An Opportunity to End Debt Bondage and Child Labour in Cambodia’s Brick Factories" is a report based on information documented by LICADHO from 21 brick factories across Kandal province and the capital Phnom Penh. Dozens of conversations plus in-depth interviews with 10 workers highlighted that debt bondage remains rampant in the industry, and that low per-brick payments continue to drive children aged as young as nine years old to work in brick factories.

There is now a crucial opportunity to eradicate these abuses once and for all. The slowdown in Cambodia’s construction and real estate sectors since the Covid-19 pandemic crushed demand for bricks…

Brick factory workers’ debts to factory owners are textbook examples of criminal debt bondage, and those debts must be immediately cancelled, Am Sam Ath, Operations Director.

“Brick factory workers’ debts to factory owners are textbook examples of criminal debt bondage, and those debts must be immediately cancelled,” said Am Sam Ath, LICADHO’s Operations Director…