"EU Pressures Cambodia on Human Rights as Trade Preferences, Worker Jobs Hang in Balance", 29 November 2024

The EU Parliament has passed a resolution urging Cambodia to end its crackdown on civil society, release political prisoners, and halt harassment of activists.

Passed by 492 EU lawmakers …, the resolution will review Cambodia’s duty-free access under the Everything But Arms (EBA) scheme, which offers least developed countries tariff-free trade with the EU, and calls for targeted sanctions…

The resolution, part of a wider review of human rights across Asia, highlighted the crackdown on labor rights group CENTRAL, the jailing of political and environmental activists, and the detention of journalist Mech Dara, who has since been released​.

Similarly, the United States – Cambodia’s largest export market before the EU – drafted a bill … aimed at challenging the Cambodian government over its human rights record and democratic backsliding, proposing sanctions on complicit officials.

… Ny Sokha, the president of local human rights group Adhoc, welcomed the EU Parliament’s calls for Cambodia to address its human rights abuses and open civic spaces. However, he criticized the government’s response, claiming it has fueled punitive economic measures that limit access to lucrative markets like the EU, financially harming vulnerable communities.

… Leaders of local worker unions, including the Cambodian Alliance of Trade Unions and the Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers Democratic Union, voiced concerns over deteriorating worker rights and job prospects as further cuts to EBA benefits loom.

“I think if we don’t heed the EU’s recommendations on labor laws and human rights, it will harm Cambodians, causing them to lose benefits, jobs, and possibly lead to factory closures,” said Yang Sophorn, president of the Cambodian Alliance of Trade Unions…