Nation’s human trafficking reputation climbs a notch in US eyes

By Dan Poynton

The Mekong Times

The government yesterday defended its anti-corruption record with a statement in response to seven questions raised by Sam Rainsy Party (SRP) parliamentarian Son Chhay. The statement detailed the five-year “rectangular” policies focusing on anti-corruption, a defense poorly received by political opposition and civil society. Cabinet Minister Sok An said in the statement that the government has made every effort to “keep peace, safety, social stability and security and public order by means of eradicating violence and discrimination to build a nation with justice, equity, freedom from corruption, and protection of people’s rights.”Despite its failure to pass the anti-corruption law, the government has made a strong commitment to strengthening the rule of law and good governance, Sok An said. The country has other mechanisms to prevent, curb and combat corruption effectively, he continued, including an Anti-Corruption Unit established Aug 22, 2006.The unit has already received 41 complaints, with 28 cases successfully solved and another 13 cases pending, he said, giving details of a “white” letterbox where complaints can be anonymously posted.Sok An revealed that the “remarkable results” of the Anti-Corruption Unit included providing “knowledge and education about anti-corruption strategies,” conducting investigations “20 times,” and punishing “two men for extorting money from foreigners.”Son Chhay was unimpressed by the figures, noting that the long-awaited anti-corruption law was drafted in 1994 but has yet to receive National Assembly (NA) approval.“Corruption was not solved; on the contrary it spread more widely during the third mandate government,” he told The Mekong Times. “It’s a shameful failure of the rectangular government [strategy] as the anti-corruption law has not been passed and governmental resources such as land, forests and national budget funds were lost.”Theary Seng, director of the Center for Social Development (CSD), agreed the government’s anti-corruption measures remain inadequate, adding that corruption has become so ingrained as to be part of Cambodian culture. “Nowadays, the government does not have the real will to eliminate and prevent corruption. The government speaks beautifully about anti-corruption, but real and in-depth suppression and reduction of corruption in our society has yet to be seen.” Corruption costs Cambodia between US$300-500 million a year, according to a recent United States Agency for International Development (USAID) estimate. In May, civil society organizations submitted over one million thumbprints to the NA to appeal for more robust anti-corruption legislation. Deputy Prime Minister Sok An also addressed queries over alleged irregularities regarding the sale of entrance tickets to the Angkor temples, tolls on National Road 4, permission for Bangkok Airways to hold exclusive Bangkok-Siem Reap flights, permission for foreign companies to develop Cambodian islands, forest concessions and other issues.Ly Menghour
•Nation’s human trafficking reputation climbs a notch in US eyes:
Cambodia’s notorious international reputation for human trafficking is gradually improving, although both the US and Cambodian governments agree that a lot of work needs to be done before the Kingdom can truly shake off one of its worst stigmas. On Wednesday the US government released its annual Trafficking in Persons Report (TIPR), announcing that Cambodia’s human trafficking status has improved according to the US’s official ranking system. “The upgrade reflects our recognition that the Cambodian government is engaged in combating trafficking,” said US Embassy Charge d’Affaires Piper Campbell, speaking yesterday at a joint US Embassy and Interior Ministry press conference discussing the TIPR. “Trafficking in Cambodia is still indeed a problem. [However] it’s an international problem; it also occurs in the US,” said Campbell, adding that the US has spent over US$14 million on anti-trafficking in Cambodia since 2003. This year, the US’s TIPR said Cambodia is not fully complying with minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking, but it is making significant efforts to do so. It ranked Cambodia as Tier 2 in its three-tiered ranking system for countries with significant numbers of trafficking victims. For the last two years, Cambodia was ranked Tier 2 Watch List, which is a probation list for Tier 2 countries which are not increasing their efforts to improve or whose number of trafficking victims is significantly increasing. In 2005 Cambodia was relegated to the most egregious level of Tier 3.“Despite the success we have attained, we understand we have much work to do,” said Interior Minister Sar Kheng at the event. “I cannot make a guess on how many years before Cambodia reaches Tier 1 [the most favorable ranking] ... but we know we have work to do.” He said that, due to the government’s efforts, Cambodia has reached Tier 2 for the first time since 2004. The TIPR cited the government’s new national anti-trafficking task force, increased law enforcement against traffickers, and February’s new Law on the Suppression of Human Trafficking and Commercial Sexual Exploitation as being notable improvements in Cambodia’s anti-human trafficking stance. The TIRP said, however, that because of the pervasive corruption in Cambodia, “it is widely believed that some individuals, including police and judicial officials, are involved in trafficking.”