| Social and Economic defeatism of Cambodia |
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| World Affairs Talk | |
| Tuesday, 16 January 2007 | |
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Despite the recent economic progress, Cambodian economy suffers from the effects of civil war, internal conflict and widespread corruption. Per capita income is rapidly increasing, but is rather low compared with other countries of the region including its neighbor Vietnam. Most rural households still depend on agriculture and related sub sectors for living; industrialization is moving in a slow pace. Many who work in land and forests do not have a proper title to the land, which, on occasion, is sold by corrupt officials to big investors. The collusion between land grabbers and government officials makes it next to impossible for those affected to seek redress for their grievances. The population at large lacks education and productive skills, particularly in the poverty-ridden countryside, which suffers from a lack of basic infrastructure. This is especially severe in Ratanakiri and Mondolkiri provinces, where communities are forced to clear land further into the forests to compensate for land lost to speculators through illegal channels. The terrible concentrated area ‘Kilometer 11’ of child prostitution and sex slavery was raided by Cambodian police several years ago largely due to international pressure but under-age girls are popping up all over the capital again, often controlled or at least frequented by officials and police officers who are, at least in theory, supposed to fight the heinous crime of child prostitution. "Abuse a child in this country and face justice in yours" and "Sex with children is a crime” proclaim large posters on strategic intersections of Phnom Penh; as the issue is still a concern for the country. Television stations are owned fully or partly by the government and speak in the official tone. More than two dozen privately owned newspapers are published by the print media, including some affiliated with opposition groups. The country still bears the visceral physical and psychological scars borne from the years of genocide and other atrocities committed by Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge regime. If one visits the Khmer Rouge’s torture center of the capital which is now converted into a "Museum of genocide" by the Vietnamese and East Germans; interrogation cells with blood-stained floors, chains and shackles, as well as primitive machines for electric shocks will give an idea about what has happened there. Thousands of black and white photographs of inmates dissonantly stare at visitors, their eyes expressing horror to the extreme level. Torture continued to be used with impunity, particularly by police officers attempting to extract confessions from suspects in custody. Violence against women either in the home, where domestic abuse was considered a family matter, or in the sex industry, which is often supported and protected by members of the military, police or other government officials continues at large. Prison conditions continued to be poor, with many facilities seriously overcrowded and lacking adequate medical care, food, and water. Even though on paper, Cambodia is a success story, a multi-party democracy which is absent in neighboring Vietnam for instance, but one can't eat political parties; they don't fill the stomach. The Vietnamese government managed to give a much better life to its people especially to poor, and in Cambodia almost everybody is poor. Share & Bookmark             |
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