<\/p>\n
Pandemic worsens poverty<\/strong><\/p>\n Rising poverty was exacerbated by a third wave of Covid-19 in February. Since then, the number of confirmed cases has spiraled to more than 20,000 from fewer than 500 recorded for the entire first year of the pandemic.<\/p>\n Since the economy came to a standstill, millions of people who once worked in the capital or provincial cities have returned to their villages where they live hand to mouth while\u00a0lockdowns in Phnom Penh have created a myriad of issues.<\/p>\n These include overcrowded homes, particularly in slums, problems with food distribution, maintenance of internet connections and the enforcement of health regulations among the homeless and people with no alternative but the streets.<\/p>\n \u201cPolitical, social and economic chaos are the principal drivers that force people to seek alternative work overseas and employ human traffickers to get them there,\u201d\u00a0said Gavin Greenwood, an analyst\u00a0with Hong Kong-based A2 Global Risk.<\/p>\n \u201cTraffickers, in turn, exploit the same conditions to bid for clients by offering invariably unrealistic and often criminal opportunities.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Many of those trafficked are children and the Cambodian government has added human trafficking to school curriculums with a focus on girls at primary and secondary level, covering\u00a0laws, rights\u00a0and\u00a0the role of communities in prevention.<\/p>\n The fishing, farming and manufacturing\u00a0industries\u00a0abroad,\u00a0particularly in Thailand, are priorities for\u00a0thousands\u00a0of men who\u00a0remain\u00a0trapped in debt bondage<\/strong><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Greenwood said women trafficked into the regional sex trade were subject to demand impacted by Covid-19 and are often unwilling brides to China where the demographic gap between the genders continues to elevate expectations among local marriageable women.<\/p>\n \u201cThat leaves a growing number of males without any chance to help create a family,\u201d he said, adding many young women had lost work in the garment sector due to Covid-19 and sanctions imposed by the European Union in response to the Cambodian government\u2019s human rights record.<\/p>\n At the same time, demand from Chinese men has risen sharply and the\u00a0number\u00a0of\u00a0Cambodian women\u00a0brokered into China is\u00a0believed\u00a0to have doubled\u00a0in 2020\u00a0alone.<\/p>\n \u201cCovid-19 has hammered rural families, especially those with microloan debts, and made them unable to cope except to send a teenager to try and find work in Thailand and send money back,\u201d\u00a0said\u00a0Phil Robertson,\u00a0deputy director of\u00a0Human Rights Watch’s Asia division.<\/p>\n The fishing, farming and manufacturing\u00a0industries\u00a0abroad,\u00a0particularly in Thailand, are priorities for\u00a0thousands\u00a0of men who\u00a0remain\u00a0trapped in debt bondage.<\/p>\n \u201cThe restrictions on movement between countries caused by the Covid-19 pandemic have put the kibosh on a lot of trafficking connected to outward migration of Cambodians to far-flung countries, especially through exploitative brokers taking advantage of would-be migrants,\u201d Robertson said.<\/p>\n He said the downside is that those same Covid-19 regulations have closed off Thailand, the main destination for migrants, and raised the costs and difficulties to go there.<\/p>\n \u201cThe only choice for many unemployed and financially indebted Cambodians is to head to Thailand, one way or another.\u00a0The problem is great desperation often equates to greater risks and taking steps that could commit a migrant to debt bondage, trafficking and misery.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n