Climbing onto a crowded truck each morning, Cambodian seamstress Sim Samphor cannot help but worry about catching the coronavirus that has closed down most of the country in recent weeks. Schools, restaurants and casinos have been ordered to shut, religious gatherings and sporting fixtures banned, and hotels turned into makeshift hospitals by the government.
Parliament passed a law on Friday to pave the way for a state of emergency, which Prime Minister Hun Sen has said he might have to declare to reinforce the campaign against the virus that has infected 120-odd people in Cambodia. Yet the garment sector – the economy’s $7 billion backbone that provides about 850,000 jobs – remains open, with workers increasingly fearful for their health on packed factory floors yet unable to quit as the breadwinners for struggling families.
“Please, we are not animals; we are not machines,” Samphor told the Thomson Reuters Foundation outside her dormitory in a rural industrial zone just east of the capital, Phnom Penh. “Will anyone take the time to consider our safety?”
While lockdowns in other major exporters from Bangladesh to Vietnam have closed garment factories, a government spokesman said Cambodia’s economy was a factor in keeping the sector open. The garment sector contributes about 40% of Cambodia’s gross domestic product, and recent World Bank forecasts show growth slumping to 2.3% or worse for 2020 – down from the 7% average. None of Cambodia’s confirmed cases of the virus have come from the garment industry, said spokesman Ek Tha, adding that factories were more hygienic than schools and religious sites. “We need to have fair balances when it comes to the preventive measures,” he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
Fear turned to frustration for many garment workers this week when Hun Sen cancelled the Khmer New Year holiday – due to begin on Monday – and instead announced a week-long travel ban. Any workers who flouted the order would have to undergo a 14-day quarantine upon their return, the government said. A mixture of defiant and defeated, some workers were still planning to head home while others decided to stay put after seeing photos of armed police and roadblocks on social media.
At about $3,800, Cambodia’s average microloan debt per borrower is the highest in the world, and more than double the average annual salary. Unions are urging the government to compel financial institutions to relax loan repayment schedules. Potential strikes have been discussed in recent weeks, and there were partial walk-outs in factories on Thursday after the travel ban was issued, said Khun Tharo, a program coordinator at the Center for Alliance of Labor and Human Rights, a charity. “The ongoing social and economic pressure that’s on these women to provide for their families is massive,” he said.
Source: Thomson Reuters Foundation
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