The US and the European Union (EU), on Friday, told the Cambodian government that the US and the EU would continue to support Cambodian workers by allowing the Kingdom of Cambodia to keep selling its export products on the US and the EU powerful markets. To the two Superpowers, Cambodian politics are different from Cambodian workers - the US and the EU would not put the two issues in the same package.
In a meeting with Mr. Ith Samheng, Minister of Labor and Vocational Training, on Friday, US Ambassador to Cambodia William A. Heidt and EU Ambassador to Cambodia George Edgar said that the US and the EU would not link Cambodian efforts in reforming labor condition to the current tension in Cambodian politics. In contrast, the US and the EU would continue to allow Cambodia to increasingly export their products to their powerful markets.
According the Ministry of Labor and Vocational Training's website, during the meeting, the two ambassadors have been also mentioning about the ministry's success in setting the minimum wage of $170 for Cambodian workers for the year 2018. To the US and the EU, this minimum wage was the achievement from a smooth and with consensus from all parties concerned.
As a result, the US and the EU urged Cambodia to keep using this tri-party mechanism in discussion regarding labor condition, respect for freedom of NGO, labor dispute etc.
In response, Minister Ith Samheng said many thanks to the ambassadors for helping Cambodia to ameliorate labor condition in the country through a number of NGOs such as International Labour Organization (ILO), Better Factories Cambodia (BFC), Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), and many other registered NGOs.
Concerning this issue, an anonymous political analyst said that the US and the EU see a big different between Cambodian politics and Cambodian workers. And the two Superpowers know very well how to deal with Cambodian political parties and with Cambodian workers.
"As they already did, if the US and the EU want to put any pressure on the Cambodian government, they will do it with top Cambodian government officials, not with Cambodian workers who are working hard to raise their family. Cambodian workers don't care much about being a «powerful man» to steal money from the State, or talking about politics as a «hobby»," said the political analyst.
This argument is confirmed when US Senator John McCain and Senator Dick Durbin wrote a resolution asking the U.S. State and Treasury Departments to consider placing all senior Cambodian government officials on a blacklist that prevents them from visiting the United States.
On Tuesday, the two U.S. Senators introduced their resolution urging Prime Minister Hun Sen to «end all harassment and intimidation of Cambodia’s opposition» before the general elections in 2018, and to release Mr. Kem Sokha, a well-known opposition leader who was arrested and accused by Prime Minister Hun for treason following a video clip posted on the Internet.
The resolution also said that if the current political environment in Cambodia would not be changed "the United States Government will have no choice but to determine that the 2018 elections were not conducted freely or fairly because the results could not be an expression of the democratic will of the Cambodian people."
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