Silk Heart Frame

Producer

Country of Origin

Cambodia

In the last ten years, Cambodia's economy has expanded dramatically as the communist led government has recognized the benefits of market-driven growth. The country's measured openness and its rich and ancient culture has made Cambodia a popular tourist destination. However, it is still recovering from a dark and recent history of war and genocide.

For four years, from 1975 to 1979, the Cambodians suffered under the violent regime of the Khmer Rouge (the Cambodian Communist party) and its leader Pol Pot. When Pol Pot took control, he decided to turn Cambodia into an agricultural society. People were forced out of their previous jobs to become peasant slaves. In the fields, they were overworked and starved. Anyone educated or religious, anyone who tried to protect their families, who had worked for the former government, or who were from a different ethnic group were labeled "enemies of the state" and executed in what are now known as the "killing fields." The postal service, currency, hospitals, telephones, books, music, and art were banned or destroyed. In 1979, Vietnam invaded Cambodia and drove Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge out, but not before 2 million people (nearly one quarter of the population at the time) were killed and the country's infrastructure devastated.

Today, hidden landmines, left over from the war, continue to explode when people walk over them. Every week, more than 1000 landmine victims are reported. One-third of the victims are children. Those who are not killed are disabled. Because they are disabled, it becomes difficult for them to work and support their families.

Human trafficking is also a major issue; women and children are often either kidnapped or sold by their impoverished families out of desperation. They are used as slave laborers or sex workers in Malaysia and Thailand.

Cambodia is more politically stable today under the rule of King Norodom Sihamoni and Prime Minister Sun Hen, but the country still faces a number of challenges in its transition to democracy. Human rights such as freedom of speech are often neglected and there is a great gap between rich and poor. Migration from rural areas to the cities is also becoming a challenge for the country, as in much of the developing world. Droughts, decreasing natural resources, and the rise of large business-style farms are making it very difficult for small subsistence farmers, who make up 85 percent of the population, to support themselves. As a result, people move to the cities in search of jobs. The large numbers of poor migrants creates slums, where violence, drugs, and the sex industry thrive. To address such large scale migration, one must address rural poverty at its source by creating strong and sustainable local economies in rural areas.

Many of these migrants who are able to find work do so in one of Phnom Penh's factories that are producing exports for the US garment industry. Previously, labor practices and sweatshops in the factory areas of Phnom Penh were of big concern. Women and children laboring in factories endured poor working conditions and low wages. In 2001 the International Labor Organization (ILO) created the "Better Factories Cambodia" program to ensure that all garment export industries follow labor standards and grant their workers rights. A 2005 World Bank study gave Cambodia good marks for its labor environment-higher than any other Asian country. Although Cambodia still has a long way to go, its people are making great efforts to rebuild their country.