Literature Review
Cambodia
is a country which has been subjected to a great deal of turmoil over the
course of many centuries. As a result, the country remains very
poverty-stricken. People sell themselves or their children to human traffickers
in the hopes of a better life. Traffickers take advantage of these people,
oftentimes obtaining their cooperation by deception, physical abuse, drugging,
or by paying large sums of money to their families. Despite laws in place
against trafficking, the law enforcement officials and administrators, who are
also severely underpaid, willingly welcome bribes in exchange for “turning a
blind eye”. There is a large gap between the finances and resources available
to the inhabitants of this country, dependent upon whether they reside in the
urban areas or the more rural locations. This difference can be seen in quality
of education, availability of teachers, housing, utilities, toileting
facilities, healthcare availability, number of children in families, whether a
child is born at home or in a healthcare facility, and the infant mortality
rate. Despite the willingness of the government to ratify the U.N. Convention on
the Rights of the Child, and their demand that Cambodian courts uphold this
document, children are still in danger due to the inability to enact or enforce
its articles. Many non-governmental agencies, particularly charitable
organizations such as UNICEF, assist as much as they possibly can to improve
the overall conditions of Cambodia, but the immediate needs of this country
greatly exceed the resources these organizations can currently provide. This
paper will provide the reader with a greater understanding as to how Cambodia
came to be in such a horrific condition, as well as why it struggles to get
back to being a completely self-sufficient region.
Over
the course of many centuries, the once-prosperous Khmer empire began to
decline, primarily due to other countries’ expansions and hopes of apportioning
their land. The Cambodians formed an alliance with the French, who offered a
French Protectorate, but did nothing in terms of developing the country during
their occupation. Eventually, due to the French involvement in other wars (WWII
and Vietnam), Cambodia once again became an independent state. However,
Cambodia’s prior occupations left them with poor economic conditions, along
with having serious ethnic divisions. The Khmer Rouge government took control
of Cambodia from 1975 to 1979 and, in seeking to transform the country into a
peasant-dominated society, cut off the country from nearly all outside contact.
During this time, many of the skilled and educated people were part of the more
than 1.5 million who lost their lives. By the time the Vietnamese overthrew the
Khmer Rouge government, followed by intermittent civil war lasting another 10
years, Cambodia had suffered much devastation in its infrastructure, society,
and economy. The 1991 Paris Peace Accord recognized the establishment of the
State of Cambodia. Subsequent changes in leadership have taken place with the
current power being shared between the Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) and the
Funcinpec party ("History,"
2006).
Cambodian children face numerous daily challenges, even from the
beginning of their lives. The Children’s Rights Advocacy Office, a division of
Licadho (Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights), includes
the following as threats to children’s safety: low access to education, low literacy
rates, high infant mortality rates, poor healthcare availability, and sexual
abuse and trafficking. Children are sent to work in unsafe, potentially deadly
environments due to the poverty status of their families ("Licadho,”).
The
U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), was adopted by the United
Nations in 1989, and has been ratified by most countries, who vow to uphold the
principles of the protection of children’s rights. According to the United Nations Human Rights website ("CRC," 2012), the
Cambodian government ratified both of the protocols in the CRC in 1992. In
addition to having submitted two reports to the Committee on the Rights of the
Child, which monitors the CRC implementation, the Cambodian Constitutional
Council (2007) has also decreed that the CRC applies in Cambodian courts.
The childhood mortality rates, which remain highest in the rural
areas, are steadily decreasing. The current infant mortality rate is 45 deaths
per 1,000 live births from 2005-2010. The 2005 CDHS report figure was 66 deaths
per 1,000 live births. The mortality
rate for the under-five age group has decreased in the five years prior to the
survey; in 2005 the rate was 83 deaths per 1,000 live births, whereas the 2010
rate is 54 deaths per 1,000 live births. 45 percent of births occur at home
(mostly rural) while just over 54 percent occur in a health facility. The
number of facility births is a notable increase from 10 percent in 2000 and 22
percent in 2005. Cambodian children are much more likely to receive recommended
vaccinations than in the past; 79 percent had received all vaccinations in
2010, an increase from 40 percent in 2000 and 67 percent in 2005. Maternal education, economic condition, and
urban versus rural living all have a significant impact on the maternal health
care, childhood mortality rates, and childhood vaccination coverage (DGH, 2010).
Household
conditions vary greatly in Cambodia, dependent on place of residence; urban
areas are much more likely to be developed, having greater access to
electricity, running water, toilet facilities, education, and health care than
the more rural or remote locations. According to the Cambodian 2010 Demographic
and Health Survey (Directorate
General for Health [DGH], 2010), the average household consists of 4.7
people, with 35 percent of those being under the age of 15. The fertility rate
of 3.0 children reflects a one child decrease in the last ten years, but again
this varies based on location. Urban women have 2.2 children versus rural women
having 3.3. Women who have higher education or economic status have fewer
children beginning at a later age, and marry later than their counterparts (DGH, 2010).
During the Khmer Rouge regime’s reign during the 1970’s, Cambodia’s
education system was destroyed. Currently, the country’s basic literacy rates
are estimated to be about 70 percent, which is a great improvement in the last
decade; the estimate of functional literacy in 1999 was about 37 percent. Males
have a higher literacy rate than do females; those in urban areas are more
literate than people who reside in rural locations. Those who work in the
education system, from teachers to administrators, express their concerns over
the disparities between populations and literacy rates. They also state their
concerns over the slowed rate of progress in literacy however, the government is
now paying more attention to literacy, which is resulting in preparing new books for publication (Sakada,
2011). One of the major problems Cambodia faces in improving education is
poor pay for teachers, who make the equivalent of USD 30 per month (Cambodia’s Education Sector
Working Group [CESWG], 2006). There is also a large student-teacher
proportion, especially in the rural areas, which provides for a lower quality
of education. The Ministry of Education,
Youth and Sport (MoEYS) is attempting to attract teacher trainees from the more
rural areas in hopes that they would be more willing to remain in these areas
for work after being trained. The World Bank, which has poverty reduction as
its stated mission, funds projects aimed at increasing education and literacy
in Cambodia ("Quality,"
2007). The Cambodian Education Sector Support Project, funded by World
Bank, has easier education accessibility and improved quality of education as
its goals. Other non-governmental agencies, such as UNICEF and other charitable
organizations contribute funding, manpower, and supplies to help improve the
educational system.
Primarily due to the poverty still rampant in Cambodia as part of
the aftermath of the Khmer Rouge regime, human trafficking (both for labor and
sex) is a major problem. Also factored into the equation are: lack of
unemployment, poor education, and increased tourism (Academy for Educational Development
[AED], 2006). Human trafficking is defined as “the recruitment, transport,
harbouring of people, by means of coercion, threats, or deception, for the
purpose of exploitation, including labor exploitation” (United Nations Inter-Agency
Project on Human Trafficking [UNIAP],
2011, p. 11). Often, children as
young as five years old are either bought from their families, or told they
will be working in a legitimate occupation, such as a waitress in a café or as
a maid. They will have to work for many years to pay back the amount of money
that was paid to their families by the pimp or brothel owner. Those who attempt
to leave before having paid back their debt are beaten into submission. Cambodia’s
minister of women’s affairs, Mu Soc Hua, estimates the number of children
involved in sex trade trafficking to be around 30,000 (NBC News,
2005). The government has not made any great strides in the last five years
towards putting an end to the sex trade and trafficking. Quite to the contrary,
government and law enforcement officials are thought to have accepted bribes in
exchange for their facilitation of the trade, making it even more difficult to
stop human trafficking (AED,
2006). Several non-governmental organizations (NGO’s) provide shelters
which provide safety and societal reintegration for young girls who have fallen
victim to traffickers. One such organization, AFESIP Cambodia (http://www.afesip.org/), is
headed by a former child sex slave named Somaly Mam. She operates two nonprofit
foundations and has rescued more than 4,000 children, mostly aged 12 to 15
years old, but sometimes as young as 3 years old. Somaly’s foundation operates
shelters and clinics in Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand, housing up to
500 girls at a time. AFESIP provides rehabilitation and vocational skills
training; reintegration into society, accompanied by long-term follow-up; and
AFESIP Cambodia Investigation and Legal Teams provide legal support to bring
traffickers to justice.
Children's Living Conditions
An individual’s place of residence in Cambodia, along with his
education level, has a significant impact on all other major household factors
in his day-to-day life. 90 percent of
households in urban areas have electricity, whereas only 19 percent of rural
households have this basic necessity (DGH, 2010). 94 percent of urban households have access to
an improved water source during the rainy season, compared to the 76 percent of
their rural-dwelling counterparts.
Those who live in Phnom Penh, as well as other urban areas, have the
highest education levels, although males are more likely to receive an
education and to be literate than females.
However, a small percentage (3 percent female; 6 percent male) has any
post-secondary education. Women residing
in rural areas have, on the average, one more child than urban women. This figure corresponds with the education
comparison in fertility rates, as well as marriage age: those with higher
education have one less child on the average, and will marry and begin
child-bearing two years later, than their uneducated counterparts. The overall infant mortality rate of 45
deaths per 1,000 live births is much higher for women with no schooling (72
deaths per 1,000 live births) than those with secondary and higher education
(31 deaths per 1,000 live births). The
infant mortality rate difference can especially be seen in area of residence,
with 64 deaths per 1,000 live births in rural areas compared to 23 deaths per
1,000 live births in urban households. The
rate of children who have received all of their recommended vaccinations is
significantly higher for urban areas (86 percent) versus rural areas (77
percent). However, a greater difference can be seen based on province, with
Mondol Kiri/Rattanak only having 28 percent fully vaccinated, while Banteay
Mean Chey is vaccinating 93 percent.
Trafficking
Human trafficking is a big business in Cambodia. Due to the
government’s lack of compliance with the minimum standards against trafficking,
the country has earned a Tier 2 rating in the United States Department of State
Trafficking in Persons Report for 2011, meaning that, while they have attempted
to make progress toward combating trafficking, they experienced a decline from
the previous year (United
States Department of State [USDoS], 2011). Using the guidelines set by the Trafficking
Victims Protection Act (TVPA), the Royal Cambodian Government (RCG) received
this rating for their failure to convict offenders, including public officials. Although the government is making some
attempts to stop trafficking, they are often thwarted in their attempts due to
lack of resources and excessive corruption. Some of the law enforcement
officials are said to have accepted bribes from traffickers in exchange for “looking
the other way” and allowing the trafficking and sex trade to continue. In other instances, officials have been found
to be profiting directly as the brothel owners or traffickers, with very minimal
penalties imposed. Sometimes brothels
are shut down, only to re-open shortly thereafter. There have been a few arrests made, and even
considerably fewer convictions, of United States citizens who were in Cambodia
for what is called “Child Sex Tourism”. The
United States Department of State has made recommendations regarding the
necessary steps the Cambodian government should take, including
anti-trafficking legislation and greater strides in bringing public officials
who are involved in trafficking to justice. Non-governmental organizations, such as AFESIP
Cambodia, will go into the brothels, seeking out those who are underage and/or
wish to be rescued from the life to which they are being subjected (http://www.afesip.org/). AFESIP Cambodia provides legal assistance to
victims, as well as shelter, therapy, reintegration to society, and
rehabilitative services. The Cambodian
government only offers temporary shelters for victims, and depends heavily on
the non-governmental agencies for any further victim assistance. Currently, it appears that most of the
assistance victims receive is from non-governmental organizations.
Corruption
The legal system in Cambodia is wrought with corruption. The Cambodian League for the Promotion and
Defense of Human Rights (Licadho) ("Licadho,”) asserts that
the government is writing new laws which restrict the freedoms of association,
assembly, and expression. Licadho
further states that the government is persecuting anyone who might be seen as
challenging government officials. Non-governmental
agencies (NGOs) who attempt to help the Cambodian people are being made to
register with the government before conducting any activities. The Law on Associations and NGOs, according to
Licadho, should be “described as a ban on group activities prior to the
successful completion of a complex, opaque registration process”. The citizens of Cambodia feel their rights to
expression are gradually being stripped from them. The Anti-Corruption Law, enacted in August
2011, actually omits spouses and relatives of government officials from
compliance requirements. Furthermore, it
imposes a prison sentence for whistleblowers whose information does not lead to
a conviction, or is considered a useless inquiry. With the level of corruption in existence,
this type of law will discourage many people from making any accusations
whatsoever, which will further encourage those who participate in under-handed
activities to continue doing so.
Education
Education in Cambodia was dealt a drastically severe blow during
the reign of the Khmer Rouge. The Khmer
Rouge was right on target in terms of how to overpower a nation. During their four year occupation, the Khmer
Rouge managed to completely destroy the educational system of Cambodia and kill
1.5 million people, most of whom posed a threat to their regime primarily due
to being educated or skilled. This,
coupled with another 10 years of intermittent civil war, continues to
debilitate Cambodia, leaving the country highly dependent on outside
non-governmental organizations. Many
statistical reports point to the major lifestyle differences which have their
roots primarily in differences in education. Number of children, infant mortality rate,
accessible healthcare, toileting facilities/electricity available, and whether one
is targeted as prey to traffickers are all affected by a Cambodian’s level of
education. The greatest notable chasm
exists between those who live in urban areas and their rural counterparts. However, the already-underpaid teachers cannot
afford to travel to the rural areas, nor do they have the time, since they
usually supplement their income by working additional jobs. The World Bank, whose primary mission is
poverty reduction, has helped establish programs which will advance the
educational opportunities for Cambodian children ("Quality," 2007). Their programs have paid particular attention
to the specific needs of those in rural areas, females, and the handicapped. World Bank’s main current program in progress
in Cambodia is the “Education for All Fast Track Initiative”, whose objective
is to speed up the process of right-age entry to school, increase net
enrollment, have a higher primary education grade six completion rate, and
increased retention and progression rates (The World Bank Group [WB ], 2011).
Another World Bank project currently in
progress is the “Higher Education Quality and Capacity Improvement Project” (The World Bank [WB], 2011),
whose aims are the improvement of the quality of teaching, research, and
management of project-specific areas, as well as trying to increase the
retention of disadvantaged students. In
the past, retention in school was only considered based on merit. The “Education for All” program has a budget
of $57.4 million USD; the “Higher Education” program’s budget is $23 million
USD. Continuing to serve the country’s
educational needs will be of the utmost importance to the overall future of the
Cambodian people, but Cambodia will not have the financial ability to succeed
in furthering the education of its people without outside assistance from
non-governmental agencies.
UNCRC
While Cambodia has made much progress in their compliance with the
United Nations Convention on the Rights
of the Child, they still have a long way to go with regard to protection,
education, and health care for children. While those who reside in urban areas are
being protected, receiving an education, and have health care that is easily
accessible, the many children who live in the more rural areas are not quite so
fortunate. Those who live in the most
impoverished areas simply do not have the ability to travel to locales where
education and health care are available, nor do those who provide these
services have the time or money to reach those who do not have transportation. The rights that children should have are
greatly determined by where their family resides and their income level.
Conclusion
Cambodia had major setbacks in previous years due to outside
enemies, such as during the Khmer Rouge reign. Great injustices were inflicted upon the
people so that the entire country could be violated. While the country has regained its
independence, the lack of education and resources prevents Cambodia from
escaping the clutches of poverty. A
child’s chance of survival from the very beginning is highly dependent on its
family’s education and income level, as well as place of residence. The stratification of the society and the
class one is born into is almost inescapable.
People are so desperate for a better way of life that they will believe
the lies of the traffickers and will sell themselves or their children into slavery.
The grossly underpaid law enforcement
officials, who should be enforcing the anti-trafficking laws, will accept
bribes, or operate as brothel owners/traffickers themselves, to allow the continued
victimization of Cambodia’s most desperate, naïve, and helpless citizens. The Cambodian government should, as the United
States recommends, made greater strides toward prosecuting and convicting
corrupt officials, along with imposing more severe penalties for violations. The anti-corruption laws, by excluding
government officials and their family members from compliance, are basically of
no use. Until the Cambodians cease to
victimize one another, either directly or indirectly, they will not be able to
make any great strides as a nation in rising out of poverty. By enacting new laws which make it
increasingly difficult for non-governmental organizations to operate in
Cambodia, there will be a greater decrease in the assistance which has served
to help the country rebound thus far from the devastation imposed upon it in
the past. Although Cambodia has regained
independence from outside enemies, it appears that the country’s greatest
adversaries to advancement currently reside within its own borders.
References
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