UN watchdog report: Cambodia isn’t doing enough to end exploitation of children

BY NELSON ALCANTARA, ETN EDITOR-IN-CHIEF | FEB 09, 2015

DPM Sok An addressing the press in Siem Reap (Photo by Nelson Alcantara (c) 2015)By mere coincidence, the United Nations’ Committee on the Rights of the Child has released a scathing report on the Cambodian government the same the country is hosting a first ever World Conference on Tourism and Council by the United Nations World Tourism Organization and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. Thus, proving yet again what are now two very obvious facts – the Cambodian government is still one the world’s worst offenders in terms of protecting its children from exploitation, and that specialized agencies under the “UN” umbrella aren’t really talking to one another.

The UN watch group in the report has criticized the Cambodian government, telling the that more needs to be done. Referring to the guidelines, the report sais: "The Committee deeply regrets that preventive measures regarding offenses prohibited by the Optional Protocol remain inadequate and fragmentary."

Committee on the Rights of the Child posits that Cambodia has not done enough to stop the production, distribution and possession of child pornography and calls on the government to revise the anti-human trafficking law to more clearly identify and criminalize ‘acts of producing, distributing, disseminating, importing, exporting, offering, selling, as well as possessing or knowingly accessing or viewing child pornography.”

In addition, UN’S Committee on the Rights of the Child the sexual exploitation of children at entertainment venues and reports of child abuse by foreign tourists at orphanages. eTN has given this issue extensive coverage and has actually raised the issue during the joint UNWTO and UNESCO conference on “tourism and culture.” Stay tuned to find out what the country’s deputy prime minister, Sok An, reacted to the issue.

The UN watchdog report on Cambodia was released on February 5, 2015, which was the second day of the joint UNWTO/UNESCO conference on "tourism and culture" in Siem Reap.