Follow the Money: Rubber
International backers. Vietnamese rubber barons. Clear-cut Cambodian forests. In our globalized world, international financiers and multinational corporations can deeply impact the lives of indigenous people in Cambodia.
Learn more about how we follow global financial networks to protect the rights of indigenous people whose livelihood is threatened.
Community Empowerment & Legal Awareness
In many parts of Cambodia, individual citizen knowledge of legal and human rights are not widely known or regularly taught, leaving many vulnerable to exploitation.
Learn more about EC’s efforts to empower local communities to educate themselves on the law, and advocate for their own rights.
Blood Sugar
European trade policies have made sugar plantations a sweet deal for developers in Cambodia. But what happens to the subsistence farmers who have long called the land their home?
Learn more about our efforts to support Cambodian citizens under threat from sugar industry exploitation.
Lives Along the Rails
More than 4,000 families have lived alongside Cambodia's disused railway tracks for decades. With the Cambodian rail system under development, families who lived along the lines faced forced resettlement, and an uncertain future.
Learn more about our efforts to ensure their equitable re-settlement.
Community Organizing for Housing Rights
Among the most effective tools in aiding communities is teaching communities to help themselves.
Learn more about our efforts to defend land and housing rights by empowering local communities with knowledge and leadership skills.
Our Team
Based out of Phnom Penh, the EC staff works across multidisciplinary fields and with local communities to support human rights in Cambodia.
Learn more about our employment and volunteer opportunities.
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Community Organizing for Housing Rights
Motivating and supporting threatened communities from within. |
Watchdog of foreign businesses and development actors operating in Cambodia. |
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Community Empowerment & Legal Awareness
Equipping Cambodians to advocate for equitable development. |
Learn more about the human rights issues facing communities across Cambodia today. |
My name is Sopheap, and I was a vendor at the small market near my old place at Prek Parang since 1998. I was moved from there to Prek Tangov I because the government wanted to construct a 16-meters high highway at my previous place ...
My name is Chan Mareoun, the community leader of Meachey Satreay Aphiwat, and I live in Meanchey 1, Khan Mean Chey, Phnom Penh. There are eight communities forming since 2010 in canal of Steung Meanchey ...
No one should suffer human rights violations due to microloans or microfinance debt. Everyone has the Right to Relief. Below is the story of one out of 14 indebted land communities. In Krang Tbaeng, microloan borrowers who repay late are often forced to sell land or harassed by credit officers. Sometimes, children leave school to repay debts, and borrowers can’t afford to eat enough food.
No one should suffer human rights violations due to microloans or microfinance debt. Everyone has the Right to Relief. Below is the story of one out of 14 indebted land communities. In Dok Por, most families have members working in factories to help make money and repay loans. Intense pressure from credit officers means families sell land or migrate to repay microloans, and young children sometimes have to leave school to help make money to repay debts.
No one should suffer human rights violations due to microloans or microfinance debt. Everyone has the Right to Relief. Below is the story of one out of 14 indebted land communities. In Chi Khor Kraom, fish and crops provide a living for most families, and around 80% of families have a microloan debt. Community members report eating less food and some are afraid of credit officers, who sometimes threaten to sell land for below-market prices if borrowers are late on repayments.
No one should suffer human rights violations due to microloans or microfinance debt. Everyone has the Right to Relief. Below is the story of one out of 14 indebted land communities. In Chi Khor Leu, about 25% of families have sold land to repay debts. Child labour is a big problem, as many borrowers are desperate to earn more money and are afraid MFIs will seize their land if they cannot repay their debts.
No one should suffer human rights violations due to microloans or microfinance debt. Everyone has the Right to Relief. Below is the story of one out of 14 indebted land communities. In Tanoun, community members rely on seafood for food and income, but nowadays many households have to sell all their seafood in order to repay microloan debts. Borrowers have migrated, taken children out of school and sold land in order to repay MFI and microloan debts.
No one should suffer human rights violations due to microloans or microfinance debt. Everyone has the Right to Relief. Below is the story of one out of 14 indebted land communities. In Pailin Land Community, MFI debt is destroying lives and livelihoods. Nearly everyone has a microloan, and most have already sold land in order to make repayments. Aggressive collection practices and heavy debt burdens have led to more debts, child labour, eating less, coerced land sales, and migration.
No one should suffer human rights violations due to microloans or microfinance debt. Everyone has the Right to Relief. Below is the story of one out of 14 indebted land communities. In Ou Vor Preng, many people do not have land titles, making it harder to get MFI loans. A bit more than 50% of the community has a loan, and these borrowers eat less food to repay and face intimidation and shaming from aggressive credit officers. Some community members are afraid that they’ll need to sell land in the future to repay their debts.
No one should suffer human rights violations due to microloans or microfinance debt. Everyone has the Right to Relief. Below is the story of one out of 14 indebted land communities. In Boeung Pram, about 80% of households have a loan. Credit officers are often aggressive, including putting up a “for sale” sign on a borrower’s house after they were just a few days late on a repayment. Borrowers have faced threats and pressured land sales due to their debts, and have had to eat less food and take children from school to repay.
No one should suffer human rights violations due to microloans or microfinance debt. Everyone has the Right to Relief. Below is the story of one out of 14 indebted land communities. In Kh’tum, nearly every family has a microloan. Many borrow to clear farmland or migrate, but more than 20 families have already had to sell land in order to repay debts. Credit officers threaten or intimidate borrowers who repay late, and debt levels in the community at an emergency.
No one should suffer human rights violations due to microloans or microfinance debt. Everyone has the Right to Relief. Below is the story of one out of 14 indebted land communities. Almost every family in Chork Chey has a loan, and already some families have had to sell land to repay debts. COVID-19 had made it difficult to earn money, resulting in borrowers eating less food, selling land or possessions, and migrating to look for jobs.
No one should suffer human rights violations due to microloans or microfinance debt. Everyone has the Right to Relief. Below is the story of one out of 14 indebted land communities. Kam and Kres are indigenous communities where microfinance officers often exert tremendous pressure on borrowers to repay, sometimes threatening to summons borrowers to the police or coercing land sales when people are unable to repay.
No one should suffer human rights violations due to microloans or microfinance debt. Everyone has the Right to Relief. Below is the story of one out of 14 indebted land communities. Talao and Inn are indigenous communities that regularly face coerced land sales to repay MFI debts. Sometimes credit officers put up “For Sale” signs on borrowers’ homes, and many borrowers have to sell cows or buffalo to make loan repayments.
No one should suffer human rights violations due to microloans or microfinance debt. Everyone has the Right to Relief. Below is the story of one out of 14 indebted land communities. In Meanchey Satrey Aphiwadh, some community members work up to 16 hours a day and some children stop studying to help earn money in order to repay microloan debts. Many borrowers get further into debt with private lenders or other MFIs in order to make loan payments on time.
No one should suffer human rights violations due to microloans or microfinance debt. Everyone has the Right to Relief. Below is the story of one out of 14 indebted land communities. Many borrowers in Phum 17 started with $2,000 or $3,000 loans, but as borrowers were unable to repay, loan sizes became bigger and bigger. Now, many credit officers in the community are aggressive, threatening to confiscate land if borrowers can’t repay, and many households have cut their food budgets by 50% in order to save money to repay.
