At least 10 casino workers were injured on June 27 when Cambodian security officers attempted to break up a longstanding strike outside NagaWorld in the capital city of Phnom Penh. Thousands of workers walked off the job in December, demanding higher wages, the release of jailed union leaders and the reinstatement of laid-off colleagues.
Strikers told Radio Free Asia Khmer that “hundreds” of security personnel erected roadblocks to curb what they described as peaceful assembly by around 150 NagaWorld workers, most of them women. They said authorities beat the protesters when they wouldn’t leave.
“They are members of the national security forces, whose duty is to protect the people, not to use violence against them—particularly against women,” said worker Chan Srey Roth, who claims she was assaulted.
“We raised our hands, begging them not to beat us, but they did so anyway, ordering us to disperse,” she said. “When we interlocked our hands, they tried to break our chain and dragged us off, one by one, to brutally beat us. One of them hit me in the face with a walkie talkie and kicked me, while cursing at me.”
“They beat me unconscious,” another worker, Phat Channa, told RFA. “I was shocked because they didn’t bother to consider that we are women—they just dragged us away and beat us like dogs.”
According to the Phnom Penh Post, the crackdown was condemned as “overkill” by labor rights groups. Nineteen 19 and union leaders were briefly detained after the incident.
An unnamed official told strikers that last week was not a good time for workers to be protesting, with foreign delegates visiting Phnom Penh for UNESCO meetings. “I understand your difficulty, but you should think of the country’s reputation. I beg you to go home for a few days.”
NagaWorld is owned by NagaCorp, a Hong Kong-based company believed to have links to the family of Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen.
