Children in Cambodia are subjected to the worst forms of child labor, including in commercial sexual exploitation, sometimes as a result of human trafficking, and in forced labor in brickmaking. (1-4) Table 1 provides key indicators on children's work and education in Cambodia.

Source for primary completion rate: Data from 2020, published by UNESCO Institute for Statistics, 2022. (5)
Source for all other data: International Labor Organization's analysis of statistics from Socio-Economic Survey (CSES), 2017. (6)

Based on a review of available information, Table 2 provides an overview of children's work by sector and activity.

† Determined by national law or regulation as hazardous and, as such, relevant to Article 3(d) of ILO C. 182.
‡ Child labor understood as the worst forms of child labor per se under Article 3(a)–(c) of ILO C. 182.

In Cambodian brick factories, some children engage in forced labor, sometimes in dangerous conditions, to offset family debt to employers. (2,3,14,23,28,30,31) The rapid growth in the construction industry, particularly in Phnom Penh and Sihanoukville, has increased the demand for bricks and fueled child labor and debt bondage. (11,28,30,32) Failed harvests from droughts have compounded farmers' debts; harvest are sold to brick kiln owners, thus placing farmers' families into hereditary debt bondage until the debts are repaid. (2,11,14,28,30-34) The government's 2019 census of all 486 operational kilns in the country found no instances of child labor or debt bondage. These results contradict findings by independent researchers, which show high rates of child labor and debt bondage at brick kilns. (11,15,23,29,34-38)

Research indicated that some children work on rubber plantations in northeastern Cambodia to help pay off loan debt taken on by their parents, putting them at risk for debt bondage. There is also research indicating that children in domestic work face similar debt bondage conditions. Approximately 30 percent of child domestic workers are under the age of 18. (15)

Although Cambodia conducted a nationwide survey of child labor in 2019—the first such survey since 2012—it has yet to publish the results of this survey or make the data publicly available. (11,13,15,36)

Cambodia is a source and destination country for child trafficking, both transnational and domestic. Some Cambodian children are trafficked transnationally, in particular to other countries in Asia or to countries in the Middle East where traffickers may force them to work on fishing vessels, especially on Thai-owned and -operated fishing vessels, in the agriculture and construction sectors, in factories, in domestic work (often through debt-based coercion), or for purposes of commercial sexual exploitation. (3,14,26) However, the COVID-19 pandemic decreased such migration along with all types of cross-border travel. (3,14,26) Children living in Cambodia are also vulnerable to domestic trafficking. Children, girls in particular, are subjected to domestic human trafficking, from rural to urban areas, and internationally, to countries such as Thailand and Vietnam, for the purpose of commercial sexual exploitation (CSEC). (12,14,23,25,26,30) Girls as young as age 14 are "bride trafficked" to China for CSEC, and research found that the number of these cases has doubled since 2020. Many of these girls had previously worked in the garment, hospitality, and tourism sectors, which were particularly impacted by the pandemic. (15,26,39)

The largely unregulated growth of casinos, entertainment establishments, and other commercial enterprises owned by the People's Republic of China (PRC) in Preah Sihanouk Province led to an increase of Cambodian girls in forced labor, including sex trafficking, although such activity has decreased since Cambodia banned online gambling in August 2019, leading to an exodus of PRC businesses and citizens. (14,15,23,26,40) In addition, PRC and Southeast Asian nationals as young as age 15 were trafficked into Cambodia to work in online gambling and internet scam operations, particularly in the port town of Sihanoukville; some of these girls are victims of commercial sexual exploitation. (2)

Online sexual exploitation of children (OSEC) is reportedly increasing in Cambodia, facilitated by an increase in cheap, high-speed Internet access. (10,11,25,26,41-43) Furthermore, during the reporting period, a survey conducted by NGOs noted a rise in the reported number of OSEC cases after schools closed at the height of the pandemic. With children spending more time online, the survey noted that 15 percent of children reported having been contacted by strangers on social media, and 2 percent reported having been asked to share intimate pictures or videos, or to perform inappropriate acts in front of their webcams. (15,44,45)

Research has found that children who are placed in residential care facilities or orphanages in Cambodia are at a higher risk of engaging in the worst forms of child labor, including child sexual exploitation, and are exposed to conditions that can negatively affect their developmental and health outcomes. (11,14,25,26,46) Many private residential care institutions reportedly exploit children as "sham" orphans to lure donations from foreigners. (11,25,46)

Although the Education Law establishes free basic education, unofficial school-related fees, such as for building maintenance and school uniforms, are prohibitive for some families. (11,15,20,47) Other barriers to education include denied enrollment for children without birth certificates, limited transportation to schools in remote areas and at "floating schools," lack of drinking water, sanitation and toilet facilities in some schools, language barriers, threat of corporal punishment, and an insufficient number of teachers. These barriers particularly affect ethnic minority children, children with disabilities, and children from rural and disadvantaged communities.(9,11,14,15,46,48,49) Furthermore, children may only transfer schools during two designated periods per year, resulting in some children repeating a year of schooling because of the disruption in the school year, which can contribute to dropout rates among children living in temporary settings, including migrant children. (15,49)

While education is free through grade nine, it is not compulsory. (46,47,50) Nearly 13 percent of primary school-age children were not enrolled in school during the reporting year. (2) The lack of compulsory schooling makes children under age 15 particularly vulnerable to child labor because they are not required to be in school but are not yet legally permitted to work. (47,50-52) Most Cambodian children attend school only 4 hours a day, so many children spend the remainder of the day with their parents on or near work-sites. (2) More than 60 percent of children with disabilities are unable to attend school, according to the Cambodian Disabled People's Organization. (2,53) In addition, sanitation conditions are unsafe in Cambodia's 34 "floating schools" in or around fishing communities, and children as young as age 6 often travel to school by boat, many of whom are ethnic Vietnamese and face language barriers. (2) of the country's primary schools, 60 percent are without access to water and more than 25 percent are without access to latrines. (2) Children from indigenous groups in particular face challenges in accessing education, including "incomplete schools" (in which not all grades are supported), the lack of availability of secondary schools, and large geographical distances between homes and schools. (2)

Cambodia has ratified all key international conventions concerning child labor (Table 3).

The government has established laws and regulations related to child labor (Table 4). However, gaps exist in Cambodia’s legal framework to adequately protect children from the worst forms of child labor, including the minimum age for work and prohibiting the commercial sexual exploitation of children.

In October 2021, an amendment to the Labor Law was promulgated. (60) Among the changes included in this amendment is a provision establishing Cambodian labor inspectors as having the status of "judicial police," which gives them the authority to arrest people suspected of labor violations that are also criminal violations. (40)

Although the Labor Code prohibits work by children under age 15, the law does not apply to children outside of formal employment relationships and, therefore, does not conform to international standards that require all children be protected under the law that sets a minimum age for work. (46,54) The Ministry of Labor and Vocational Training's (MOLVT) regulation on household work extends minimum age protections for domestic workers to age 18 and provides clear definitions of household work. However, the regulation does not specify legal protections for household workers employed in informal relationships, including when working for their relatives without a contract. (10,46,50,51,61)

Cambodian laws also do not sufficiently prohibit the commercial sexual exploitation of children, as the use or offering of a child for pornographic performances is not criminally prohibited. (20,55)

The government has established institutional mechanisms for the enforcement of laws and regulations on child labor (Table 5). However, gaps exist within the operations of enforcement agencies that may hinder adequate enforcement of their child labor laws.

During the reporting year, the Ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning, and Construction, which oversees construction sites, trained 330 of its inspectors on ensuring safe working conditions using a new checklist; inspections resumed in March 2022. However, the checklist does not include items specific to child labor and the training was not coordinated with MOLVT’s labor inspectorate. (2)

Labor Law Enforcement

In 2021, labor law enforcement agencies in Cambodia took actions to address child labor (Table 6). However, gaps exist within the operations of MOLVT that may hinder adequate enforcement of child labor laws, including financial resource allocation.

During the reporting period, MOLVT conducted 176 inspections, down sharply from 1,824 in 2020 due to the pandemic; it did not specify how many of these were routine inspections and how many were unannounced or “special” inspections.(40) MOLVT indicated it only conducts unannounced labor inspections for cases in which a specific request was made or a serious violation was reported. (2) In October 2021, MOLVT launched a pilot project for online factory self-assessments for all garment, footwear, and travel goods factories, which will serve as background information for in-person inspections that may resume in mid-2022. (2)

The Child Labor Bureau primarily focuses on inspections of brick kilns, and relies on other MOLVT bureaus to alert them to possible child labor issues in other sectors before inspections occur. (40) Staff in MOLVT bureaus are not equipped with the proper technical training or expertise to identify child labor, resulting in staff typically asking very few questions during inspections. (10,11) In an effort to improve labor inspectors' performance, MOLVT requires all national-level labor inspectors take and pass a yearly online examination that aims to assess and improve overall technical skills and legal knowledge in order to continue working as labor inspectors. (11,38) The government has established joint inspection teams composed of officials from MOLVT, the Ministry of Industry and Handicrafts, the Ministry of the Environment, and the Ministry of Tourism. These teams are tasked with monitoring adherence to labor laws in the garment, tourism, industrial, handicraft, and entertainment and nightlife sectors. (15,38,66)

The government proactively inspects only two sectors for child labor: the brick kiln industry and the export garment sector. Research indicated that labor inspectors were rarely able to conduct inspections in the construction sector, as owners who were closely affiliated with government officials or powerful tycoons were able to obstruct labor inspectors from accessing their properties. (3,11,15,38,40) MOLVT officials said they had not yet conducted inspections in the entertainment sector, in part because they were not sure if they had sufficient legal authority to do so. (3,65) In the brick kiln industry, authorities often provided brick kiln owners with advance notice of inspections, enabling them to conceal abuses, including child labor violations. In addition, police view brick kiln inspection as the MOLVT’s responsibility and said they would only investigate a kiln if the MOLVT asked them to and reported suspected criminal activity, which they have not to date. (14)

The government, the ILO, and NGOs all agree that the labor inspectorate is insufficiently funded and there is an insufficient number of labor inspections. This, in turn, impacts the ability of the labor inspectorate to conduct inspections outside of Phnom Penh and in rural communities due to lack of funding for transportation costs, resulting in most child labor inspections occurring in the city of Phnom Penh and in the provincial, formal-sector factories rather than in rural areas in which a majority of child laborers work. (2,7,10,11,15,46,67) The lack of funding is also one factor preventing the labor inspectorate from conducting inspections in hospitality and nightlife establishments after business hours, because the labor inspectorate is unable to pay inspectors for overtime work. (10,15,46) While unannounced inspections are permitted, they rarely happen in practice. (10,11,15,64)

MOLVT has established regulations for children on hazardous work in several sectors, including in agriculture, brickmaking, and fishing. However, malfeasance within MOLVT and law enforcement agencies limits the capacity of local authorities to adequately enforce these regulations, resulting in penalties related to the worst forms of child labor rarely being imposed in accordance with the law. (9-11,15,46,68) Overall, research indicates that the government lacks the capacity to deal with child labor and is overwhelmed by the scale of the issue, particularly in Preah Sihanouk, leading to an increase in the number of child laborers at construction sites and entertainment venues, including casinos, hotels, and karaoke bars. (11,15)

During the reporting period, MOLVT launched two social media “channels” on the app Telegram where the public can submit complaints on child labor violations. This is in addition to the existing “1297” phone hotline, MOLVT’s Facebook page, or calling a labor inspector directly using phone numbers published on MOLVT’s website. (2)

The government did not publish data on the labor inspectorate funding, training for new labor inspectors, and number of routine inspections conducted.

Criminal Law Enforcement

In 2021, criminal law enforcement agencies in Cambodia took actions to address child labor (Table 7). However, gaps exist within the operations of the Cambodian National Police that may hinder adequate enforcement of child labor laws, including training for criminal investigators.

Research found that criminal law enforcement officials continued to fail to take significant actions on credible reports of government officials being complicit in the worst forms of child labor, including at entertainment establishments in which the commercial sexual exploitation of children is known to occur, and at brick kilns whose owners may subject families, including children, to debt-based forced labor. (2,14,23,46,69) In particular, police officers admitted that they sometimes avoid investigating child labor complaints at brick kilns, and instead assist in the capture and jailing of runaway brick kiln workers to avoid potential retaliation by politically connected owners who use their connections to avoid potential investigations and fines. (2,14,28,46,70,71) The government failed to make significant efforts to investigate, prosecute, or convict government officials complicit in the worst forms of child labor. (3,14,23,46,69)

Government officials profited directly from the commercial sexual exploitation of children and indirectly by being permissive of it, especially when undertaken in establishments owned by those with ties to the government. (2,3,14,70,72) Furthermore, research found that owners of entertainment establishments at which child sexual exploitation is known to occur sometimes used their connections to law enforcement officials to avoid investigation, prosecution, and fines.(2,14,23,46,70,72) Research also found instances when raids into these establishments were thwarted by “tip-offs” from working-level police in advance of the raids.(3,14,23) To minimize internal leaks, some provincial police chiefs turned cases over to the Anti-Human Trafficking Juvenile Police, which conducted independent raids without notifying the local authorities until moments before they began. (3,14) In 2021, U.S. law enforcement officials referred nine potential cases of online child sexual exploitation to Cambodia's anti-human trafficking and cybercrime specialists, leading to four arrests under Cambodian domestic trafficking laws. (43)

In addition, many law enforcement officials, particularly those located in rural areas, are unaware of how to properly conduct anti-trafficking in persons work, as most have not received training on basic law enforcement techniques. (3,14,23) Furthermore, law enforcement officials investigating suspected human trafficking cases are expected to personally cover all expenses of the investigation, including transportation costs, and are rarely reimbursed in full or on time. This has led to officials reportedly pursuing cases for which costs will be covered on their behalf, and makes some law enforcement units more susceptible to malfeasance. (11,14,23,70)

Research also found that local officials allegedly facilitated cross-border human trafficking by accepting bribes to forge identity documents. (14) Intimidation of human trafficking victims and their families also occurred during the reporting period, perpetuated by a government regulation that bars NGOs from assisting human trafficking victims in seeking formal recognition and obtaining the required identification from the government to receive available victim services. This regulation forces victims and their families to interact directly with criminal law enforcement authorities, resulting in most victims declining to file complaints or obtain the identity documents necessary to receive services. (3,14)

In Cambodia, judges have discretion to determine whether perpetrators of crimes related to child labor will be imprisoned or fined and the amount of the fine. The penalties imposed are not uniformly administered and do not adhere to the parameters prescribed by law. (14,30,46) In some cases, citing resource constraints and pandemic-related shutdowns, not all trafficking in person cases were brought to court despite evidence being supplied by the police. Prosecutors and judges have been known to accept bribes in return for dismissal of charges, acquittal, and reduced sentencing. (3,14,26,70,73) Research also found that law enforcement misused resources at their disposal to detain, prosecute, and convict some individuals for politically motivated reasons or spurious trafficking in person charges. (14) Furthermore, law enforcement generally focused on deterring foreign involvement in CSEC, despite the fact that the local population constituted the main source of demand. (3,14)

Research indicates that the use of "judicial supervision," where defendants are released on their own recognizance in advance of a trial, has resulted in as many as 30 percent of human trafficking suspects not returning to participate in their criminal trials as law enforcement lacks the resources to monitor defendants. This severely limits the ability of law enforcement officials to hold criminals accountable, putting the population at risk. (3,14,23) Due to a lack of resources, including personnel, and a lack of clear guidelines in the criminal procedural code regarding judicial supervision, law enforcement rarely issued arrest warrants for absconded defendants unless NGOs were available to assist in the apprehension of said defendants. (14) In addition, the government has yet to fully implement the “Child Friendly Court” program as instructed by the Ministry of Justice in 2018 that will make it easier for child victims to provide testimony by using video-conferencing technology instead of confronting defendants in person, which can result in re-traumatization. (14,23)

Cambodian law outlines channels for victim restitution, and research indicated an increase in the number of verdicts ordering traffickers to pay some form of financial recompense to victims. However, this restitution was extremely difficult to obtain due to a legal requirement delaying payment until after the completion of the trafficker’s jail term; convicted traffickers’ frequent abscondment further complicated this arrangement. (3,14,26) Coupled with the government lacking a procedure on how to calculate compensation, victims rarely received the amount promised, and many victims’ families settled out of court with traffickers or accepted bribes to drop the relevant charges. (3,14,26)

The government's ability to properly save and store data related to the worst forms of child labor was found to be inadequate, due to outdated data collection storage platforms and a lack of resources, including training, equipment, and funding. (3,23,38)The government did not provide information on initial training for new employees, refresher courses, the number of prosecutions initiated, the number of convictions, or the number of penalties imposed for violations related to the worst forms of child labor for inclusion in this report.

The Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association reported that it had rescued five children from prostitution in Siem Reap Province in 2021. (2) To help address the emergence of OSEC within Cambodia, a local NGO set up an online platform and a hotline for people to report instances of OSEC. (74,75)

The government has established mechanisms to coordinate its efforts to address child labor (Table 8). However, gaps exist that hinder the effective coordination of efforts to address child labor, including insufficient inter-ministerial coordination.

Inter‐ministerial coordination remains a serious challenge in Cambodia, both for countering child labor and trafficking in persons. (2) The ILO has joined the National Committee for Counter Trafficking (NCCT) and some of the National Committee on Countering Child Labor (NCCT) working groups. However, the coordinating body on child labor, the NCCL, has not invited the ILO to participate in its meetings. (2) Additionally, the Commune Committees for Women and Children continue to be underfunded. (38)

The government has established policies related to child labor (Table 9). However, policy gaps exist that hinder efforts to address child labor, including implementation.

‡ The government had other policies that may have addressed child labor issues or had an impact on child labor. (8,80,87-90)

In 2021, the government funded and participated in programs that include the goal of eliminating or preventing child labor (Table 10). However, gaps exist in these social programs, including adequacy of programs to address the full scope of the problem in all sectors.

† Program is funded by the Government of Cambodia.
‡ The government had other social programs that may have included the goal of eliminating or preventing child labor.

In 2021, MOLVT visited 170 brick kilns and intervened to help 350 cases involving children who may be vulnerable to child labor and were living on brick kilns or on cassava plantations, with education, vocational training, and jobs. However, MOLVT did not remove any children from child labor as a result of labor inspections. (2,43) MOLVT also disseminated material on child labor prevention to commercial and family‐based sugar‐cane production operations. (2,43)

The government lacked sufficient funding to put a system in place to monitor and promote the reintegration of victims of forced labor and human trafficking, including children. As a result, victims are left vulnerable, leaving the government heavily reliant on NGOs to fill this need. (3,14,26,70)

Many poor households in rural communities lack access to a social protection safety net, increasing the vulnerability of children to child labor as a means to supplement family income. (30) Although Cambodia has implemented programs that target child labor, the scope and resources provided to these programs is insufficient to fully address the extent of the problem. (10,11)

Based on the reporting above, suggested actions are identified that would advance the elimination of child labor in Cambodia (Table 11).

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