Cambodia’s Wages Rise, Orders Don’t
Factory workers observe Human Rights Day in October.
Photographer: John Vink/Magnum
In the factory dorm room she shares with three other garment workers on the outskirts of Phnom Penh, 25-year-old Chheav Sarun has hung two framed photos above her bed. One is of her wedding, taken in 2011; the other is a portrait of her husband, who died just over a year ago from gunshots that pierced his abdomen and lungs. He was one of at least five garment workers shot by military police on Jan. 3, 2014.
The shootings were part of a crackdown on a nationwide strike by workers demanding a raise in the monthly minimum factory wage. Two weeks later, 33 customers of the Cambodian plants, including Adidas, Gap, and H&M, sent a letter to Prime Minister Hun Sen demanding a judicial investigation into the killings.