“Sok Phany, a legal officer at the Solidarity Center, an NGO that supports labor unions and worker rights, said she didn’t think the four would be charged as the complaint may have only been intended to silence them. ‘The worker representatives were not at the scene when the road was blocked,’ Ms. Phany said.”

“20 years ago you’d hear in different parts of the world ‘Yeah, we have child labor because it’s our economic advantage,’ or that it’s part of the culture. A lot of places you just don’t hear that anymore. The paradigm has shifted,” said Solidarity Center Director of Asia Programs, Tim Ryan.

“Workers are generally left out of these discussions,” says Sonia Mistry, senior Asia program officer at the Solidarity Center. “There is an opportunity and importance in engaging workers and their unions. If we’re actually talking about poverty alleviation and making migration a choice, then you need to engage workers and look at decent work in the country of origin.”