High Costs Push Prey Veng Migration
In Prey Veng, increased prices for fuel and fertilizer have forced thousands of villagers to quit farming and look for work elsewhere. 
Since she migrated to PhnomPenh nearly a year ago, 45-year-old Chhon Vanna hashad no chance to visit her family in Prey Veng province. "I don't have money to visit there," she said, asshe boxed up dried fish to sell at a nearby garment factory. "Since Ilost profits from rice cultivation, I've face shortages of money a lot, andsometimes my family doesn't have money to buy food." As stark as her conditions are in Phnom Penh, she says, they are better thanPrey Veng, where increased prices for fuel and fertilizer have forced her andthousands of others to quit farming and look for work elsewhere. Chhon Vanna abandoned her rice fields in Choeung Teuk commune,Kampong Leav district, last year and began her smallfish-selling business here, following sharp decreases to her income over threeyears. She remains in debt in Prey Veng, owing about $1,000 tofertilizer and fuel sellers. She sought help from her home commune, butreceived none, forcing her to move to PhnomPenh. In Phnom Penh,she, her husband and three children rent a small room adjacent to theirlandlord's home, for about $20 per month. Her fish sales bring in as much as $4per day, but she can easily lose nearly as much, she said. Her children have abandoned school and her 18-year-old sonhas become a porter, hauling bundles of factory garments into trucks. Back in her home commune of Choeung Teuk, among the dirt roads,rice fields and a small river, many villagers say their children have beenforced to leave to find work, in Phnom Penh, Sihanoukville, or as far away asThailand. About 5,500 residents live in the commune, but 400 of themhave migrated to other provinces and cities of Cambodiaand Thailandto find jobs and businesses, said Mao Roeurn, 56, Cambodian People's Partyfirst deputy chief of Choeung Teuk commune. Mao Roeurn noted that migration from her commune to Thailand occurred in 2003 and about sevenmigrants were imprisoned shortly for entering Thailand illegally. Mao Roeurn said her four children, including two aredaughters, unofficially migrated to Thailand a few years ago to work onfishing boats, adding that they have often sent money to her and her husband. Chan Kanha, project assistant for the InternationalOrganization for Migration in Phnom Penh, saidCambodian migrants are sent to work in Malaysia,Thailand and South Korea. From 1998 to 2008, nearly 12,000 Cambodians were sent towork as maids and factory workers in Malaysia,while more than 7,000 people between 2006 and 2008 went to work in factoriesand enterprises in Thailand.Nearly 4,000 found work in factories, farms and fisheries of South Korea between 2003 and 2006. In Malaysia,some of them were forced to work overtime, but many workers abroad formassociations to help them solve difficulties, she said. It is unknown the total number of Cambodian migrants abroad.Nor is it known how many might return for the July 27 election. The National Election Committee has sought to help migrantsvote by pushing for days off around Election Day and appeals to taxi and busoperators to keep costs low for traveling voters. Prey Veng has 11 National Assembly seats and nine politicalparties seeking to fill them. Chhon Vanna says she will take time off from herfish-selling when it comes time to vote, and she will finally make her tripback to Prey Veng, along with her younger brother, Chhon Duongchan. "I will vote to choose good leaders who take care ofpoor farmers and can lower the price of goods," he said.