Cambodians asked not to return for New Year
MINISTER of Health Mam Bun Heng has called on Cambodian migrant workers who are living and working in Thailand to refrain from returning to their homeland during the Khmer New Year holiday in April in order to prevent the spread of Covid-19.
He made the remarks while visiting Cambodian migrant workers in quarantine in Battambang province.
“Please cooperate with the government in this matter to stop the spread of Covid-19.
“I understand that you wish to reunite with your families during the holiday, but please do not come to visit at this time in order to help us prevent the spread of Covid-19,” he said.
Bun Heng added that amid the pandemic, people should seek domestic work before migrating abroad to avoid contracting the virus.
He said the Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training had also prepared some work and taught some skills to migrant workers who have lost their jobs due to Covid-19.
“Those who have land to cultivate rice should grow crops to whatever extent they can instead. Don’t enter and exit Thailand to find work because Covid-19 could spread from Thailand and you put Cambodian communities at risk that way,” he said.
Bun Heng also asked all provincial authorities on the Cambodia-Thailand border to continue taking tough measures against middlemen or brokers who illegally bring migrant workers clandestinely to skip quarantine.
He also reminded those at the borders to continue to carry out hygiene measures regularly according to the health ministry’s guidelines. Bun Heng also warned that the new Covid-19 variants spreading across the globe presented an increased risk of transmission and that Cambodia had detected three cases of those variants already among the people who had tested positive while entering the country.