Union activists march in Cambodia on youth day

About 200 union and human rights activists marched through streets here on Tuesday to mark the 15th International Youth Day, defying the Phnom Penh Municipality's ban on marching.

The municipal authorities allowed them to celebrate the day at the Freedom Park, a protest-designated site only, but the group defied the ban by marching through streets to deliver a petition to the National Assembly, the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Labor in order to seek solutions to youth's concerns. "The rally is to call for the National Assembly and concerned ministries to pay more attention to youth, particularly focusing on decent work and wages,"said Ek Sopheakdey, secretary general of the Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers' Democratic Union, which co-organized the rally. "We also urge the government to create more job opportunities for youth."
There was no any report of violence during the marching.