Word: cambodia
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...Those working to protect children in Cambodia agree that the police force has recently shown a far stronger commitment to targeting pedophiles. But it's not just law and order that is doing the trick. A new political will to root them out is the result of diplomatic incentives and pressures, both the carrots of international donors and the stick of the U.S. State Department, say child protection workers...
...Cambodia's generous donor governments and international organizations have invested a substantial amount of money in anti-trafficking and child protection training for Cambodian officials. But the stick came in 2005 when the U.S. State Department, fed up with the impunity enjoyed by traffickers here, relegated Cambodia to it lowest tier 3 rating on its global trafficking report. Cambodia was lumped in with Burma, Cuba and North Korea, and Washington threatened sanctions against Phnom Penh for its inability to comply with "minimum standards" to combat human trafficking and convict officials involved...
...Chastened by its international dressing-down, Cambodia's police started to make a number of high-profile arrests, including...
...Already by June of this year, Cambodia was elevated slightly on the latest State Department tables to a tier 2 "watch list." Interior Ministry spokesman Khieu Sopheak said that the government has its sights set even higher. "We don't want to stay on tier 2. We want to go to tier 1," he said. "We have the political will. Cambodia will not be a place for child sex tourists...
...When it comes to Cambodia's new hard line, the writing is on the wall - literally. Posters on display at the airport warn foreign visitors that abusing children will be paid for with as many as 20 years in prison. Some posters tout the slogans "Turn a sex tourist into an ex-tourist" and "Abuse a child in this country, go to jail in yours." Child predator message boards on the Web have also taken note, said the IJM investigator who staked out Smith's bar and spoke on condition that his identity remain a secret due to the nature...