Cambodia’s Covid-19 Response and Migrant Workers

Abstract

As in many Southeast Asian countries, the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic and policies to limit its spread greatly disrupted Cambodia’s economy. Workers in Cambodia overwhelmingly operate in the informal sector and remittances from migrant workers abroad constitute a significant portion of the country’s overall gross domestic product. This briefing examines Cambodia’s Covid-19 response to highlight how knock-on effects have disproportionately impacted vulnerable migrants and informal domestic workers, including human-trafficking survivors. The government should provide social support to these vulnerable groups. Future efforts to manage Covid-19 must consider how they will affect the most vulnerable.