VOICE Forced to Shut Down Humanitarian Programs in Cambodia

I received some very disheartening news Tuesday night when I meet with one of the board members of VOICE (Vietnamese Overseas Initiative for Conscience Empowerment) in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Vietnam. This is the organization that I had received the job offer to join as the managing director of a shelter for trafficked Vietnamese girls living in Cambodia; to begin in Feb. 24hrs prior to meeting with her, VOICE Cambodia was given 24 hours notice by the Cambodian government to evacuate the country and not return. The government accused VOICE of being "terrorists". The team is currently in Thailand. They had to immediately abandon their work in Cambodia. A summary is of official press release is provided below.  

For the past year, VOICE has been working with displaced Vietnamese population in Siem Reap, Cambodia. After the fall of Saigon, this population had fled to Cambodia for solace. However, this population were not recognized as refugees thus they never received resident or citizen status. They and their decedents cannot vote, own property, attend public school, or work. The Vietnamese population in Cambodia are stuck here. Parents selling their children into prostitution and/or slavery is few ways they can earn a living and survive.  

VOICE believes that the recent accusation and forced evacuation out of country has deeper political ties:  
1) Their previous work with displaced Vietnamese population in the Philippines upsets the Vietnamese government. Vietnam and Cambodia has close political ties.  
2) The infamous tension between the Cambodian government and non-profits operating in Cambodia. VOICE did not make any efforts to introduce themselves nor did they politically or financially supported the the ruling party. Therefore, the government probably thought that VOICE had something to hide and/or were talking bad ills about the government.  

It doesn't look like VOICE will be allowed, if they will ever be allowed, to returned to their unfinished work in Cambodia. I had been looking forward to joining this incredibly dedicated team and to work with such a unique population that could of easily been my fate. I came to Southeast Asia to gain first hand knowledge of the grassroots efforts that affect the local people here that I wouldn't receive studying economic and development theory in a classroom, I'm sure getting a front row seat.  
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VOICE FORCED TO SHUT DOWN HUMANITARIAN PROGRAMS IN CAMBODIA  

On Tuesday, November 10th 2009, authorities in Cambodia ordered the humanitarian organization VOICE (Vietnamese Overseas Initiative for Conscience Empowerment) to terminate all operations in Siem Reap, Cambodia. VOICE’s expatriate staff and volunteers, dedicated to providing social services to women and children who are victims of the commercial sex industry, were ordered to leave Cambodia within 24 hours or face detention. The grounds on VOICE’s dismissal were that VOICE was operating illegally and creating “illegal troupes” to counter Cambodia’s neighboring country by providing vocational training to marginalized trafficked women. “VOICE strongly denies these accusations,” says Maxwell Vo, President of VOICE. “This is a devastating setback for the women and children in Cambodia who depend upon the work of VOICE both for the immediate relief to their situation and also for the long term hopes of a brighter future”. VOICE Cambodia had a permit to operate in Siem Reap and urges the Cambodian Government to revoke its decision in order to enable VOICE to continue to deliver their social and development programs.  

VOICE Cambodia has been in operation since July 2008 with the purpose of providing a number of projects, including vocational training programs to vulnerable women, providing safe and sustainable employment; playgroup/ community center; and partnership in a shelter for underaged girls who have been rescued from brothels.