Cambodians complain of lockdown hunger as outbreak takes toll on poor

Residents in Cambodia's capital gathered on Friday to demand food from the government, outraged at what they called inadequate aid distribution throughout a tough COVID-19 lockdown that bars people from leaving their homes. Authorities put Phnom Penh and a close by town under a difficult lockdown on April 19 to quell a surge in coronavirus infections which has seen Cambodia's case total balloon from about 500 to 12,641 since late February, including all 91 of its deaths."People in my village haven't received a food donation yet, it's been 10 days," factory worker Oum Sreykhouch, 25, told Reuters by telephone from the city's Meanchey district, where about 100 persons protested for another day.

Though private food deliveries are operating, markets and street food services are closed, which makes it problematic for poorer families to get supplies, with many without income as a result of the stay-home order. The federal government has asked residents to apply for food aid. Some families in Meanchey district said they had just received a package of 25 kg (55 lb) of rice, a case of instant noodles and canned fish.

"We registered for food donation in the past," said factory worker Net Channy, 31. "I couldn't afford to get, that is why I come to require food." Amnesty International on Friday called Cambodia's lockdown an emerging humanitarian and human rights crisis. with practically 294,000 persons in Phnom Penh vulnerable to going hungry.

"The Cambodian government's outrageous mishandling of this COVID-19 lockdown is leading to untold suffering and sweeping human rights violations," Yamini Mishra, its Asia-Pacific regional director, said in a statement. "The Cambodian government can, and must, take decisive steps to mitigate this disaster," Mishra said, adding US agencies should do everything to secure permission to deliver aid.

Cambodia is one of Asia's poorest countries, with household incomes reliant heavily on tourism and garment manufacturing, which have been hit hard by the pandemic. Government spokesman Phay Siphan said protesters' complaints were exaggerated."I've heard a whole lot about this information, it is just drama," he said. "Anyone who needs food, please do reveal. However they haven't."