The NGO community needs to pay attention to those NGOs in their midst whose actions bring the whole NGO community into disrepute

I have arrived back in Cambodia to continue with my documenting of Sam Rainsy and the CNRP’s campaign for social justice, a free and fair result to the election and to see real change take place in Cambodia.

I hope, if they are successful, that one of the changes that will quickly take place under a new government is the monitoring to the activities of NGOs to see that unscrupulous operators such as Citipointe church cannot set up shop here and take advantage of (exploit) poor Cambodians who can so easily be tricked into giving up their children.

Citipointe is not alone in practicing this effective theft of children. There are several NGOs that I know of doing it – some well known and with very high profiles. It remains a mystery to me why it is that the Cambodian media turns a blind eye to the activities of these NGOS whilst relentlessly pursuing Cambodian government bodies that are similarly neither transparent or accountable. For as long as the media remains silent such NGOs will continue to thrive and prosper at the expense of the Chanti and Chhorks of Cambodia.

As I have written before, if a brothel owner had used the same techniques used by Citipointe to induce Chanti to give up her daughters, s/he would find an array of NGOs moving heaven and earth to see them charged and jailed. If it is a Christian NGO stealing children, though, it seems perfectly OK. No questions will be asked.

In the meantime, more than five years down the track, Citipointe church retains custody of Rosa and Chita. The church makes sporadic promises to Chanti and Chhork but never keeps them. The Ministry of Social Affairs is asleep at the wheel – at best incompetent and at worst corrupt and receiving payment for allowing NGOs such as Citipointe to act as they choose without regard to Cambodian or international law and without regard for the rights (both human and legal) of Chanti and Chhork. Thankfully there will be a new Minister of Social Affairs in the new government (the last one was useless) and it is to be hoped that he or she will move to prevent the exploitation of poor Cambodian families by unscrupulous NGOS.