AKP Phnom Penh, April 23, 2026 -- A new progress report on intervention measures for former migrant workers returning from Thailand shows that from May 2025 to April 10, 2026, around 770,000 former workers and Cambodian citizens have continued living and working in Cambodia.

According to the report adopted at a plenary cabinet meeting held here at the Peace Palace on April 23 under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Samdech Moha Borvor Thipadei Hun Manet, ministries, institutions, and provincial and municipal administrations have worked together to provide active support and protection to those returning.

Of that total, approximately 650,000 people have secured employment. Around 340,000 obtained formal jobs through mechanisms coordinated by the Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training, while an estimated 310,000 others have reintegrated into family-based agriculture, farm work, construction sites, handicrafts, restaurants, small trade, and other informal economic activities.

The Ministry of Labour said it is strengthening cooperation with relevant ministries, local authorities, the Union of Youth Federations of Cambodia, employer associations, the private sector, and development partners to improve the effectiveness of ongoing support measures.

The report also outlined additional intervention plans, including strengthening systems to collect job opportunity data, expanding public outreach on available jobs, organising local job fairs, assisting job seekers through hotline 1297, providing flexible technical and vocational training for local self-employment, conducting skills recognition tests for former construction workers, expanding overseas labour market opportunities, preventing risky illegal border crossings, and continuing support for Cambodian workers currently living and working in Thailand.

(Photo: Ministry of Labour)

By C. Nika