A False Claim Says Cambodia Recorded as the Largest Origin of Migrant Workers
After Cambodia broke another two records in the Guinness World Records in April, a claim said the country was also ranked first as the world’s origin of largest number of migrant workers sent out to abroad. The claim was widely shared on social media and commented on by Khmer-speaking Facebook users. However, after reviewing reliable documents and reports of international organizations, we found the claim is false.
SOCIAL MEDIA CLAIM
A claim circulated on social media in April said Cambodia broke a record in the Guinness World Records being a country sent out the largest number of migrant workers in the world.
The claim coming with a photo depicting a big crowd carrying goods and their belongs was shared on social media many times, and many Facebook users commented on and reacted to.
Below is the capture of the social media claim saying “Records breaking in Hun Sen’s regime: Cambodia has the largest number of migrant workers in the world”
The same claim was also circulated in a Facebook group Amazing World Culture Club which has nearly 50,000 social media users as members.
Below is the capture of the claim in Thai saying, “Cambodia broke a record in the Guinness World Records as a country having the largest number of migrant workers in the world.”
The same claim can also be read here (archived).
FACT CHECK
Fact Crescendo Cambodia began checking and debunking the claim by reviewing the records broken by Cambodia in the Guinness World Records and figures of migrant workers reported by international organizations working in the area of migration and labor. Then, we found the facts below.
By searching in the Guinness World Records, we find the records had been broken by Cambodia so far.
The most recent records that Cambodia broke in this year are the world’s largest Madison dance in April at Siem Reap province and the world’s largest display of heart origami at Angkor Wat. See the full detail here (archived) and here (archived).
There are several records broken by Cambodia in the last ten years. In April 2015, Cambodia broke the world record after making the largest sticky rice cake or Num Ansorm. The cake was made of more than four tones of sticky rice and displayed during Angkor Sangkranti Festival in Siem Reap that year. See the full detail here (archived).
In August 2017, the Ministry of Education, Sports and Youth organized a workshop joined by 2,304 participants, becoming the world’s largest workshop. See the full detail here (archived).
Three years later, Cambodia broke another record after making the world’s longest dragon boat which has 87.3-meter length. See the full detail here (archived).
Two years ago, Cambodia also broke another world record after a group of artists from Phare Ponleu Selpak performed the longest circus show more than 24 hours. See the full detail here (archived).
This is a list of records broken by Cambodia, and we found in the site of Guinness World Records as of June 13 this year.
However, we found no record saying that Cambodia has the largest number of migrant workers in the world.
Number of Cambodian Migrant Workers Sent Out to Work Abroad
A report of the International Labor Organization (ILO) said there were 169 million migrant workers out of 272 million migrants as of 2019.
The report also stated that Europe is the world’s largest destination of migrant workers with 24.2 percent of the global migrant workers followed by the North America (22.1 percent) and then South East Asia and the Pacific (7.2 percent). Read the full report here.
A report of the International Migration Organization (IMO) shows India is ranked top list of countries sent out the largest number of migrant workers to abroad, followed by China, Bangladesh, the Philippines, and Afghanistan. Read the full report here (archived).
នៅក្នុងសេចក្ដីរាយការណ៍របស់ខ្លួន កាសែតខ្មែរ ថាមស៍ បានដកស្រង់សារកាលពីខែមេសា ឆ្នាំ២០២២ របស់លោកនាយករដ្ឋមន្ត្រី ហ៊ុន សែន ដែលលើកឡើងថា កម្ពុជាមានពលករចំណាកស្រុកទៅធ្វើការនៅក្រៅប្រទេសជាង ១.៣លាននាក់ គិតត្រឹមឆ្នាំ២០២១កន្លងមក។
More than 1.3 million Cambodian people had been sent out to work abroad as of 2021, according to local media outlet report quoted Prime Minister Hun Sen’s speech on the occasion of the International Labour Day last years, adding more than 1.2 million of them are migrant workers in Thailand. Read the full report here (archived).
In the South East Asian region, the Philippines has more than 6 million of its people working abroad as of the mid-2020, and Indonesia has more than 4 migrant workers sent out to work abroad. However, Cambodia is ranked seven in the list, according to figure recorded by IMO’s migration data portal. Read the full data here.
Migration Data Portal | Archived Link
CONCLUSION
Fact Crescendo Cambodia found the claim above is false. Cambodia has never been recorded by Guinness World Records as the world’s top countries sent out the largest number of migrant workers. Reports from the International Migration Organization (IOM) shows India is the world’s largest origin of migrant workers.
Title:A False Claim Says Cambodia Recorded as the Largest Origin of Migrant Workers
Written By: Jay UdomResult: False
