The Ministry of Social Affairs, Veterans and Youth Rehabilitation said on Saturday that it completed transferring more than $23 million to poor people, covering more than 530,000 households.

It is estimated that about 30,000 poor households missed the deadline to receive the benefit.

The ministry said as the deadline fell on July 24, 530,858 households, equal to 2,153,114 people, had received more than 94,551 billion riel (about $23.2 million) from the government’s cash transfer programme for June.

The ministry told those who already received the financial support to collect their money for July at any Wing agent from July 25, without having to go to the commune hall.

“Poor families and vulnerable people who have valid equity cards and did not get it verified in June, and those who just received new equity cards can go to the commune hall to receive the money for July. The cash can be collected from July 25 and will run through for 30 days,” it said.

The ministry thanked relevant ministries and institutions for actively enforcing the cash transfer programme and enabling it to progress smoothly.

It told recipients to cooperate in order to make the programme successful. It said the government policy is not to leave anyone out.

Ministry spokesman Touch Channy told The Post on Sunday that according to government figures, 560,000 households should have received the cash from this programme. But in reality, only 530,000 received it. The remaining 30,000 households weren’t heard from and possibly had migrated.

He said for July, the government is expected to spend $28 million on 610,000 households after 50,000 more were identified.

The government is also jointly implementing a programme with four UN bodies in Cambodia to support migrant workers who have returned from Thailand during the Covid-19 crisis. The programme will cover all the 35 districts of Battambang, Banteay Meanchey and Siem Reap provinces.

According to Ministry of Interior secretary of state Chou Bun Eng, about 60 per cent of the 100,000 workers returning from Thailand lived in these provinces.

The programme will focus on Covid-19 prevention, health education and the provision of health-protective materials.

Bun Eng said the programme will be deemed successful when migrant workers are no longer eager to go back to Thailand, where they risk being cheated by smugglers or arrested and deported.

“Another success of the programme would be when people can protect themselves from Covid-19. If they move in and out of Thailand, they risk catching the disease,” Bun Eng said.

She said should the programme be successful, the government and UN bodies would implement it nationwide.

She said migrant workers who returned from Thailand should apply for equity cards if they are poor. But their old ID-poor cards could also be revoked if their living conditions have improved.

“The government is not discriminating against anyone. Whether they are people returning from abroad or living in the country, they are all Cambodians,” Bun Eng said.

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