Workers missing as Chinese-built dam collapses in Cambodia – AP

Dam collapse in Cambodia leaves four workers missing – GlobalPost

An extremely worrisome incident that has got me thinking about the rights of dam workers in Southeast Asia. We know in the West that working on dams is not the safest of endeavors—but that’s not exactly a major concern in this region of the world.

I have questions, which I’ll try to get answered over the next couple days:

Were these workers Chinese or Khmer? How much were they getting paid? Will their families receive any compensation? How many incidents like this have happened?

Many of us oppose the dams due to their potential environmental and economic impacts, but we might be discounting the human impact on these workers, too.