As Cambodia’s economic woes mount, Prime Minister Hun Sen has pushed financial institutions to confiscate the property of borrowers who refuse to pay loans. Hun Sen’s remarks were delivered at an event Wednesday to launch a cash relief scheme for the country’s poor in response to the economic blow wrought by COVID-19. Shaun Turton reports for the Nikkei Asian Review.

Shaun works as news reporter for the Phnom Penh Post and others. Before arriving in Cambodia in December 2014 he was based in Romania, covering the region for the Times of London and other publications. He has also previously worked for a press agency in London and newspapers in his home city of Melbourne.