U.S.-EU Roundtable on Cambodia
October 15, 2025

Purpose of the October 15 U.S.-EU Roundtable

This high-level session is being convened in response to an urgent appeal from over 100 Cambodian civil society organizations, including 10 national union federations, calling for stronger international action. The roundtable will serve as a strategic coordination platform to:

  • Align U.S. and EU responses to escalating repression and sovereignty threats,

  • Develop a concrete plan to support in-country unions and civil society groups, and

  • Reinforce labor rights and human rights due diligence as central to international engagement with Cambodia.

Responding to a Critical Moment

This session builds on:

  • The March 2025 U.S. State Department Roundtable on Cambodia,

  • The October 2024 U.S. aid pressure that triggered a direct regime response,

  • The “19 Brands Initiative” with CENTRAL, which secured labor rights concessions, and

  • The Khmer community’s campaign that led to Cambodia’s withdrawal from the Cambodia-Laos-Vietnam Development Plan

These efforts demonstrate how coordinated international pressure, across governments, brands, and civil society, can influence regime behavior and advance human rights protections.

Briefings on Escalating Threats

Participants will receive updated briefings on two urgent developments:

  1. Sovereignty Erosion: Ongoing encroachments on Cambodia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity with China and Vietnam, including the recent Thai–Cambodian border crisis, and

  2. Expanding Repression: A broadening pattern of arrests and harassment, from targeting those who speak on border issues, to the prosecution of union leader Rong Chhun, to transnational repression including the assassination of opposition parliamentarian Lim Kimya and forced returns of dissidents from Thailand and Malaysia.

What This Roundtable Will Deliver

This U.S.-EU roundtable will:

  • Construct and operationalize concrete advocacy strategies,

  • Provide a substitute for the in-country training initiative that was canceled earlier this year due to U.S. administration cutbacks, in order to deliver the kind of strategic support and advocacy planning that Cambodian civil society originally and urgently called for,

  • Offer international actors, including brands and unions, a strategic platform to align efforts, and

  • Deliver a forward-looking agenda for meaningful and effective change in Cambodia’s democracy and labor rights landscape

Upcoming Roundtable Schedule

Wednesday, 15 October 2025: U.S.-EU Roundtable on Cambodia, Time TBD

Higher-Leadership Officials Session: Time TBD

Past Schedule

Monday, 30 June 2025: Preparatory Session for Second Roundtable, 10:00 AM (DC Time)

Wednesday, 26 March 2025: Working Officials Session, 11:00 AM (DC Time)

Roundtable Materials

The U.S. State Department heard your voices clearly during the March 26, 2025, Roundtable on Cambodia, which led to a direct request for continued input from the Khmer community. As we move toward the October 15, 2025 U.S.–EU Roundtable, your voice is not only central but is shaping the agenda. This meeting builds on your leadership and responds directly to the call for coordinated, community-driven action.

Our Responsibility in Critical Times

This Khmer international training and strategic planning session, along with the State Department roundtable, takes on added significance because the Cambodia in-country training originally scheduled for February 2025 had to be postponed because of the current Trump administration funding cutbacks. Given these U.S. government funding cutbacks, we, the Khmer Community, must do more to fill in the gap and take action ourselves, irrespective of government fund to make things move forward in this very critical time.

Vision and Role of the Roundtable

This roundtable is not just a response to a critical moment. It is part of a broader strategy to build lasting infrastructure for Khmer-led international advocacy. It serves as a strategic forum that brings together Cambodian community leaders and advocates, leading human rights organizations, and U.N. and international experts to engage international policymakers on Cambodia’s most pressing challenges. These challenges are identified by the Khmer community globally, ensuring that the discussion addresses key issues such as the expansion of human rights violations and the threats to sovereignty and territorial integrity, while providing concrete, actionable recommendations for policymakers to drive meaningful and effective change in Cambodia.

Through this community-driven advocacy, we aim to lay the foundation for meaningful and systemic remedial actions. This will ensure that policy reflects the urgent realities on the ground and avoids repeating ineffective approaches that could legitimize the regime’s escalating abuses.

A major opportunity has been presented to the Khmer community.

U.S. key policymakers want to hear from you.

They want to know what major issues you want them to be aware of and what recommendations you have regarding Cambodia.

This is your chance to make a difference and ensure your voice is heard.