Land
Risking it all for rosewood
At dawn on the Dangrek Mountain range, 62-year-old logger Suon Song* uses an empty beer can to boil water for his morning coffee. He’ll need it to stay alert during the illegal and dangerous work ahead, after the first of several sleepless nights in the ...
May Titthara
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/post-weekend/risking-it-all-rosewood
ANZ refuses to help evictees of senator’s sugarcane farm
About 100 villagers who lost land to a sugarcane plantation, which was until recently financed by ANZ Royal Bank, traveled to Phnom Penh to protest in front of the bank’s headquarters Thursday, but failed to convince the bank to help them. Several hundred families in Kompong ...
Aun Pheap and Zsombor Peter
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/anz-refuses-to-help-evictees-of-senators-sugarcane-farm-66579/
R’kiri row no drag on oknha title
The Royal Palace has granted the prestigious title of oknha to politically connected businesswoman Keat Kolney, who has been locking horns for a decade with ethnic Jarai minorities in Ratanakkiri province over hundreds of disputed hectares. Kolney – who is married to Chhan Saphann, an official ...
Chhay Channyda
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/r%E2%80%99kiri-row-no-drag-oknha-title
Sam Rainsy vows to help Lor Peang villagers through national mechanism
Opposition leader Sam Rainsy met Thursday with Lor Peang villagers who suffered from land grabbing in Kampong Chhnang province. They have just arrived in Phnom Penh after a long distance walking from Kampong Chhang to demand justice over land dispute with KDC company, and have now ...
The Cambodia Herald News Staff
http://www.thecambodiaherald.com/cambodia/detail/1?page=15&token=MjZkOTdjMmQ2ODE
Despite police blockade, KDC villagers reach Phnom Penh
A day after three of their community members were arrested following a violent encounter with police, about 50 villagers from Kompong Chhnang province forged ahead with a peaceful march toward Phnom Penh on Wednesday, but were temporarily blocked by police officials in Russei Keo district. The ...
Kuch Naren and Lauren Crothers
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/despite-police-blockade-kdc-villagers-reach-phnom-penh-66465/
Thai Sugar Company Accused of Rights Abuse in Cambodia
A Thai sugar company with major shares in Cambodian sugar cane is being investigated for human rights violations in operations along the border between the two countries. The National Human Rights Commission of Thailand recently investigated allegations that villagers were forced from their homes to make ...
Suy Heimkhemra
http://www.voacambodia.com/content/thai-sugar-company-accused-of-rights-abuse-in-cambodia/2411955.html
Caper to free official works
Military police in Ratanakkiri province’s O’Yadav district on Monday were duped into letting a detained immigration official walk free just hours after he was arrested for alleged involvement in the cross-border illegal timber trade, police said yesterday. District military police chief Sok Min said yesterday that ...
Sen David
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/caper-free-official-works
UN representative hears minorities’ complaints
The U.N.’s human rights representative in Cambodia visited ethnic Bunong villagers in Mondolkiri province this week, days after local authorities prevented hundreds of them from marching to mark International Day of the World’s Indigenous People. Wan-Hea Lee met with villagers in Pech Chreada district’s Bosra commune ...
Aun Pheap and George Wright
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/un-representative-hears-minorities-complaints-66362/
Fresh arrests for embattled KDC villagers
Three men embroiled in a land dispute with a company owned by the wife of Mines and Energy Minister Suy Sem were arrested Tuesday while marching with about 50 fellow villagers from Kompong Chhnang province’s Lor Peang village to Phnom Penh. The villagers planned to walk ...
Kuch Naren
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/fresh-arrests-for-embattled-kdc-villagers-66343/
Flooding’s deadly toll rises
The death toll from lethal floods has climbed to 27, with more than 10,000 families across 12 provinces evacuated from their homes to escape rising floodwaters, according to a report from the National Committee for Disaster Management (NCDM). The report, released yesterday, also shows that almost ...
Pech Sotheary and Khouth Sophak Chakrya
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/flooding%E2%80%99s-deadly-toll-rises
Police say official had luxury logs
An immigration official at the Ministry of Interior’s office in Ratanakkiri province was arrested yesterday, accused of illegal logging, district police said. O’Yadav police chief Sok Min said provincial court prosecutor Liv Sreng led military and police officials on a car chase that ended with the ...
Sen David
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/police-say-official-had-luxury-logs
Hundreds protest: Land grab feared after posts appear
Five hundred villagers in Preah Vihear province protested yesterday outside the office of FP Malaysia Plantation Company, which they say is attempting to take their land. Rith Sothon, a village representative in Preah Vihear’s Kulen district, said the villagers filed a complaint after the company placed ...
Sen David
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/hundreds-protest-land-grab-feared-after-posts-appear
Protesting families demand answers from ADB
Phnom Penh families who face losing a part of their land to a railway rehabilitation project being funded primarily by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) protested in front of the bank’s country headquarters Monday over what they say has been a lack of transparency about ...
Aun Pheap and Zsombor Peter
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/protesting-families-demand-answers-from-adb-66271/
Rubber firm to stop marking disputed land
A Vietnamese rubber plantation in Ratanakkiri province repeatedly accused of encroaching on the land of local residents agreed to stop demarcating more land Monday after being confronted by a group of villagers who accused the firm of breaching a deal the two sides reached earlier ...
Aun Pheap
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/rubber-firm-to-stop-marking-disputed-land-66276/
Chroy Changva families accept OCIC package
Thirty-one families in Chroy Changva district Monday agreed to move off land that has been slated for a $3 billion development project in exchange for an apartment and a market stall nearby, officials said. ...
Sek Odom
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/chroy-changva-families-accept-ocic-package-66280/
City Hall meets evictees to discuss compensation
Phnom Penh city officials on Tuesday for the first time met face to face with former residents from the Borei Keila neighborhood, who have regularly protested since their forced evictions in 2012. Phnom Penh Governor Khun Sreng said the forum will work toward sorting out “real ...
Suy Heimkhemra
http://www.voacambodia.com/content/city-hall-meets-evictees-to-discuss-compensation/2410789.html
Kratie case exposes flaws in land-titling scheme
The latest case of scores of villagers from Kratie province tied up in a land dispute with an agribusiness firm has once again highlighted failures in the 2012 land-titling scheme launched by Prime Minister Hun Sen to settle unresolved land disputes and distribute hundreds of ...
George Wright and Aun Pheap
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/kratie-case-exposes-flaws-in-land-titling-scheme-66131/
K Chhnang villagers protest arrests for 3rd day
Villagers caught in a land dispute with a minister’s wife gathered outside Kompong Chhnang Provincial Court for a third consecutive day on Thursday, demanding the release of two men jailed over a clash with workers from the well-connected agriculture firm KDC. ...
Aun Pheap
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/k-chhnang-villagers-protest-arrests-for-3rd-day-66010/
ANZ hit by controversy in Cambodia
ANZ is facing calls for compensation over its funding of a Cambodian sugar mill linked to child labour, forced evictions and land grabs. Media reports on Monday said hundreds of Cambodian farmers had called on the bank to provide compensation for the land they lost due ...
Georgia Wilkins
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/world/10358069/ANZ-hit-by-controversy-in-Cambodia
Cease and desist: Firm ordered to stop filling Kandal lake
The Ministry of Water Resources and Meteorology has ordered provincial authorities to stop Vattanac Properties, a land developer, from filling in a lake in Kandal’s Kien Svay district because it would affect water supplies to farms of nearby residents. ...
Sen David
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/cease-and-desist-firm-ordered-stop-filling-kandal-lake
Villagers protest arrests over land dispute
About 90 villagers continued to demonstrate outside the Kompong Chhnang provincial court Wednesday, calling for the release of two men from prison and protesting the summoning of another eight over clashes last month with workers from the powerful KDC company. The rally came after about 200 ...
Aun Pheap
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/villagers-protest-arrests-over-land-dispute-65916/
Family, firm still at odds over land
While one of the two Phnom Penh families embroiled in a long-running land dispute with the Khun Sear Import Export Company this week accepted a compensation offer, the other says it has no plans to back down. ...
Chhay Channyda
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/family-firm-still-odds-over-land
Flood warnings issued for Kratie, Kampong Cham, Stung Treng
The Mekong River Commission issued flood warnings on Wednesday for Kratie, Kampong Cham and Stung Treng as well as the southern Lao city of Pakse. After surpassing alarm levels in recent days, the Mekong is expected to reach the flood stage in Kratie on Saturday, according ...
The Cambodia Herald News Staff
http://www.thecambodiaherald.com/cambodia/detail/1?page=15&token=YjEyM2Q4YWRkM2F
Police chief questioned about smuggling rosewood
A provincial police officer appeared for questioning at the Pailin Provincial Court on Tuesday after military police, led by a local wildlife NGO founded by U.S. actress Angelina Jolie, caught him transporting more than 177 kg of illegally logged rosewood on Sunday. Sor Phalla was arrested ...
Ben Sokhean
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/police-chief-questioned-after-caught-smuggling-rosewood-65801/