IFC accepts complaint over Ratanakkiri rubber plantations
The International Finance Corporation’s compliance ombudsman has officially accepted a complaint filed by ethnic minority families in Ratanakkiri province against the IFC for investing in rubber plantations accused of stealing land and clearing forests. In a letter sent to the families on Monday, the ombudsman deems their complaint eligible for the IFC’s independent compliance body to pursue, and gives them the option of asking the ombudsman to audit the investment or help mediate a solution. Families from 17 different communities filed the complaint on February 10 accusing the IFC, the World Bank’s private investment arm, of breaking its own safeguard policies by investing in a Vietnamese firm, Hoang Anh Gia Lai (HAGL), that operates several rubber plantations in Ratanakkiri that are accused of breaking a raft of local laws. The families said in their complaint that they want the company to return land it had taken from them. According to the NGOs helping the families, the IFC has invested $27 million in a Vietnamese equity fund, Dragon Capital, which holds a 5.5 percent stake in HAGL. …
Zsombor Peter
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/ifc-accepts-complaint-over-ratanakkiri-rubber-plantations-53251/
