Villagers Claim Chief Signed Away Their Land
Sixteen ethnic minority families in Ratanakkiri province have claimed that they are being forced from their land after a commune chief signed it away, and that commune borders have been redrawn to dispossess them. On Friday, the families, who have been living on 30 hectares of farmland in what they say is Bakeo district’s Ting Chak commune since 2005, filed a complaint with local rights group Adhoc against Heoung Moang, the chief of a neighboring commune. Lev Yein, 50, who represents the Tampuon ethnic minority villagers, said that Mr. Moang told them their homes were actually in the commune of which he is chief—O’ Chum district’s Samakki commune. …
