More NGOs Scrutinised

International NGO Bridges Across Borders and umbrella group NGO Forum met yesterday morning with officials at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs who accused both of making “false” and “unfair” claims to the Asian Development Bank about the death of two children relocated by a railway rehabilitation project. The meeting follows the suspension early this month of NGO Sahmakum Teang Tnaut for allegedly “inciting” villagers to protest against the railway project, and prompted a statement from the ADB yesterday supporting both groups and expressing concern about the level of scrutiny they are under.​ Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Koy Kuong told the Post yesterday that the government was concerned about an October 21 report to the ADB linking the death of two children to the railway project, which is funded by the bank. It was signed by Bridges Across Borders, STT and umbrella groups NGO Forum and Housing Rights Task Force. The groups had pointed to the two children who drowned at a relocation site in Battambang as an example of inadequate facilities for those forced to move to make way for the restored railway.

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