Indigenous woes probed

27 December 2013
The Phnom Penh Post
Civil society / Concessions / Crime and law enforcement / Economic land concessions and plantations / Ethnic minorities and indigenous people / Human rights / Land / Land policy and administration / Land tenure and land titling / Law and judiciary / Laws and regulations / Public land lease / Social development

Ethnic minority groups in Ratanakkiri province are facing widespread human rights violations, land loss and the exploitation of their natural resources, an indigenous peoples conference was told yesterday. More than 300 villagers from the province’s Tum Poun, Kreng, Prov, Kavet, Jarai, Kachok and Lun communities hosted the annual conference, which concludes today, in Phnom Penh’s O’chum district. Romas Saron, an indigenous representative, told the conference that economic discrimination against their communities was due to a lack of legal protection and poor implementation of existing laws. … Saron criticised the government for failing to register communal land titles while speedily demarcating and titling land for private companies, which has badly affected the identities and traditions of ethnic groups. … But ruling party lawmaker Bou Lam, who represented the government at the conference yesterday, denied the allegations. “What they said is contrary to the real situation,” he said. “If they lost land, on what do they live and work? They live in the sky? There has been no loss,” he said before hanging up the phone.

 Phak Seangly
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/indigenous-woes-probed