‘Outsiders’ denied right to vote
Just under three weeks ago, residents in Pro Ma village were running for their lives as security forces opened fire on them with automatic weapons, killing a 14-year-old girl. About 1,000 police, military police and soldiers stormed their village, fired at them indiscriminately, evicted hundreds of families and have maintained a significant presence ever since. As the most recent victims in a series of violent crackdowns against communities protesting against land encroachments in Kratie province, their vote in yesterday’s commune elections could have been telling. But about 180 families in Pro Ma village, which lies inside Chhlong district’s Kampong Damrei commune in an area that has been deforested as far as the eye can see, are not even considered residents and thus do not have the right to vote. …
