Police Buildup Continues as Families Face Eviction in Mondolkiri

An additional 200 armed police officers have moved into a village in Mondolkiri province where families locked in a land dispute with a Vietnamese-owned rubber plantation have been given until Friday to clear out, police and villagers said yesterday. Police had already moved about 100 officers into the village during the past few days. About 200 families originally from several other provinces have moved there over the past year and claim ownership to land under development by the Pacific Rubber Company. “They have threatened to arrest us and put us in jail if we don’t leave,” said villager Rith Vanny. …