Ratanakkiri homes razed as authorities move in
More than 400 people clashed with police and military police in Ratanakkiri province on Wednesday as authorities attempted to bulldoze their houses to make way for a rubber company plantation, villagers said. Authorities managed to bulldoze the houses of about 200 families, who they said had only recently moved to the site on the road linking O’Chum district and Banlung district, while a group of about 100 other families managed to prevent the destruction of their houses. … Deputy provincial police chief Phen Dina said the families were living on the land in O’Chum district illegally and had been ordered out. “Our forces went there to exercise the warrant from the provincial court to move the people from the slums that have built houses on state land,” he said. “It is the first step to removing people who are living illegally on state land.” Chhay Thy, provincial coordinator of rights group Adhoc, said the Tai Seng Company had been given an Economic Land Concession for the land in 1996, which was transferred to the Swift Rubber Company in 2010. … O’Chum district governor Pak Ton said that no such compensation would be offered. “People can request a social land concession from authorities,” he said.
Ben Sokhean
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