Villagers Claim Soldiers Hired to Prevent Planting

14 June 2014
The Cambodia Daily
Agricultural policy and administration / Agricultural production / Agriculture and fishing / Civil society / Human rights / Land / Land policy and administration / Land tenure and land titling / Rice / Social development
Botum Sakor National Park / Cambodia National Rescue Party / CNRP / Council of Ministers / LICADHO / Royal Cambodian Armed Forces / UDG / Union Development Group / Yon Min

Villagers in Koh Kong’s Botum Sakor district said Friday that Union Development Group (UDG) used military forces to prevent villagers from planting paddy rice on land that is locked in a longstanding dispute, a claim the military denied. Khun Thala, a 40-year-old villager, said Friday that the Chinese firm employed soldiers to guard the land and block villagers. … Brigadier General Yon Min, the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces commander in Koh Kong province, said he hadn’t heard of the villagers’ allegations but admitted that soldiers had been sent to protect the company’s projects. …

 Khuon Narim
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/villagers-claim-soldiers-hired-to-prevent-planting-61420/