News
Ministry reports slow progress in indigenous community recognition
Ministry of Rural Development spokesman Pit Karuna stated that the ministry has collected data on 455 indigenous communities across the country, of which 194 have been assessed and officially identified. ...
Phak Seangly
https://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/ministry-reports-slow-progress-in-indigenous-community-recognition
Expedite collective land titles for indigenous peoples who risk losing their farmlands, NGOs urge government
The government allegedly achieved “far below” its goal set in 2017 to issue collective land titles (CLTs) to 10 indigenous communities per year, according to the Cambodian Center for Human Rights (CCHR) on Wednesday. ...
Khuon Narim and Tep Suokeany
https://cambojanews.com/expedite-collective-land-titles-for-indigenous-people-who-risk-losing-their-farmlands-ngos-urge-government/
Ministry reports slow progress in indigenous community recognition
Ministry of Rural Development spokesman Pit Karuna stated that the ministry has collected data on 455 indigenous communities across the country, of which 194 have been assessed and officially identified. ...
Phak Seangly
https://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/ministry-reports-slow-progress-in-indigenous-community-recognition
Cambodia to celebrate indigenous people’s day on August 9
Cambodia will celebrate the 30th International Day of the World’s Indigenous People and its 20th national observance on August 9, highlighting the indigenous communities that make up 1.4 per cent of the country’s 17 million population. ...
Hong Raksmey
https://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/cambodia-to-celebrate-indigenous-people-s-day-on-august-9
HRW: rights of Indigenous Chong residents violated in Southern Cardamom carbon offset project
A new report alleges that conservation NGO Wildlife Alliance forcibly evicted, arrested and mistreated members of the Indigenous Chong community who live in the Cardamom Mountain National Park in the name of a carbon offset scheme. ...
Leila Goldstein and Soeung Nimol
https://cambojanews.com/hrw-rights-of-indigenous-chong-residents-violated-in-southern-cardamom-carbon-offset-project/
Forty percent of indigenous children in a Ratanakiri commune addicted to drugs
Local authorities and indigenous villagers in a commune in Ratanakiri are gravely concerned over the high percentage of their children being involved in drugs, with the propensity of becoming worse with time. ...
An Vicheth
https://cambojanews.com/forty-percent-of-indigenous-children-in-a-ratanakiri-commune-addicted-to-drugs/
Kampong Thom Provincial Court sentences two indigenous people to one year in land dispute
Kampong Thom Provincial Court sentences two indigenous representatives to one year in prison on “Violence against real estate owners” in connection with a land dispute with a rubber plantation developer. ...
‘I am afraid I will kill myself, like my husband’: spotlight on loan firms in Cambodia after Indigenous suicides
Kwak Nga was still reeling from her husband’s suicide when his microfinance creditors showed up at her home to remind her that they still expected the approximate $170 (£140) monthly interest payments the couple had struggled to make. ...
Indigenous community finds 86 forest crimes in Preah Roka Wildlife Sanctuary
Indigenous community of Preah Vihear province continues to find nearly 86 forest crimes at Preah Roka Wildlife Sanctuary this September, while local officials denied the findings and asked the patrol community to cooperate with relevant officials to conserve those natural resources together. ...
Chea Sokny
https://www.postkhmer.com/national/2023-09-22-0930-254674.html
Indigenous people in a village in Ratanakiri province cut down trees at risk to pay off debts
Residents of a village in O’Yadao district, Ratanakiri province, due to debt, went to cut down trees in the community, transported them across the border and sold them to Vietnam in order to repay the bank, according to village and community authorities. ...
Two Kraol indigenous people accused of encroaching on Ministry Land fail to appear in court
The Kratie Provincial Court summoned two Kraol indigenous people from Srae Chis commune to appear in court for questioning this week for allegedly illegally encroaching on protected areas, but the two villagers did not show up. ...
Seoung Nimol and Hel Komsan
https://cambojanews.com/two-kraol-indigenous-people-accused-of-encroaching-on-ministry-land-fail-to-appear-in-court/
Environment Ministry asks Kraol indigenous people to apologize for burning down building
Two weeks after the Kraol indigenous community set fire to an Environment Ministry station in Kratie, the ministry invited local authorities and indigenous people to a meeting on Wednesday and requested that the indigenous community apologize. Only one indigenous person invited attended. ...
Seoung Nimol and Hel Komsan
https://cambojanews.com/environment-ministry-asks-kraol-indigenous-people-to-apologize-for-burning-down-building/
Indigenous communities concerned new environment code undermines their rights
The Environment and Natural Resources Code officially passed into law last month, but the term “indigenous” has been removed from key sections, leaving indigenous communities concerned that the code undermines their rights. ...
Seoung Nimol
https://cambojanews.com/indigenous-communities-concerned-new-environment-code-undermines-their-rights/
Indigenous organisers call for land registration
Indigenous communities in Cambodia marked the 29th World Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Day – the 19th in Cambodia – with celebrations across the country. Their aim was to promote cultural identity preservation and growth, while urging the new government to expedite the collective land registration process ...
Long Kimmarita
https://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/indigenous-organisers-call-land-registration
CARE Cambodia provides hope for Indigenous culture and language in Cambodia
Nang Chhok* is nine years old. She attends a multilingual primary school in the O’chum district, Ratanakiri province, in Cambodia, where she learns in both Khmer and her Indigenous Krueng language. ...
Khmer Times staff
https://www.khmertimeskh.com/501340283/care-cambodia-provides-hope-for-indigenous-culture-and-language-in-cambodia/
World Bank project advances despite occupying indigenous burial grounds
Indigenous Bunong people from Roya Leu village offered rice wine and pork to a shrine, asking forest spirits to protect their land from the World Bank. ...
Andrew Califf, Sovann Sreypich, and Eung Sea
https://cambojanews.com/world-bank-project-advances-despite-occupying-indigenous-burial-grounds/
Indigenous peoples fear loss of lands after passage of new law
Bunong people in Mondulkiri’s Roya Leu community say they are gripped by the fear their customary lands will be taken from them. ...
Eung Sea
https://cambojanews.com/indigenous-peoples-fear-loss-of-lands-after-passage-of-new-law/
Threats, destruction and forced sales: rubber firm razes indigenous Jarai farmlands
The company had already ravaged the farms of their indigenous Jarai neighbors in Ratanakiri province’s Andong Meas district over the past months. ...
Jack Brook and Eung Sea
https://cambojanews.com/threats-destruction-and-forced-sales-rubber-firm-razes-indigenous-jarai-farmlands/
Half of high school dropouts in Ratanakiri are indigenous
Ratanakiri provincial authorities are concerned as almost half of the high school dropouts in the province are students from indigenous communities. ...
Chhun Sunly
https://www.khmertimeskh.com/501268052/half-of-high-school-dropouts-in-ratanakiri-are-indigenous/
Indigenous communities urge action on collective land titles
Just 38 indigenous communities out of 455 have received communal land titles since the government first made them available in 2009, with indigenous activists and rights groups bemoaning the notoriously slow process. ...
Son Sarak
https://cambojanews.com/indigenous-communities-urge-action-on-collective-land-titles/
Cambodia’s indigenous peoples struggle with digital literacy on eve of elections
Lek Karry has been using a smartphone for nearly two years but the grade 12 student admits she still struggles to distinguish between real and fake information online. ...
Indigenous community banned from farming over unclear zoning in Areng valley
Preav Hun cultivated bananas and mangos in the Areng valley of the Cardamom mountains for more than 25 years, but for the past six months Ministry of Environment officials have banned him and his indigenous Chorng neighbors from farming as the government rezones the protected ...
Seoung Nimol
https://cambojanews.com/indigenous-community-banned-from-farming-over-unclear-zoning-in-areng-valley/
Indigenous women voice collective concerns
A senior environment official called for calm after indigenous women’s communities urged relevant ministries and institutions to address their concerns by including their input into the draft amendments to the protected natural areas and forestry laws. ...
Long Kimmarita
https://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/indigenous-women-voice-collective-concerns
Indigenous groups warn: ‘we will be slaves on our land’
Communities are already facing lawsuits for traditional farming practices and seeing encroachment on ancestral lands as new draft laws are set to further erode protections, indigenous groups warned in a forum with government officials on Wednesday. ...
Keat Soriththeavy
https://vodenglish.news/indigenous-groups-warn-we-will-be-slaves-on-our-land/
Fears grow as draft laws leave out ‘indigenous,’ allow hunting
Changes to forestry and protected area laws are proceeding without enough public input, communities say, as drafts introduce hunting licenses and remove wording about ethnic minorities. The country’s Protected Areas Law and Forestry Law are being amended by the environment and agriculture ministries, respectively, sparking growing ...
Keat Soriththeavy
https://vodenglish.news/fears-grow-as-draft-laws-leave-out-indigenous-allow-hunting/
Pounong indigenous people in Mondulkiri province complain to local authorities for failing to prevent forest crimes
Four forestry community representatives in Mondulkiri province have filed a complaint with local authorities against the provincial prosecutor’s office, accusing them of failing to prevent forest crime in a timely manner. ...
An indigenous Punong human rights defender describes struggle and experience
After going through countless obstacles, an indigenous Punong, Mr. Kreung Tola, who loves to protect the environment, forest and land tenure, have become a human rights defender at the human rights organization in a district. ...
Hay Setha
https://khmer.cambojanews.com/an-indigenous-man-became-human-rights-defender/
Indigenous people in Mondulkiri province accuse an official and a tycoon of conspiring to take nearly 36 hectares of their land
On December 6, 2022, 10 indigenous people submitted their petitions to the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction, and the Office of the Council of Ministers to seek the intervention to help resolve their land disputes. ...
Young indigenous women live in the society that lack of information
Young indigenous women and people working to support the development of indigenous women found that young indigenous women live in a situation where information is lacking due to social perspective and public service. ...
Chea Sokny
https://www.postkhmer.com/national/2022-12-06-1756-244406.html
Indigenous families seek PM’s help to solve land row
More than 140 indigenous families in Sen Monorom commune of Mondulkiri province’s O’Raing district have sought the intervention of Prime Minister Hun Sen Cabinet to resolve their 255-hectare land dispute with a private company. ...
Tith Kongnov
https://www.khmertimeskh.com/501193807/indigenous-families-seek-pms-help-to-solve-land-row/
