News
ICC move fuels debate on Cambodian case
A new paper from the International Criminal Court laying out a shift in focus to crimes linked to environmental destruction and the unlawful dispossession of land has rekindled the debate over whether the court will launch an investigation into a case highlighting land-grabbing in Cambodia. ...
Cristina Maza
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/icc-move-fuels-debate-cambodian-case
UK Sugar Firm Investigating Child Labor Claims
- 25 July 2013
- The Cambodia Daily
- Agricultural production / Agriculture and fishing / Child labor / Crop products and commodities / Economy and commerce / Exports / Labor / Land / Land tenure and land titling / Sugar / Trade
- Agri-industy / Agricultural policy and administration / Agriculture & Agri-business / child labor / Disputed Land / Duty-free exports / Eang Vuthy / EC / Equitable Cambodia / European Union aid / human rights abuses / Investment / Koh Kong / Koh Kong Province / Koh Kong sugar plantations / labor / labor law violations / labour / land conflicts / Land rights / Land-grabbing / NGOs / nongovernmental organizations / Plantations / sugar exports / Sugar Plantation / sugar plantations / Sugar supplier / sugarcane / Tate & Lyle / Tate & Lyle Company / Thai Plantations / The Guardian newspaper / United Kingdom
U.K. sugar firm Tate & Lyle on Wednesday said it was looking into recent allegations of child labor on two plantations in Koh Kong province it has been buying sugar from since 2010, but rebuked NGOs for not bringing the claims to its attention sooner. The ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/uk-sugar-firm-investigating-child-labor-claims-36637/
Ethical Sugar Group Suspends Tate & Lyle Over Plantations
- 18 July 2013
- The Cambodia Daily
- Agricultural production / Agriculture and fishing / Biofuel crops / Crop products and commodities / Economic land concessions and plantations / Economy and commerce / Exports / Land / Land tenure and land titling / Public land lease / Sugar / Trade
- Agri-industy / Agricultural policy and administration / American Sugar Holdings / Bonsucro / BP / Coca-Cola / Community Legal Education Center / compensation / Corporate responsibility / corporate social responsibility / Equitable Cambodia / Exports / forced evictions / Investment / Koh Kong / Koh Kong Province / KSL / land / Land Land policy and administration / Land rights / Land-grabbing / London / Plantations / Rees Broome law firm / sugar / sugar exports / sugar plantations / sugarcane / T&L / Tate & Lyle / UK / UK high Court of Justice
An international group that promotes the ethical sourcing of sugar for the food and energy industries has suspended the membership of U.K. sugar giant Tate & Lyle for failing to answer complaints that it was buying from Cambodian plantations accused of stealing land from local ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/ethical-sugar-group-suspends-tate-lyle-over-plantations-35438/
Despite Land Loss, Minorities Back Status Quo
- 15 July 2013
- The Cambodia Daily
- Agricultural production / Agriculture and fishing / Crop products and commodities / Economic land concessions and plantations / Economy and commerce / Elections / Environment and natural resources / Ethnic minorities and indigenous people / Government / Human rights / Land / Land tenure and land titling / Pepper / Public land lease / Rubber / Social development
- Adhoc / agro-industry / An Mady Group / ancestral land / Andong Meas district / Andong Meas district governor Nong Darith / Banlung / Bunlung Town / Cambodian Red Cross / Cambodia-Laos-Vietnam Development Triangle / cashew plantations / Cassava / cassava plantations / concessions / construction / CPP / CRC / Development Triangle agreement / Displacement / Economic Development / economic land concession / ELCs / ethnic minorities / Finance Minister Keat Chhon / Hoang Anh Gia Lai / Hun Sen / indigenous peoples land / indigenous peoples rights / Inh village / Institute of Developing Economies-Japanese External Trade Organization / Investment / Jarai / Jarai ethnic minority / Kachak ethnic minority / Keat Chhon / Keat Kolney / Kompong Cham / Kompong Cham Province / Kong Yu / Kong Yu village / land / Land policy and administration / land prices / Land rights / Land tenure and titling / Land-grabbing / latex / malaria / O’Yadaw district / pepper plantations / Plantations / Prime Minister Hun Sen / Ratanakkiri / Ratanakkiri Province / Road construction / roads / rubber / rubber plantations / schools / secondary forests / Talav commune / Trade / Try Pheap Import Export / UN / United Nations / Virachey National Park
Romam Gvin could be described as a counterintuitive voter. Intuition might lead you to believe that Mr. Gvin blames the government for the loss of his land to the Vietnamese rubber company that now owns everything for as far as the eye can see here in ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/elections/despite-land-loss-minorities-back-status-quo-34786/
Congressional Hearing in US Pushes Cut to Cambodian Aid
- 11 July 2013
- The Cambodia Daily
- Aid and development / Bilateral development assistance / Chinese aid / Economy and commerce / Human rights / Non-DAC members / Social development
- ACLEDA / ADM / American aid / Asian Development Bank / Beijing / Bilateral development assistance / Burma / Burmese government / Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong / Cambodian Government / Cambodian military / capital investment / Chinese aid / Chinese aid / Chinese investors / Chinese loans / corporate social responsibility / Corruption / CPP / Democracy / development aid / Development policies and administration / election monitors / Evi Schueller / foreign aid / foreign investment / France / GDP / Government / Gross Domestic Product / Human Rights / Human Rights Watch / Human Rights Watch Asia / Human Rights Watch Asia advocacy director John Sifton / Hun Sen / illegal voting / IMF / Infrastructure / infrastructure investment / infrastructure lending / Infrastructure projects / International Monetary Fund / Investment / Land titles / Land-grabbing / LICADHO / Military / Multilateral development assistance / Myanmar / National Democratic Institute / national elections / NEC / nepotism / Obama administration / opposition lawmakers / parliament / Patrick Merloe / Phnom Penh / political violence / Prime Minister Hun Sen / Prince Norodom Sihanouk / RAFC / Royal Armed Forces of Cambodia / Royal Government of Cambodia / Sam Rainsy / South Korean aid / SRP International Group / SRP International Group CEO Daniel Mitchell / Steve Chabot / System of government / technical assistance / U.S. military aid to Cambodia / United States aid / US / US investment / US lawmakers / US Representative Eni Faleomavaega / US Supreme Court / USAID / voter list / Washington / World Bank
At a congressional hearing in Washington on Tuesday that scathingly rebuked Prime Minister Hun Sen and his ruling CPP, a U.S. lawmaker called for legislation to cut American aid to Cambodia following the national election on July 28. Representative Steve Chabot, who chaired the House Subcommittee ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/congressional-hearing-in-us-pushes-cut-to-cambodian-aid-34389/
Families complain governor’s crooked
- 9 July 2013
- The Phnom Penh Post
- Environment and natural resources / Forest products / Forests and forestry / Judiciary and courts / Land / Land tenure and land titling / Logging and timber
- ACU / Adhoc / Anti-Corruption Unit / Chea Ksan district / Chea Ksan district governor / Corruption / Disputed Land / evictions / forced evictions / Forests / illegal logging / land / land conflicts / land disputes / Land rights / Land-grabbing / logging / Long Sitha / Lor Chan / Phnom Penh / Preah Vihear / Preah Vihear Province / Preah Vihear Provincial Court / Prime Minister Hun Sen / Sok Hay / timber
More than 30 families evicted from a former airport site in Preah Vihear province’s Chea Ksan district have filed four complaints with the provincial court since April against district governor Sok Hay. Lor Chan, provincial coordinator for rights group Adhoc, said a total of 31 families ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013070966736/National/families-complain-governor-s-crooked.html
Hundreds demonstrate on activist’s behalf
- 9 July 2013
- The Phnom Penh Post
- Agricultural production / Agriculture and fishing / Economic land concessions and plantations / Judiciary and courts / Land / Land tenure and land titling / Public land lease
- Chheuong Seopheap / CPP / CPP Senator / Disputed Land / economic land concession / ELCs / Farm Land / Kbal Trach commune / land activists / land conflicts / land disputes / Land-grabbing / Lao Mengkhim / Pheapimex / Pheapimex Company / protests / Pursat / Pursat Province / Pursat Provincial Court / villagers
Two days before a land activist’s scheduled sentencing, about 400 people affected by land grabs demonstrated at Pursat Provincial Court in support of the man who frequently protests against the Pheap Imex Company. About 12,000 families are now involved in land disputes around a Pheap ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013070966735/National/hundreds-demonstrate-on-activist-s-behalf.html
SEZ adds to tycoon’s growing portfolio
- 12 June 2013
- The Phnom Penh Post
- Agricultural production / Agriculture and fishing / Economic land concessions and plantations / Economy and commerce / Environment and natural resources / Forest products / Forests and forestry / Investment / Land / Land tenure and land titling / Logging and timber / Public land lease / Special economic zones
- Adhoc / Bi Chivoandara / Casino / CDC / Chhay Thy / Concession / Council for the Development of Cambodia / deforestation / ELCs / ethnic minority / ethnic minority communities / Forest / forest land / Forestry Law / Global Witness / Hong Anh Gai Lai / illegal logging / Land-grabbing / natural resource licence / natural resources / O’Yadav district / Preah Vihear Province / Prime Minister Hun Sen / Pursat / Pursat Province / Ratanakkiri / Ratanakkiri Province / Ratanakkiri provincial coordinator / reservoir / rights abuses / Royal Gazette / rubber / SEZ / Sok Chenda Sophea / Special Economic Zone / Stung Atay dam / Stung Treng Province / timber / Vietnamese rubber firm / Virachey National Park / yellow vine
Okhna Try Pheap’s ballooning empire of exclusive natural resource licences and concessions has been expanded even further with the granting of a special economic zone (SEZ) in Ratanakkiri province. The May 27 issue of the Royal Gazette reveals Pheap was granted a 136-hectare SEZ in O’Yadav ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013061266216/National/sez-adds-to-tycoon-s-growing-portfolio.html
Villagers Seize Trucks in Protest
- 28 May 2013
- The Phnom Penh Post
- Agricultural production / Agriculture and fishing / Crop products and commodities / Economic land concessions and plantations / Economy and commerce / Environment and natural resources / Ethnic minorities and indigenous people / Forest products / Forests and forestry / Land / Land tenure and land titling / Logging and timber / Public land lease / Social development
- agro-industry / Boeung Char commune / Community Representative / deforestation / Disputed Land / ELCs / eviction / Farm Land / Forest / Illegal poaching / Kompong Cham / Kompong Cham Province / Korea / Korean company / kratie / Kratie Province / land conflict / Land dispute / Land protest / Land-grabbing / protests / Sam No / Sambor district / Sambor District Governor / Seng Sotha / Stung Treng / Stung Treng Province / Think Biotech / Think Biotech Timber Company / timber / villagers
More than 300 protesters seized two company trucks outside the Kratie office of Korean-owned timber company Think Biotech Co yesterday as protests by villagers who allege land-grabbing continued for a second day. “We have seized the company’s two trucks to ask the company to come ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013052865873/National/villagers-seize-trucks-in-protest.html
Call for Arsenal to Drop Links With Rubber Firm
- 27 May 2013
- The Cambodia Daily
- Agricultural production / Agriculture and fishing / Crop products and commodities / Economic land concessions and plantations / Economy and commerce / Environment and natural resources / Forest products / Forests and forestry / Land / Land tenure and land titling / Logging and timber / Public land lease / Rubber
- Arsenal / Arsenal Football Club / deforestation / ELCs / football / Global Witness / global witness report / HAGAL chairman Doan Nguyen Duc / HAGL / Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange / Hoang Anh Gia Lai / Ivan Gazidis / job creation / land disputes / Land-grabbing / online petition / Ratanakkiri / Ratanakkiri Province / rubber / Rubber Barons / Rubber Barons report / Rubber Companies / Taxes / Vietnamese rubber company
An online petition has been launched calling on English Premier League football club Arsenal to break its ties with a Vietnamese rubber company accused of land grabbing and deforestation in Cambodia. A report by London-based Global Witness this month named Hoang Anh Gia Lai (HAGL) as ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/call-for-arsenal-to-drop-links-with-rubber-firm-26801/
Villagers Camp Out to Protest ‘Land Grab’
- 27 May 2013
- The Phnom Penh Post
- Economic land concessions and plantations / Economy and commerce / Land / Land tenure and land titling
- Boeung Char commune / CPP / deforestation / Disputed Land / ELCs / evictions / Farmland / Forest / forest land / Illegal poaching / Kampong Cham / Kang Meng / Kim Lour / Kompong Cham Province / Korea / Korean company / kratie / Kratie Province / land conflict / Land dispute / Land protest / Land titles / Land-grabbing / protests / Sambor district / Sok Chenda / student volunteer program / Think Biotech / Think Biotech Timber Company / timber / villagers
More than 100 people from two communes in Kratie province’s Sambor district gathered yesterday for a three-day protest in front of the provincial office of Think Biotech, a Korean-owned timber company villagers say is encroaching on their land. As of yesterday evening, 10 armed policemen ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013052765854/National/villagers-camp-out-to-protest-land-grab.html
Families Say Land Was Taken
- 24 May 2013
- The Phnom Penh Post
- Land / Land tenure and land titling
- Battambang / Battambang Province / Bavel district / Bavel District Commune Chief / Boeng Bram / Butom Vatey Pagoda / Disputed Land / evicted families / eviction / eviction protest / Former Khmer Rouge Cadres / Hun Sen / Hun Sen Volunteer Youths / Land dispute / Land grabs / Land-grabbing / Phnom Penh / Phnom Proek district / Prime Minister Hun Sen / social land concessions
Nearly 90 representatives of 137 families in Battambang province, some of whom include former Khmer Rouge cadres, protested for a second day in Phnom Penh yesterday, claiming authorities had seized land they had held since the late 1990s. Ul Yan who was among protesters at Butom ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013052465825/National/families-say-land-was-taken.html
Pheapimex Opponent Arrested
- 20 May 2013
- The Phnom Penh Post
- Agricultural production / Agriculture and fishing / Economic land concessions and plantations / Land / Land tenure and land titling / Public land lease
- Bin Vanna / Cambodian Peace Network / Disputed Land / Economic Land Concessions (ELCs) / ELCs / Fraud / Krakor district / Krakor District Police Chief Bin Vanna / Kuch Veng / Land dispute / land eviction / Land-grabbing / Lun Sivy / Pheapimex / Pheapimex Company / Pheapimex Group / Pursat / Pursat Province / Tycoons
A well-known community representative who has long battled alleged land-grabbing by economic land concessionaire Pheapimex Group was arrested on fraud accusations and jailed in Pursat province’s Krakor district yesterday.Fellow community representative Lun Sivy, 42, said Kuch Veng, a member of the Cambodian Peace Network, was ...
Mom Kunthear
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013052065715/National/pheapimex-opponent-arrested.html
Ethnic villagers, firm battle over Ratanakkiri plot
- 20 May 2013
- The Phnom Penh Post
- Agricultural production / Agriculture and fishing / Economic land concessions and plantations / Economy and commerce / Ethnic minorities and indigenous people / Investment / Judiciary and courts / Land / Land tenure and land titling / Public land lease / Social development
- Adhoc / Bakeo district / Chhay Thy / ethnic minority / Keh Chung commune / Keh Chung commune chief / land conflict / Land dispute / land title / Land-grabbing / lawsuit / Ly Sokkim Co Ltd / Ministry of Commerce / Par Or Adhoc provincial co-ordinator Chhay Thy / ratanak kiri / Ratanakkiri / Ratanakkiri court / Rocham Lai / Tompuon / warrant
A local official and four ethnic minority Tompuon villagers appeared in a Ratanakkiri court on Friday to face accusations of land-grabbing and protesting against a private company that purchased their land in 2007, authorities said yesterday. Rocham Pheun, an assistant to the chief of Keh Chung ...
Private property, public greed in Cambodia
- 9 May 2013
- The Politico
- Agricultural production / Agriculture and fishing / Crop products and commodities / Economic land concessions and plantations / Economy and commerce / Exports / Human rights / Judiciary and courts / Land / Land tenure and land titling / Law and judiciary / Public land lease / Social development / Sugar / Trade
- American Sugar Refining / Cambodia Daily newspaper / Cambodian Center for Human Rights / Cambodian Center for Human Rights president Ou Virak / CCHR / Chinese aid / Chum Bun Rong / Deputy Director Chum Bun Rong / Displacement / Disputed Land / Domino Sugar / ELCs / forced evictions / Khmer Rouge / Koh Kong / Koh Kong Provice / land compensation / Land Law 2001 / Land-grabbing / Laos / Myanmar / National Land Authority / New York / Ou Virak / Phnom Penh / Prime Minister Hun Sen / sugar / sugar cane / Tate & Lyle / Tate & Lyle sugar / Thailand / The State Department annual Human Rights Report / TTY rubber company / United Nations / United States aid / Vietnam War
Mark Moorstein knew little about Cambodia before he got involved in a lawsuit on behalf of land owners there. But as it’s turning out, the suit could end up affecting most every country in Asia. Moorstein is a land-use lawyer in Northern Virginia who, like many ...
Non-Government Groups Take Stock of the Country’s Rights Records
- 1 May 2013
- The Cambodia Daily
- Ethnic minorities and indigenous people / Human rights / Land / Social development / Unions
- ancestral rights / ethnic Kuoy minority / ethnic minorities / forced evictions / Human Rights / Human Rights Council / Hun Sen / indigenous peoples rights / Land rights / Land-grabbing / nationwide land-titling project / Phnom Penh / Prime Minister Hun Sen / Royal Government of Cambodia Human rights Committee / Stung Treng / Stung Treng Province / U.N. Human Rights Council / U.N. Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review / U.N. human rights recommendations
The government’s abuse of land rights and indigenous minorities were among the top concerns raised Tuesday by non-governmental groups at a workshop in Phnom Penh on Cambodia’s progress toward achieving a long list of U.N. human rights recommendations. As part of the U.N. Human Rights Council’s ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/non-government-groups-take-stock-of-countrys-rights-record-21113/
European Lawmakers Press for Probe of Land Concessions
- 28 March 2013
- The Cambodia Daily
- Agricultural production / Agriculture and fishing / Crop products and commodities / Economic land concessions and plantations / Economy and commerce / Environment and natural resources / Forest products / Forests and forestry / Human rights / Land / Land tenure and land titling / Law and judiciary / Logging and timber / Social development / Sugar / Trade
- deforestation / duty free trade / E.U lawmakers / E.U trade commissioner Karl de Gucht / E.U. / ELC / ELC moratorium / European Parliament / European Union aid / Everything But Arms Agreement / Everything But Arms Treaty / forced evictions / Hun Sen / illegal logging / Karl de Gucht / Koh Kong / Koh Kong Province / Land-grabbing / Mu Sochua / Prime Minister Hun Sen / Sam Rainsy / sugar imports / Sugar Plantation / Surya Subedi / U.N. / U.N. human rights envoy to Cambodia Surya Subedi / U.N. special rapporteur on human rights
Lawmakers from the European Union (E.U) are again urging the block’s trade commissioner to investigate Cambodia’s Economic Land Concessions (ELCs) over a raft of alleged rights abuses and consider revoking the duty free access their owners currently enjoy to member states. Going mostly to industrial ...
Hun Sen Shares Vision of Rubber Plantation Boom
- 21 February 2013
- The Cambodia Daily
- Agricultural production / Agriculture and fishing / Crop products and commodities / Economic land concessions and plantations / Economy and commerce / Human rights / Land / Public land lease / Rubber / Social development / The poor
- agricultural output / Agro-business company / annual growth / ANZ Royal Bank / Cambodia Outlook Conference / Cambodian Development Resource Institute / Cambodian Economic Association / Cassava / CDRI / Chan Sophal / corruption perceptions index / Economic growth / ELCs / Employment / energy supply / forest cover / Garment exports / GDP / Gross Domestic Product / human rights groups / IMF / Inflation / Infrastructure / International Monetary Fund / labor / Land-grabbing / maize / Ministry of Economy and Finance / Phnom Penh / poverty reduction / Prime Minister Hun Sen / Private Companies / private sector / rice / rubber industry / rubber plantations / service sector / soy beans / the U.S. / TI / timber / Transparency International
Reporting that the country had achieved better than expected economic growth last year, Prime Minister Hun Sen yesterday targeted a rapid expansion of the country’s rubber industry and predicted that almost 1 in 10 Cambodians would soon be working in rubber. “Agriculture continues to play ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/hun-sen-shares-vision-of-rubber-plantation-boom-11253/
Committee Formed to Create Plan for Land Use Nationwide
- 30 January 2013
- The Cambodia Daily
- Ethnic minorities and indigenous people / Land / Social development / Urban administration and development
- Adhoc / Battambang Province / cities / deforestation / development zones / electrical lines / forced evictions / GIZ / Im Chhun Lim / Kompong Chhnang Province / land crisis / Land issues / Land Management Minister / land rights program / Land-grabbing / LICADHO / local NGOs / master plan / Ministry of Land Management / National Committee for Land Management Urban Planning and Construction / national land-use plan / NGO Forum / roads / Takeo
Senior official from across the government have started drafting a master plan that aims to map out the future locations of everything from roads to cities and development zones across the country. Land Management Minister Im Chhun Lim chaired the first meeting of a 20-member National ...
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/committee-formed-to-create-plan-for-land-use-nationwide-8658/
Cambodia's 'worst year’ for land disputes
- 24 January 2013
- The Phnom Penh Post
- Agricultural production / Agriculture and fishing / Economic land concessions and plantations / Human rights / Land / Land tenure and land titling / Public land lease / Social development
- Adhoc / Cambodian Human Rights Action Committee / Chhith Sam Ath / Council of Ministers / forced evictions / Housing Rights Task Force / land disputes / Land-grabbing / NGO Forum / NGO Forum on Cambodia / Yorm Bopha
More than 200 people were arrested while defending their land in 2012 – a year human rights groups described yesterday as Cambodia’s “worst” for land disputes. Of the 201 people arrested – a figure that more than doubled the 2011 total – 29 were imprisoned, mostly ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/2013012460955/National/cambodia-s-worst-year-for-land-disputes.html