Cambodia visual mission: Phnong land rights under threat
Phnong villagers in Cambodia’s isolated eastern province of Mondolkiri have mounted unprecedented public demonstrations to protest the Cambodian government’s grant of a 10,000 hectare pine tree concession to Wuzhishan LS Group, a company controlled by the Chinese government. The Phnong, a highland people numbering 35,000, accuse the company of encroaching on traditional burial land and a holy spirit forest, as well as using chemicals affecting the health of people and animals. The granting of such a large concession without consulting local people violates the Royal Government of Cambodia’s commitment to the donor community last December to impose a moratorium on such actions.
Refugees International President Emeritus Lionel Rosenblatt, upon learning of this situation and the possibility of a violence confrontation between the Phnong demonstrators and local police, rushed to Cambodia to see if the problem could be resolved peacefully, preferably with a decision to revoke the concession or at least freeze its development pending a review of its impact on Phnong communities. Lionel reports that the situation is still precarious and a final decision has not yet been reached on the status of the concession. He also sent the following photographs to provide an overview of the threat to Phnong land rights.
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Cambodia 2005: Phnong selling produce
07/07/2005
Phnong from outlying villages gather agricultural produce and forest products in the early morning and then carry them into the provincial capital, Sen Monorom, to sell. The tree plantation now starting will threaten this traditional way of life. The United Nations in Cambodia has called for the Cambodian government to cancel the plantation concession to the Wuzhishan Company.
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