Land Grabbing of Ethnic Group in Ratanakiri

Solution has not been solved yet in relation to the land conflict in Bu Sra commune, Pech Chenda district, Mondulkiri province between a joint company Khoau Chuly and French Company Sofina and local villagers, who have had effect from the development project.

On November 18, 2009 a group of NGOs based in Phnom Penh, including Adhoc and Community Legal Education Center [CLEC] went to the commune in order to do some for research on the effectiveness of this project of those indigenous people, Phnong. The group raised that those local villagers were still worried about their land because the company still continued bulldozing and clearing; whereas the authorities, both in local and national levels, did not have any solution for them yet.

Mr. Pen Bunnar, who also participated in the research, said that the company did not abide by the contract. They were still clearing trees for land, affecting the shifting cultivation land, the tombs of their ancestors. This could be seen as the abuse of the 2001 Land Law, which acknowledged the rights of ethnic minority groups.

Provincial Adhoc coordinator Mr. Mey Dy clarified that the company destroyed local crops, spirit forests and plantation in addition to what Phnong culturally practiced in daily livelihood. Their land was grabbed by the company; 600 families in the commune were affected by the project. They could not grow rice or plant anymore since the company started grabbing in 2007.

Bu Sra commune, has 7 villages, is located in Pech Cheda, Mondulkiri province, in the northeastern Cambodia. The area consists of indigenous group, called Phnong. They depend on non-forest timber products, hunting, and shifting cultivation land for a living for generation to generation.

Whereas Khoau Chuly signed a contract with Minister of Agriculture Chan Sarun granting the company a 2,705-hectare economic land concession in the area in 2007. The two companies signed as a join venture in order to create 10,000-hectare rubber plantation in 2009. The company would invest its capital of US 50 million as joint venture- Khaou Chuly Group, 30 percent and Sofina French Company, 70 percent.

Mr. Khaou Phallaboth, the president of Khaou Chuly Group said on April 7, 2009 that the company expected to produce a minimum of around 20,000 to 30,000 tones of rubber per year for export and to create job opportunities for 4,000 people.However, Pen Bunnar said Adhoc, CLEC and a French right organization [Name is not provided] would soon send a report about the law breach of the company to the national government and French government to seek for an intervention for the local people. He added that the report would be signed by Mr. Thun Saray, the president of Adhoc, Mr. Yeng Virak, the president of CLEC and a French organization.