Land
Land policy and administration
Lao Man, 69, Arrested for Refusing to Give Up Land His Family Has Held Since 1965
An elderly man in Laos was detained last month for refusing to give up land that had been in his family since 1965, family members said. Thitphay Thammavong, 69, was arrested on September 16 after declining to sign papers that would cede control of his 1.5 ...
Law enforcement ineffective in Kampong Speu land grab case, says NGO
Civil society organisation ACNCIPO urged Kampong Speu provincial governor Vei Samnang to enforce a warrant to seize 100ha in the Oral Wildlife Sanctuary that was grabbed and restore its status as state property. ACNCIPO head Chea Hean claimed environment officials did not implement the seizure warrant ...
Khorn Savi
Siem Reap orders halt to state land grabs
The Siem Reap provincial administration has ordered its relevant authorities to take legal measures against anyone illegally clearing and grabbing wetland, community land or natural protected areas. It also urged them to immediately stop issuing ownership letters and documents for such land. The announcement, obtained by ...
Soth Koemsoeun
Is your Thai holiday resort built on indigenous land?
Thailand’s indigenous people risk losing more of their land to hotels and national parks amid an unchecked tourism boom that has marginalised them, human rights groups warned on Friday. Bangkok was the world’s most visited city for a fourth year in 2018, drawing nearly 23 million ...
Rina Chandran
Minister relays land encroachment prevention orders
Agriculture Minister Veng Sakhon has urged local authorities to follow the instructions of the Council of Ministers on how to prevent illegal land encroachment. On Thursday, the Council of Ministers issued a letter to Mr Sakhon, who is chairman of the National Committee to Prevent Illegal ...
Pech Sotheary
Ministry focuses on land grabbing
The Environment Ministry over the weekend reiterated that encroachment upon or the sale of protected land is illegal, noting that more than 20 people have been arrested this year over alleged land grabbing. Environment Minister Say Samal on Saturday posted on his Facebook account stressing that ...
Pech Sotheary
Thailand penalizes peasants, not real climate offenders
A recent decision by a Thai appellate court against 14 residents of Ban Sapwai, a village in the northeastern province of Chaiyaphum, proves again that peasant women are bearing the brunt of false climate-change solutions. Instead of committing to the goal of mitigating climate change by phasing ...
Suluck Lamubol
Victims pray for 500 homes seized and demolished in Ho Chi Minh City
The victims of land seizures in the Lộc Hưng Garden (Vườn Rau Lộc Hưng) area have been meeting every night since the start of the Marian month to recite the rosary and ask for the Virgin’s solace. Between 4 January and 11 May, the authorities in Ward 6 ...
Minh Trang
‘This is mine’, man says as Preah Sihanouk authorities tackle ‘chaotic’ land issues
As Preah Sihanouk provincial governor Yun Min held an emergency meeting on Tuesday, The Post spoke to those involved in what the authorities have labelled “chaotic” land grabbing in the province. Min held a Unit Command Team emergency meeting on taking action against land grabbers in ...
Renewed fears of mass displacement as land deadline nears
Farmers and displaced communities are in a state of high anxiety as the deadline set by the government’s controversial land law amendment takes effect today with no sign of change. The Vacant, Fallow and Virgin (VFV) Lands Management Law, amended in September 2018, requires anyone occupying ...