Land
Cambodia puts its arduous titling process for Indigenous land up for review
Ethnic Kui Indigenous people have for generations mined the mountains and streams of Cambodia’s Romtom commune for their livelihoods. But those traditions shifted as Delcom, a Malaysian-owned gold-mining company, began digging up the land in the early 2010s and confronting artisanal miners with armed guards. ...
Danielle Keeton-Olsen
Vietnam tightens land management
Vietnam’s ministries of Construction, and Natural Resources and Environment have requested provinces and cities review state management on land prices amid ‘land fever’ in some localities. The environment ministry said land prices in some localities and areas have increased dramatically, which could affect socio-economic development and ...
Asia News Network
‘What other country would do this to its people?’ Cambodian land grab victims seek int’l justice
“It started when some people from the government came around the community telling us that we were illegally occupying the land,” Chhae Kimsrour said in June 2020. “I’ve lived here since 1995, but six months later they came back and started filling in my lake. ...
GERALD FLYNN, PHOUNG VANTHA
Preah Vihear villagers seek solution to ‘encroachment’
Around 230 families from three villages in Romtom commune of Preah Vihear province’s Rovieng district said they are worried about the continued encroachment on their farmland by three companies which have licences for gold mining and agricultural in the area. The villageres said they had been ...
Long Kimmarita
Lands Grabs and Other Destructive Environmental Practices in Cambodia Test the International Criminal Court
Three leading climate and human rights nonprofits have asked the prosecutor at the International Criminal Court in the Hague to pursue rampant “land grabbing” by the government of Cambodia and its commerce partners as a crime against humanity under the court’s jurisdiction. In an open letter ...
Katie Surma
Thailand’s Indigenous Peoples fight for ‘land of our heart’ (commentary)
On Sept. 3, 2019, the remains of Porlajee “Billy” Rakchongcharoen, a Karen environmental and community rights defender who was disappeared in 2014, were found in an oil drum submerged under the Kaeng Krachan dam suspension bridge in Phetchaburi, Thailand. Billy was last seen by his community while ...
Pirawan Wongnithisathaporn, Thomas Worsdell
Gov’t commits to removing UXO by 2025
Cambodia has declared that it is committed to clearing all anti-personnel landmines by 2025, despite challenges that lie ahead, but its leaders say this target can only be reached with the full participation of all stakeholders and the continuous support of its development partners. Prime Minister ...
Niem Chheng
Crackdown on "Encroachers" in Kaeng Krachan Forest Begins
Fresh evidence of apparent forest clearing and burning in the deep jungle of Kaeng Krachan National Park has been presented to the public to substantiate claims and the forest suppression operation by forest officials, while Karen supporter groups have condemned the latest suppression move and ...
B.Tribune
OPINION: Allow Myanmar ethnic groups to manage their own land
It is estimated that millions of people from cities across Myanmar are in the streets protesting against the military coup that took place on 1 February. The slogan ‘Free Aung San Suu Kyi’ has drawn out many of those demonstrating. But it is a different demand ...
Stella Naw
In Cambodia, this village shows even the wealthy are vulnerable to land grabbing
The river view behind the house was broad and serene, a wide expanse of the Mekong flowing just past the newly occupied villa. A pretty sight, and prime real estate too. So when the sand pumping crews showed up just after the housewarming party late last ...
ANDREW HAFFNER