Cambodia's Indigenous Peoples ask for help

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fazur
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Re: Cambodia's Indigenous Peoples ask for help

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history repeating itself in every country
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Re: Cambodia's Indigenous Peoples ask for help

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fazur wrote:history repeating itself in every country
It’s an interesting twist. Disney has paid the government to keep the Sanctuary pristine. (a good) Government has decided no further development on the Sanctuary that Disney has paid the government to keep pristine. (another good) The government did not make alternatives to people already farming the Sanctuary. (the bad)

The logical alternative is the government should buy land for the villagers to farm.

This being the Kingdom of Wonder, everything is far from logical (on the surface).

I’m wondering how it will all play out.
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Re: Cambodia's Indigenous Peoples ask for help

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newkidontheblock wrote: Fri May 08, 2020 12:26 am
fazur wrote:history repeating itself in every country
It’s an interesting twist. Disney has paid the government to keep the Sanctuary pristine. (a good) Government has decided no further development on the Sanctuary that Disney has paid the government to keep pristine. (another good) The government did not make alternatives to people already farming the Sanctuary. (the bad)

The logical alternative is the government should buy land for the villagers to farm.

This being the Kingdom of Wonder, everything is far from logical (on the surface).

I’m wondering how it will all play out.
The indigenous peoples will have no lands and no forests.
Always "hope" but never "expect".
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Re: Cambodia's Indigenous Peoples ask for help

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Bunong ask gov’t to remove land markers
Khorn Savi | Publication date 23 June 2020 | 21:09 ICT
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The Bunong ethnic community in Mondulkiri province has asked that environment officials remove land markers at the Nam Lear Wildlife Sanctuary near the Tuol Svay environmental headquarters. They also urged officials to take legal action against those who planted them.

Provincial forest activist Kroeung Tola told The Post on Tuesday that the land in question covered 1,000-2,000ha in the wildlife sanctuary near Mega First Plantation (Cambodia) Ltd in Dak Dam commune’s Pou Les village in O’Raing district.

Thirty to 40 markers had been planted on the land and many others had secretly been planted in the forest with the intent of stealing land, he said.

Tola said some markers had been planted last year while others were planted this year, about 150m from the Tuol Svay environmental headquarters but officials had turned a blind eye and didn’t remove them.

He said he had recently seen environmental officials going to remove some markers, but those were about 400m from the headquarters.

“For some reason, they don’t seem to see the markers planted near their headquarters. We wonder why they haven’t removed them. It may be because they belong to environmental officials, police officials or soldiers,” he claimed.
https://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/ ... nd-markers
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Re: Cambodia's Indigenous Peoples ask for help

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Intruders ordered to remove constructions on Mondulkiri hills
Soth Koemsoeun | Publication date 03 December 2020 | 08:17 ICT

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Mondulkiri officials issued a six-day ultimatum on constructions encroaching on the Doh Kramom Mountain Cultural Centre in Sen Monorom town’s Sokdum commune.

The centre belongs to the Bunong indigenous people and the builders must remove the constructions immediately or face legal penalties.

Mondulkiri Culture and Fine Arts Department director Sey Touch said on December 2 the decision was made on the guidance of a working group set up by Mondulkiri provincial governor Svay Sam Eang and led by Chum Nary, the deputy head of the administration.

He said police removed fences planted by land encroachers and all constructions must be gone by December 6.

“To protect national cultural heritage wealth, our working group is not afraid of tiredness and a confrontation with offenders. We will continue to work until we obtain sufficient evidence to file a complaint with the court,” Touch said.

Sokdum commune chief Pov Sophat said on December 2 that 12 homes and huts were built on four sites unpermitted.

“We have talked to them multiple times, but they still grab land in this area. Those who encroach on this land are not local people, but migrants from various regions,” he said.
https://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/ ... kiri-hills
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Re: Cambodia's Indigenous Peoples ask for help

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Five Bunong members to testify over land dispute
Long Kimmarita | Publication date 02 May 2021 | 16:49 ICT

Five Bunong indigenous people were summoned by Mondulkiri provincial police to testify on May 3 about a minor criminal complaint filed by a citizen who claimed the accused had built illegal structures on private property.

The summons issued on April 30 identified the five as Roeung Heng, Nel Rith, Kwan Tai, Khvev Sreab and Ming Vikleuy, all residing in Poulong village in Sen Monorom town’s Romnea commune.

Provincial deputy police chief So Sovann told The Post on May 2 that the summons was based on a complaint by another party, who claimed to own a 2.5ha plot of land in Pulong village.

He said the plaintiffs filed a lawsuit against the individuals for occupying the land and building structures on the land in March.

“We summoned them [Bunong] here to ask if they had built structures on the land. According to the complaint, they built three halls and if the land is not theirs, we want them to stop construction. But obviously it depends on their clarification,” he said.

However, he did not identify the plaintiff sand who claimed to be the landowners, stating only that the plaintiffs had land transaction documents and land title from authorities.

Roeung Heng, one of the individuals summoned by authorities, told The Post on May 2 that the charges against the five were unfair because all citizens were just behaving according to their beliefs on land that indigenous communities have celebrated on for many years.

She said the 2.5ha of land is on Rodang mountain, a place of religious beliefs for the Bunong who often go there to worship.

She said the structures on the mountain are just part of how community members celebrate their faith. There are many religious sites on the mountain.

“The person who bought this mountain wants to divide it into two, which is not possible because this mountain is our place of faith where we have various religious ceremonies. We want to keep our traditions from being invaded due to conspiracy and clearing,” she said.

According to Heng, on May 3 the five people will testify before the authorities, hoping that this will serve justice to the community, and the perpetrators who stole the mountain will be punished according to the law.
https://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/ ... nd-dispute
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Re: Cambodia's Indigenous Peoples ask for help

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An advisor of the Cambodian PM has called for an investigation into allegations that O’Raing district governor Seak Mony in Mondulkiri province has been conspiring to rob Bunong indigenous people of their land and sell it off.

M’kiri officials under scrutiny over land
Orm Bunthoeurn | Publication date 24 January 2022 | 21:47 ICT

Pen Ean, a personal adviser to Prime Minister HE, has submitted a letter to Minister of Interior Sar Kheng requesting that the ministry review the case O’Raing district governor Seak Mony of Mondulkiri province and other officials in that district who allegedly conspired to take state land and the land of indigenous peoples for their own benefit.

In the letter submitted to the ministry on January 18, Ean said he had received information from Bunong indigenous people in Mondulkiri province that the O’Raing governor was abusing his power and threatening people to further a conspiracy to take state and indigenous land over for personal ownership and to sell to traders.

Ean alleges that Mony has not protected the legitimate interests of ordinary people and has only protected the rich and powerful in his role as district governor.

He continued that after receiving the information from the Bunong people, he had sent a team of lawyers to the district to confirm their account. They found that the indigenous land there was being encroached upon by wealthy and powerful people who were having fences built around it and were purporting to have titles of possession to it.

Some of the indigenous people already possessed titles to the land in question that were recognised by the local authorities in the past but now the district authorities were claiming that those documents were invalid.

“It is clear that the authorities know which land is legal and which land belongs to the state. But if they are acting out of selfish interest, then those who will suffer are the small and weak people who have no connections to power and can’t rely on the local authorities favouritism,” Ean’s letter reads.

Ean further stated that the Bunong people claimed that recently Monty had his subordinate officials falsify documents and provide thumbprints for the sale of some villagers’ land to businessman Srey Chanthou, who holds the honorific Oknha, while threatening other villagers that they would force the sale of their land as well so that rich people can turn it into pine tree plantations.

“I would like [Sar Kheng] to investigate this case thoroughly to ensure transparency and justice for all parties including the indigenous people and to punish any officials who have committed wrongdoing in order to protect the reputation and legitimacy of the government,” the letter concluded.
https://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/ ... -over-land
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Re: Cambodia's Indigenous Peoples ask for help

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The District Governor of O'Raing district in Mondulkiri, Seak Mony, who has been accused of being the mastermind behind the local trafficking of state and indigenous land, now claims that his admistration is cracking down on these illegal practices.

Backstory: In 2020, Seak Mony was specifically mentioned as a prime suspect listed in connection with illegal land grabs in Mondulkiri,
however, despite a superficial government shake-up, he is still in business as usual : post516855.html#p516855


February 3, 2022
Three bulldozers seized in Mondulkiri
Mondulkiri Provincial Administration confiscated bulldozers and other tools used to illegally clear land in O’Raing district.

District governor Seak Mony said yesterday that authorities arrested one suspect on Tuesday.

“The suspect owns land near the state land located in O’Raing district. They were clearing their own land near there but unfortunately, they also cleared and encroached on state land. So, this is an illegal action for law enforcement to handle,” he said.

“We didn’t see the two drivers of other bulldozers. We saw only one bulldozer driver who was using it to clear the land so the official brought him in with the three bulldozers to the provincial Forestry Administration,” said Mony.

He added that the suspect is only an employee and someone else is behind the illegal land clearing.

“We can’t tell you about the people who are behind this illegal clearing of state land because it could affect the authorities’ investigation to find the real suspect,” said Mony. “They must face law enforcement.”
https://www.khmertimeskh.com/501018087/ ... ondulkiri/
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Re: Cambodia's Indigenous Peoples ask for help

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Land Clearing; Mondulkiri
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On March 16, about 50 Bunong Indigenous villagers protested against a private company clearing and marking boundaries on several hectares on their communal forestry land in Lao Ka village of Sen Monorom city.

Pleok Phirom, a community representative, told VOD that an unidentified company had cleared more than 60 hectares of their 300-hectare ancestral land. When villagers went to stop them, Phirom said, there were public officials overseeing the action and protecting the company’s machines.

After villagers protested strongly, she continued, the company suspended the clearance. But it has not removed the machinery yet, and Phirom said longer-running encroachments have cleared thousands of resin trees used by local Bunong people since 2012.

“Nowadays, we are living depending on that forest, such as by getting honey and resin,” Phirom said, adding that preserving the forest was also a positive step toward fighting climate change.

We have protected this forest for years, but this year the company continues to clear it. So we are not satisfied. Everyone struggles and sacrifices for this forest. If they still continue to cut the trees, I am willing to sacrifice my life to protect the trees.

However, local officials deny that the company is encroaching on any land it does not have legal rights to use.

Pov Sophat, Sokhadom commune chief, said he forgot the name of the company but that it had made a boundary for the land after obtaining legal rights to it from the government. He also said the land the company is clearing is located in Pech Chreada district, not in Sen Monorom, and beyond the powers of his position to solve.

“I don’t know how to solve it because it is a land concession. So it is also difficult because they have proper legal [permission],” he said.

Kroeung Tola, a consultant for the Indigenous Community Network in Mondulkiri province, said the same company is clearing tall trees in an area several kilometers from its plantation.

He said the company and public officials colluded with each to grab state forest land in several cases.

“This activity affects the forestry and has destroyed several resin trees owned by people [in] the Phnom Prich Wildlife sanctuary.”
https://globalvoices.org/2022/03/31/pro ... nd-rights/
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Re: Cambodia's Indigenous Peoples ask for help

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City monkey always greedy
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