About 100 villagers in northern Cambodia who were evicted from their homes are hiding in the forest, sleeping in plastic tents and catching fish to survive, because they are afraid they will be arrested, said the head of an association who visited them on Thursday.

“They are guarding themselves afraid that authorities will arrest them,” said Koet Saray, president of Khmer Student Intelligent League Association. His organization works with students to increase their participation in social development, good governance and the sustainable use of natural resources.

In a decade-long land dispute, some 300 families in several villages have been driven off their land in Preah Vihear province’s Kuleaen district to make way for a rubber plantation on a land concession given by the government to Phnom Penh-based Seila Damex Co., Ltd.

On March 6, hundreds of police and other security forces clashed with about 130 residents during a protest against the forced evictions. They tear-gassed protesters, burned down homes and arrested about 40 villagers.