In the weeks ahead of the July 23 election, land disputants have continued to speak out despite ongoing intimidation from authorities. Local news reports show conflicts erupting in Mondulkiri, Kandal and Koh Kong provinces, leading to protests, arrests and alleged threats.
Here’s the latest on three recent incidents. You can explore these conflicts and more in Kamnotra’s “In Dispute” section.
Kandal Airport Protesters Gain Small, but Temporary, Ground
In Kandal province, where the Overseas Cambodia Investment Corporation is building a new airport, about 50 protesters stopped the construction of a new fence that would have cut off their access to a road, according to a July 12 report from CamboJA.
After protesters blocked airport workers from reaching the site on July 6, a foreman temporarily called off construction but warned it could continue at any time, CamboJA said.
Construction of the new Techo Takhmao International Airport requires filling in Canal 94, which villagers use for fishing and daily living, and is expected to evict people living on the border of Takeo and Kandal provinces. Developer OCIC is chaired by Canadia Bank oknha Pung Khiev Se, who has also headed the Federation of Khmer Chinese in Cambodia. OCIC also developed Koh Pich island.
The airport project has caused years of strife between community members and authorities, with residents claiming they were offered measly compensation for their homes and police retaliating against protests by arresting villagers.
Read more about this conflict here.
Mondulkiri Villagers Tell RFA They Were Threatened With Guns
A group of Bunong indigenous villagers living in Koh Nhek district’s Rayar commune told Radio Free Asia in a July 10 broadcast that environmental officials threatened them with guns while they were farming on disputed land earlier this month.
The incident played out on July 4, villagers told the radio broadcaster, and culminated in authorities detaining one community member. The person was released later that day after the community protested in front of a local environmental office, according to RFA.
Village representative Vay Laysean told RFA that villagers had been farming on the land for decades, but in recent years environmental officials have claimed they are encroaching on protected forest. It was not immediately clear which protected area.
Mondulkiri, home to Keo Seima and Phnom Prich wildlife sanctuaries, has become a hotbed of land disputes, ranging from extortion claims in remote forestland to mass land grabs by government officials to rampant land speculation amid the promise of new airport construction.
Read more about Mondulkiri conflicts by typing “Mondulkiri” into the database search bar.
Pressure Mounts to Release Jailed Koh Kong Activists
On June 29, 10 Koh Kong activists embroiled in a longtime dispute with sugar plantations linked to tycoons Ly Yong Phat and Heng Huy were arrested and charged with incitement, according to human rights organization Licadho.
That day, authorities allegedly blocked the disputants’ vans in Sre Ambel district and prevented them from traveling to Phnom Penh, where they had planned to deliver a petition to the Ministry of Justice to try to resolve the dispute. The activists were charged under Articles 494 and 495 of the Criminal Code, and only one was released on bail, with the other nine remaining in Koh Kong provincial prison.
Licadho’s call for the activists’ release, published on July 6, was co-signed by more than 50 partner organizations.
Then on July 11, around 100 people — made up of the arrestees’ families and the broader Koh Kong community — protested at the provincial court to demand their release, according to a report from RFA. Family members told the outlet that their loved ones had done nothing other than sign a petition; one person said he was not allowed to visit his jailed mother.
The conflict dates back to 2006, when residents said their land was seized and cleared by notorious tycoon Ly Yong Phat’s Koh Kong Sugar and Koh Kong Plantation without compensation. The following year, residents said 197 families lost their land starting to tycoon Heng Huy’s sugar plantations, kicking off another spell of protests, petitions and arrests that have gone unresolved for more than a decade.
Read more about the Ly Yong Phat conflict here and the Heng Huy conflict here.