Hundreds in Cambodia Protest Lack of Progress in Resolving Land Disputes
Almost a thousand protesters gathered on Monday outside the Ministry of Land Management in Cambodia’s capital Phnom Penh to urge direct intervention by the Ministry in long-running land disputes, saying that handing the responsibility off to provincial authorities has stalled resolution.
Coming from the provinces of Koh Kong, Kompong Speu, Preah Vihea, and Oddar Meanchey, the more than 700 villagers held placards reading ‘We want no development that takes villagers’ land,’ ‘No land, no life,’ and other messages protesting the confiscation of their land.
Speaking to RFA’s Khmer Service following the protest, Saing Puy—representing villagers from the Koh Sdach commune in Koh Kong’s Kiri Sakor district—said that villagers have now been locked in a dispute over land with the Chinese firm Union Development Group since 2008.
