CAMBODIA: Communities fight back against land grabbing
Many Cambodians struggle to keep their land (Photo: Rebecca Murray/IRIN)
Yi Kunthear was beaten while defending her plot of land (Photo: Rebecca Murray/IRIN)KOH KONG, 13 September 2010 (IRIN) - Forced evictions and land grabbing are nothing new in Cambodia, according to the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), but it is new for communities to fight back.
"If we don't have our land, we cannot live," Yi Kunthear said. In August, she was reportedly beaten unconscious by sugar plantation workers while trying to defend her land. "We will block our land if the company tries to take it again."
Kunthear, 25, grew up on her family's small farm growing rice, cassava and cashew nuts in the rural district of Sre Ambel, Koh Kong Province. But in 2009, the Supreme Court ruled that her family's land, along with that of her 34 neighbours, belonged to Heng Huy, a local businessman.
"If we don't have our land, we cannot live," Yi Kunthear said. In August, she was reportedly beaten unconscious by sugar plantation workers while trying to defend her land. "We will block our land if the company tries to take it again."
Kunthear, 25, grew up on her family's small farm growing rice, cassava and cashew nuts in the rural district of Sre Ambel, Koh Kong Province. But in 2009, the Supreme Court ruled that her family's land, along with that of her 34 neighbours, belonged to Heng Huy, a local businessman.
