Cambodia: Kuy indigenous people protest to prevent their farmland from being cleared by outsiders while land disputes remain unresolved
"Indigenous Kuy People Block Outsiders From Clearing Farmland in Preah Vihear", 17 January 2024
M’lou Prey II commune authorities, of Preah Vihear’s Chheb district, submitted documentation ... to the district regarding alleged encroachment on land farmed by Indigenous Kuy people following a protest earlier ...
…, nearly 100 Kuy people from Bos and Preus Ka’ak villages gathered to prevent outsiders with tractors from clearing farmland. The dispute marks the second incident in less than a month of Kuy people from Chheb district fighting back against outsiders clearing community farmland.
Villagers arrived at the farmland, an area of about 800 hectares, … and discovered seven unfamiliar men clearing the land using three tractors.
“People came out to prevent those unknown outsiders from further clearing the farmland where they have cultivated cassava for generations,” said Pean Sophat, a Preus Ka’ak community member who was present that day…
In an interview …, Kao Rin, Chheb district deputy governor, said he didn’t know anything about the conflict and denied that district authorities had permitted outsiders to use the land in question.
“No letters have been received from outsiders requesting permission to use the land,” he said.
Chheb district governor Long Soben echoed Rin’s comments, saying on January 13 that he did not know who the outsiders got permission from and that district authorities were not yet informed about the dispute.
Kan Sovankea, M’lou Prey II commune’s chief who is also Kuy, said the commune had not granted permission to any outsiders to use this land. He plans to work with district authorities to find a solution, and awaits their reply to the letter he submitted …