06/28/2005

Updated July 12

Phnong villagers in Cambodia’s isolated eastern province of Mondolkiri have mounted unprecedented public demonstrations to protest the Cambodian government’s grant of a 199,000 hectare pine tree concession to Wuzhishan LS Group, a company controlled by the Chinese government. The Phnong, a highland people numbering 35,000, accuse the company of encroaching on traditional burial land and a holy spirit forest, as well as using chemicals affecting the health of people and animals. The granting of such a large concession without consulting local people violates the Royal Government of Cambodia’s commitment to the donor community last December to impose a moratorium on such actions. 10,000 hectares within this concession have already been approved for development.

Refugees International has learned from a senior Cambodian government official that the concession also encroaches on communities and land planned for inclusion in a large Japanese development project in Mondolkiri. Representatives of the Japanese government have asked Senior Minister Sok An, who is said to have negotiated the concession deal, for an explanation of the agreement, and have threatened to suspend their own project commitment if the concession development goes forward. Between the Phnong public protests and the Japanese government concern, the issue has become controversial enough to be addressed by Prime Minister Hun Sen, who will meet with donor representatives on June 30 in Phnom Penh.

For the Phnong to engage in public protests underscores the depth of their concern, not only about this concession, but about the overall vulnerability of their claims to land and their traditional livelihood. The Phnong practice a type of farming called "shifting cultivation," which involves farming a crop field for a brief period of time and fallowing it for a much longer period. They farm over a wide area of isolated Mondolkiri, once under-populated, but now under increasing threat from economic development projects agreed by the central government and from in-migration by lowland Khmer seeking open space and economic opportunity. The Phnong traditionally are loosely organized, without a unified tribal federation. With their livelihoods and survival under threat, however, they are starting to organize and are becoming more sophisticated about understanding and advocating for their rights within the Cambodian nation.

Recent Cambodian history suggests that powerful interests may authorize the use of force to allow the Wuzhishan LS Group to go forward with the concession. The Phnong are blocking road access to the concession area and local police have threatened Phnong leaders to cease the blockade or face violent action.

Refugees International’s President Emeritus Lionel Rosenblatt rushed to Cambodia on June 28, 2005 to monitor the situation and to join with other non-governmental organizations and donor governments to avert a confrontation leading to violence. RI has been involved with supporting Phnong communities in Mondolkiri since 1999, initially advocating for the UN World Food Program to provide emergency food relief to returning refugees and more recently supporting scholarships for Phnong students, community development projects, and the development of plans for a Phnong cultural center.

The Royal Government of Cambodia should insist that Wuzhishan suspend its activities in the Phnong areas pending a review of the process for granting the concession and its likely impact on the community. If upon review the project is deemed suitable for implementation, then an alternative site should be found which does not violate Phnong sacred areas. The Cambodian government should hold discussions of the concession project with Phnong community leaders and determine in full consultation with them how to resolve the current dispute without violating Phnong land rights.

On July 5, 2005, Lionel Rosenblatt told the Cambodia Daily that local villagers were angry and viewed Wuzhishan as a foreign invader. "Whenever they try to state their case, they have been thrown directly into the claws and teeth of a massive Chinese company," Rosenblatt told the paper.

"When did Mondolkiri become a province of China? It's this foreign grip on their village that is making them concerned, angry... The potential for demonstrations and possibly violence is very high," he added.