Stop the massive land grabbing in Preah Vihear

To date, thousands of of Kuy (indigenous) people were displaced since the government of Cambodia granted the economic land concession (ELC) of 42,422 hectares of land in Preah Vihear to the five subsidiaries of the Chinese company Hengfu Group Sugar Industry Co., Ltd. in 2011. 

These five subsidiaries – Heng Nong, Heng Rui, Lan Feng, Heng You, and Rui Feng – are converting the land for large-scale sugarcane planting for export, especially to Europe, China, and India. Sugarcane fields have now replaced the 25 villages occupied by more than 20,000, including the farmlands that serve as their only source of livelihood and their ancient foundations. Hengfu’s operations have also poisoned the waterways and the fish that thrive in them, which is a major food source in the area.

The Kuy people have been struggling against Hengfu, exhausting all means possible to stop the destruction of their land. They already filed formal complaints to authorities at various levels and courts, and even physically blocked the bulldozers clearing their land. On 30 August 2017, the affected communities submitted a petition to the Chinese Embassy in Phnom Penh with the following calls:

• Review Hengfu’s five subsidiaries if they are abiding by China government’s environmental and human rights guidelines as well as the international human rights standards, and
• Stop the operations of the subsidiaries and remove them from their lands.

Likewise, we call on the Government of the People's Republic of China to intervene on the matter, heed the communities’ demands, and take the necessary measures within its jurisdiction to reverse this land grab. We also call the Royal Government of Cambodia to stand by its people and protect their interest and welfare.

Let us show our support to the Kuy communities for their indigenous right over their ancestral land through this petition. SIGN NOW!

By https://www.change.org/p/government-of-the-people-s-republic-of-china-save-the-kuy-communities-stop-the-massive-land-grabbing-in-preah-vihear-cambodia