Four villagers were injured yesterday when security forces open-fired at a group of 200 protesters who had gathered to block bulldozers from clearing their land in the Kraite province, one of four provinces that make up the greater Prey Lang forest in Cambodia. Our campaign partners LICADHO said that the shooting took place when villagers attempted to stop security guards at a rubber plantation owned by TTY Corporation from destroying the communities’ cassava fields. According to witnesses, the security guards opened fire on the villagers using AK-47s. VOA Khmer interviewed a woman injured at the scene. Netr Ratana, 23, gave the following statement: “I urge the government to resolve the land issue between villagers and the company. Don’t let people keep suffering like they are today.”
Clashes between villagers and security forces are an increasing occurrence in Cambodia, as inhabitants of forests in the Prey Lang area are standing up to defend their land against the destruction caused by rubber plantations, illegal loggers, and mining concessions authorized by the government.
See Cultural Survival’s action alert here to protect the Prey Lang forest in Cambodia and its people.
