Rights Group: Indigenous Peoples Exploited in Rush for Resources

Boonrian Chinnarat holds a net he once used to catch giant catfish at his house in Chiang Kong district of Chiang Rai province, northern Thailand, Feb. 7, 2011. He blames the disappearance of the fish partly on China's upstream dams. (Photo: by Ron Corben, VOA)

Friday, 29 June 2012
Ron Corben, VOA | Bangkok

“In Cambodia’s Prey Lang Forest region, home to the Kuy indigenous people, official land grants of tens of thousands of hectares of forest for mineral extraction, timber and rubber plantations have forced many people to give up traditional livelihoods."

BANGKOK -- Human rights organization Minority Rights Group International says unprecedented demand for natural resources globally, but especially across Asia, is leading to ethnic conflict and displacement of indigenous communities.

In its annual report released Thursday, the group says the demand for resources covers such areas as logging and dams, oil, gas or mineral extraction, coastal tourism, commercial fisheries, conservation parks and large scale agriculture.

Carl Soderbergh, a spokesperson for Minority Rights Group International, says the global economic downturn, pressures to boost revenue sources, the emerging bio-fuel market, and resource exploitation has created a "perfect storm" in which minorities and indigenous peoples bear the brunt of demands.

‘The land is our life’

Toumpun villagers in Ratanakkiri light incense as part of a ceremony to protest against the loss of their land to a dam project on the Sesan River. Adam Miller

Tuesday, 06 March 2012
Maeve Galvin
The Phnom Penh Post

Indigenous peoples in the northeast are fighting to hang on to their land as private companies target the forests and resources they, and their cultures, depend on for survival.

“For us indigenous peoples, the land and the forest is like our market,” says Oreyu Train, commune chief of the indigenous Kreung Village in Ratanakkiri.

“We have no market like Khmer people. We go to the forest to collect. Our survival depends on it. We need to manage our land here if our future generations are to keep our traditions and culture alive.”

No authority can take ancestral land

Chanthy Dam is helping indigenous Cambodian communities to defend their land rights. But—even with the law on her side—her work involves great personal risk. Oxfam’s Chris Hufstader traveled to the highlands in the northern province of Ratanakiri to meet Chanthy and learn more.

No Authority can take ancestral land - Chris Hufstader, OXFAM
http://www.scribd.com/fullscreen/57425414?access_key=key-1pmo9zolhxcqji17b7o0


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLx1M9IWNRU&feature=player_embedded

Cambodia: IOM maps vulnerability of indigenous people

19 Jun 2009
Source: International Organization for Migration (IOM)

IOM this week presented the findings of a six-month assessment conducted in the remote provinces of Mondulkiri and Ratanakiri bordering Viet Nam and the Lao PDR.

Most of the population in the two provinces is composed of ethnic minority groups, who have traditionally relied on the forests and natural resources to meet their food and livelihood needs.

But rapid economic change now poses a threat to their traditional livelihoods and is making them increasingly vulnerable to natural hazards.

Large areas have been logged, weakening the ecological balance and removing their control over land and access to natural resources.

The assessment carried out by IOM in partnership with the Cambodia National Committee for Disaster Management (NCDM), shows that both provinces are prone to natural disasters including floods, drought and insect infestation.

These risks have increased due to deforestation, logging concessions to large businesses, plantations, climate change and environmental degradation.

The two provinces are also vulnerable to flooding, drought or changes in water quality caused by dams across the border in neighbouring Vietnam.

The findings of the assessment were presented at a workshop chaired by NCDM Secretary General Peou Samy, who welcomed the assessment as a breakthrough.

"We now have for the first time tangible data relating to the risk of natural disasters in these two provinces and we will include them into our national disaster preparedness national action plan," he said.

Two short documentaries commissioned by IOM - "The Lizard's Tail and The Trech's Nest" - illustrating the findings and showing how the indigenous communities perceive the threats to their traditional way of life were also shown at the launch. The firms will be available for wider dissemination in July.

The assessment was funded by Finland and the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation.

For more information, please contact Giuseppe Crocetti at IOM Cambodia, Tel: +85512900224, Email: gcrocetti@iom.int.