Cambodian Journalists Alliance Association

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Pu Lu villager farmer Maly Kim stands on his three hectare farm which Socfin had cleared and planted with rubber trees, which Kim now farms; however, the company demands he pay back the costs of planting and preparing the land. (CamboJA/Jack Brook)

Years-Long Mediation Leaves Bunong Farmers Indebted to Multinational Rubber Firm

More than a decade after subsidiaries of multinational rubber firm Socfin Group forcibly cleared and seized the farms, burial grounds and sacred forests of Bunong indigenous communities in Mondulkiri province, the company now seeks to collect tens of thousands of dollars from these farmers for the cost of “land preparation” and other fees.