A worker from a private company attacked an indigenous villager with a sword while some 200 villagers blocked tractors during a tense standoff over disputed farmland in northern Cambodia on Tuesday, several villagers said.
The clash between Kuy indigenous people, provincial authorities and workers from Santana Agro Products Co. Ltd. began when villagers held a religious ceremony to curse and condemn the agricultural development and processing company.
Kuy people in two villages in Preah Vihear province’s Chhaep district have alleged that corrupt officials and businessmen have colluded to clear about 1,050 hectares of ancestral forest.
Santana Agro Products is owned by Preah Vihear’s deputy governor, Ouk Kimsan. Over the last month, the company has cleared nearly 300 hectares of forest land in Dang Phlit and Narong villages, villagers told RFA.
The land includes both sacred forest land as well as areas used for cattle grazing land and rice fields and where villagers have farmed for generations, said Thong Chai, 67, a Kuy indigenous woman living in Dang Phlit.
“The authorities haven’t helped to solve the problem,” she said. “They let the thieves go free and leave the people to suffer. I really feel sorry for the natural resources in Dang Phlit commune.”
Tractors, knives and swords
Villagers lined up their motorbikes and stood in the way of Santana Agro’s heavy machinery on Tuesday as the company attempted to clear more land.
Company workers later dispersed the villagers by driving tractors at them, villagers said. Dozens of workers armed with knives, assault rifles and swords later responded with threats to villagers while dozens of police officers stood nearby.
One Kuy man was injured when a worker swung his sword at his leg. It was unclear how seriously he was hurt.
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“They hit and run, they hit and run,” said another indigenous person, Ram Saran. “If people don’t jump off their motorbike, they will die. It’s not just a joke, and dozens of motorbikes were damaged.”
RFA was unable to reach Ouk Kimsan for comment on Tuesday, while several phone calls to Preah Vihear Gov. Kim Rithy went unanswered.
Villagers said Um Sophoeun, the district’s acting governor, went to the area later on Tuesday but didn’t address the residents’ complaints. Instead, he told them to let the company clear the forest first and wait for a resolution later, several villagers said.
In 2023, another group of Kuy villagers accused Santana of illegally grabbing and clearing their protected forest land in Preah Vihear’s Rovieng district for a cashew plantation, RFA Khmer reported.
Translated by Yun Samean. Edited by Matt Reed.