Social Conflict
No justice for Indigenous community taking on a Cambodian rubber baron
KAMPONG THOM, Cambodia — The mood outside the Kampong Thom Provincial Court had grown tense on the afternoon of July 26. Some 12 residents of Ngon village, an Indigenous Kuy community in Kampong Thom province’s Sandan district, waited for the judge’s verdict. The group had spent roughly $200 traveling the 75 kilometers (47 miles) to […]
Cambodia’s elites swallow up Phnom Penh’s lakes, leaving the poor marooned
PHNOM PENH — On the edges of Boeung Tamok, Phnom Penh’s largest lake, 25-year-old Kong Khun sheltered from the late June heat in a bamboo hut. Despite clear skies, Khun wasn’t out on the water fishing with his family. There is little point, he said. An almost endless convoy of trucks carrying sand, rocks and […]
China-backed mine in Indonesia poses high risk, World Bank watchdog warns
JAKARTA — A China-backed zinc and lead mine being developed in Indonesia’s Sumatra Island may pose “extreme” risks to the environment and nearby communities, according to an assessment by the World Bank’s internal watchdog. Public opposition to the project forced the developer to suspend it indefinitely earlier this year, but not halt it. The WB’s […]
Sumatra villagers protest iron mine allegedly operating despite stop order
JAKARTA — Villagers in Indonesia’s Sumatra Island have demanded authorities revoke the permit of an iron ore miner after it continued operating in violation of an order to halt its activities. That order stemmed from a July 7 field visit by local government officials, who found a myriad of violations at the site operated by […]
FSC-certified Moorim Paper linked to massive forest clearing in Indonesia’s Papua
JAKARTA — An area of natural forest a tenth the size of Seoul has been cleared by a subsidiary of South Korean paper giant Moorim in Indonesia’s Papua region, a new report shows. The land in question, in the district of Merauke, is part of a concession licensed to PT Plasma Nutfah Marind Papua (PNMP), […]
‘Land mafia’ makes its mark in a Sumatran village’s fight against oil palm firm
JAKARTA — In 2020, residents of Suka Mukti village in southern Sumatra paid 10 million rupiah each, about $700, to a government agency to obtain titles to their land — a process that is officially supposed to be free. This year, the same agency declared the certificates illegal because, it says, the land falls inside […]
Lack of resolution mechanisms allow palm oil conflicts to fester in Indonesia
JAKARTA — Indonesia has no effective mechanism for resolving its epidemic of land conflicts between rural communities and palm oil companies, according to a new study. Indonesia is the world’s top producer of palm oil, but the industry’s rapid expansion has fueled deforestation and allegations of land grabbing throughout the archipelago nation. The study, produced […]