Facts & Stats – The Voices of Indigenous Peoples in Cambodia

The Indigenous World 2024: Cambodia

The report provides an overview of the Indigenous Peoples in Cambodia, detailing their population, challenges, and ongoing issues with land rights and conservation.

The report provides an overview of the Indigenous Peoples in Cambodia, detailing their population, challenges, and ongoing issues with land rights and conservation. It highlights the struggles faced by Indigenous communities in securing their ancestral lands, facing land grabs, discrimination, forced displacement, and environmental exploitation. The lack of legal protections and increasing privatization of natural resources exacerbate the vulnerability of Indigenous Peoples, leading to growing debts and poverty within these communities. The report can be found at The Indigenous World 2024: Cambodia – IWGIA – International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs

The Report in A Nutshell

Indigenous Peoples in Cambodia face challenges such as land grabs, discrimination, forced displacement, and environmental exploitation. They struggle to secure their ancestral lands, and the lack of legal protections exacerbates their vulnerability. Additionally, the lengthy process of obtaining Collective Land Titles leaves Indigenous communities exposed to land encroachment.

The government’s rejection of recommendations from Indigenous Peoples’ organizations impacts the rights and autonomy of Indigenous communities by disregarding the principles of free, prior, and informed consent (FPIC). This exclusion prevents Indigenous decision-makers from having a say in the future of their ancestral land, leading to further marginalization and discrimination.

Some ongoing struggles and conflicts faced by Indigenous communities in Cambodia include:

– Land encroachment and illegal sale of communal land, leading to disputes and forced displacement.
– Criminalization of traditional land management practices, such as rotational farming.
– Discrimination and exclusion of Indigenous Peoples from decision-making processes regarding their ancestral land.

These challenges have sparked protests and resistance from Indigenous communities, as they continue to demand their rights and fight to protect their cultures and traditions.

Satellite Data Shows Protected Areas Faced Brunt of Deforestation in 2022

New satellite data reveals that Cambodia’s remaining dense forests were further depleted last year, with four major protected areas and national parks registering higher deforestation than in 2021.

Read full article at: Satellite Data Shows Protected Areas Faced Brunt of Deforestation in 2022 | CamboJA News

Kbal Romeas Community: Struggling To Protect The Land

The Lower Sesan 2 (LS2) hydropower dam is the first large-scale dam built on the Sesan River in Cambodia. It will change the natural flow of the Sesan and Srepok rivers, the two main tributaries of the Mekong, and lead to changes in water quantity, the fishery, and sediment. Although the LS2 dam was officially opened by Prime Minister Hun Sen on 25th September 2017, the gates were gradually closed day by day. This has led to the flooding of two villages, Srekor and Kbal Romeas, where villagers have refused to resettle. Even though the two villages have been flooded, the villagers have demanded to continue living in their original villages of Srekor and Kbal Romeas.

The official water level in the LS2 dam’s reservoir was 74.93 meters on October 20th, 2017. Based on recent updates by local people in early November 2017, there are still 146 families, with a total of 700 people, still living in the two villages (38 houses, 58 families, and 252 people in Kbal Romeas, and 72 houses, 85 families, and 448 people in Srekor village). Srekor village was totally flooded by 18th October 2017 and it was later reported that the water level was 7 meters deep at the village temple by early November 2017. Some villagers have moved to their farmhouse and some others to camping tents in a safe area that is located about 4 kilometers from the original village. Kbal Romeas village was also flooded, but not as badly compared to Srekor village. As of early November 2017, the water level was 1.3 meters deep at the temple of Kbal Romeas. Villagers have moved their livestock, including cows, buffalos, pigs, and chickens, and heavy equipment to a safe area which is located about 7 kilometers from the original village. This means that the villagers in Kbal Romeas can still stay in their original houses, but they have to use boats for transportation to land.

The reservoir of the LS2 dam has submerged the rice fields of local communities. As reported by local villagers, at least 45 hectares of rice belonging to 30 families in Srekor village and at least 24 hectares of rice fields belonging to 12 families in Kbal Romeas village were completely destroyed by the flood. Losing their rice fields means losing their livelihood. This is a big concern for these communities who are worried that they will face a food security problem. A villager in Srekor village said that “We have food but this food would be enough just for two more months, so after that, we may have nothing to eat. We depend on our fields’ harvest but now all fields are flooded, so we don’t know what to do to get food, or we all will die.” Some villagers have already been faced with hunger, as some of their food was submerged by the flood. They are also uncertain if the customary sharing of food to needy villagers can be sustained when the situation reaches a point where there is insufficient food for all of the villagers.

Besides food security concerns, local communities in these two villages are also faced with health problems such as diarrhea, stomach aches, fever, cold, inflammation, and skin disease (experiencing itchy skin). Since 18^th October 2017, the water level continues to rise day by day and there is no clean water and sanitation provided to these communities by local authorities or local NGOs. Local people are using water harvested from the rain or water collected from the river or nearby stream for drinking, but this practice is not sustainable in the long term due to the ending of the rainy season. The prolonged submergence of the area, and the decay of materials such as trees and plants in the water, will cause a reduction in water quality. Therefore, the drinking water sources that the villagers and animals depend on will no longer be suitable for consumption and may cause further health problems. The Phnom Penh Post released an article on December 5^th, 2017 about the shortage of clean water at Sesan, where people are facing shortages of potable water for drinking when dam’s reservoir is stagnant, not clear, and smells bad.

Other main concerns; 81 children have not attended school since 2015 because there were no teachers, and a young woman has died because there are no health services, a poor road, and long distance to the town for receiving public services.

Further, three members of a family of a leader and activist of the community were harassed by the local authorities and provincial court. They have been accused of incitement to commit a felony and obstruction of a public official because of efforts to organize a solidarity mobilization trip and to join their traditional festival on 23 July 2017. Now, three of the community representatives are still in Phnom Penh for their security. On 7 February our lawyer filed a request to the court to postpone the court appearance.

But while they rue their losses, some see a fragile victory

25 September 2017, Dam Inauguration Day. The prime minister Hun Sen allowed both effected communities to continue to live in their old village “They do not want to leave their land because they have their shifting cultivation farm so let them continue to practice traditional shifting cultivation and we just reserve the land and build the house for them in the new settlement in case they want to live here or go and back for their shifting cultivation,” said the prime minister. This was a strong message of the prime minister and helpful for the communities, and so the governor committed to respect this idea. On 9 February 2018, officials visited the effected communities and promised to respond and support the communities demands. The communal land title, public services and compensation were considered by the Deputy governor, but they need a community appointed NGO to work with them. Even though the community has seen the green light from the governor, they still do not trust local authorities and have concerns about the land title. This is because the community demand is for 8200 hectares, but the governor might consider only 900 hectares for communal land title. Based upon these concerns, the community needs help from CIPA to assist in pushing for the tentative promises to come to fruition. This must be done with transparency and must directly benefit the community. If they lose, they will have sacrificed everything for this long struggle.

While CLT is underway, the forest is being cleared.

History of World’s Indigenous Peoples Celebrating Day

History of World’s Indigenous Peoples Celebrating Day

Introduction

According to the United Nations, there are about 476 million indigenous people which is about 6.2% of the world population living in around 90 countries. According to the census statistics in 2013, the population of indigenous people in Cambodia is 183,831 which is about 2.5% of the total population. There are about 24 ethnic/tribal groups living in 15 provinces such as Ratanakiri, Mondulkiri, Stung Treng, Kratie, Kampong Thom, Preah Vihear, Pursat, Battambang, Uddar Meanchey, Banteay Meanchey, Thbongkmum, Koh Kong, Kompong Speu, Siem Reap, and Sihanoukville. The indigenous people have a very close connection and strong beliefs in the spirits of the soil, water, rivers, mountains, forests, etc. The way of living of each indigenous group is very similar. For instance, they all do shifting cultivation, raising livestock, hunting, and fishing. They also rely on natural resources such as wild vegetables, honey, herbal medicines, and wild rubbers which can be used in their household or sold at the market.

On 23 December 1994, the United Nations General Assembly decided, in its resolution 49/214, that the International Day of the World’s Indigenous People shall be observed on 9 August every year. This resolution is in line with the International Decade on the World’s Indigenous Peoples and is designated today as a reminder of the first meeting, in 1982, of the United Nations Working Group on Indigenous Peoples in Geneva, Switzerland. After the conclusion of the first international decade on the World’s Indigenous People (1995-2004), the General Assembly declared Resolution 174 dated 20 December 2004 to have the Second International Decade on the World’s Indigenous Peoples (2005 -2015), which aims to further strengthen international cooperation for solving problems facing indigenous peoples in areas such as culture, education, health, human rights, environment, and social and economic development.

After 25 years of struggle and sacrifice, the 63rd General Assembly of the United Nations on 13 September 2007 voted in favor of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. 143 countries, including Cambodia, voted in favor. Four other countries voted against, including the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.

In Cambodia, the government has enacted laws, sub-decrees, policies and ratified a number of international laws and documents recognizing and protecting the rights of indigenous peoples, including:

Constitution of the Kingdom of Cambodia 1993 (Article 31)
Land Law 2001 (Articles 23 to 28)
Forestry Act 2002
Sub-Decree No. 83 on Procedures for Land Registration of Indigenous Communities June 09, 2009
Policy on Registration and Land Use Rights of Indigenous Communities in the Kingdom of Cambodia (April 24, 2009)
National Policy on Indigenous Peoples Development (April 24, 2009)
ILO-Convention 111
United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (2007) (UNDRIP)
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

History of International Day of Indigenous Peoples in Cambodia

Cambodia celebrated the first international day of indigenous people in 2005 in Phnom Penh, and it was celebrated from then till now for 10 years. On August 3, 2006, the Cambodian government, through the Office of the Council of Ministers, issued Notification No. 1205, dated by Samdech Akka Sena Moha Padei Techo Hun Sen, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Cambodia on July 31, 2006, to authorize the organization of the 12th International Day of Indigenous Peoples at the international level and the 2nd in Cambodia.

Since then, the international day of indigenous peoples has been celebrated every year in the provinces and cities of Cambodia, especially the provinces that have an indigenous population as described below:

1st and 2nd in Phnom Penh, 3rd in Ratanakkiri, 4th in Pursat, 5th in Mondulkiri, 6th in Siem Reap, 7th in Stung Treng, 8th in Kampong Cham, 9th in Kampong Cham 10th Sihanoukville in Kratie, 11th in Koh Kong, 12th in Kampong Speu, 13th in Kampong Thom, 14th in Preah Vihear, 15th in Ratanakkiri and 16th in Oddar Meanchey.

Noted that after the 8th celebration in 2013, the local communities had taken ownership to organize this the international day of indigenous peoples for the first time in 3 different villages/communes across Cambodia which has about 400 participants. Since then, the number of participants and celebrating places has increased rapidly. By 2019, the celebration of the international day of indigenous people has taken place in about 45 communities with 6000 participants.

2021 is the 27th international day of indigenous People in the world, and the 17th in Cambodia under the theme, “Leaving no one behind: Indigenous Peoples and the call for a new social contract”

Due to the outbreak of COVID-19 in Cambodia, and to contribute to the government in preventing the spread of this disease, the indigenous peoples of Cambodia are virtually celebrating this day via Zoom.

As mentioned above, we would like to invite His Majesty, Excellencies, Lok Chumteav, Neak Oknha, Ladies and Gentlemen, especially the government representatives of Cambodia, the representatives/ambassadors, NGOs and the private sector in Cambodia to join us in celebrating the International Day of Indigenous Peoples on August 9, 2021, from 8 am to 5 pm in order to raise awareness of cultural traditions and recognition of indigenous peoples’ rights in Cambodia.

Translated from the Khmer version by Soy Pisey