Sixty-percent of ethnic Vietnamese young women surveyed and 90% in indigenous groups have faced discrimination, including problems at school and especially when using their language, according to a new research report.
With their case reaching a French appeal court today, a Bunong community says their claims to land are in contention, while villagers say debt and wage labor are supplanting their traditions.
Mondulkiri has been a hotbed for illegal land grabs and land speculation. Interior Minister Sar Kheng in October warned local officials from engaging in land grabs and corruption.
Seng Sovannara was removed from his Justice Ministry position in 2019 following accusations that he had taken control of 990 hectares in a wildlife sanctuary and threatened indigenous Bunong villagers to hand over 472 hectares of their land.
Indigenous communities say speculators have accelerated illegal land sales and Covid-19 restrictions are preventing members from patrolling the protected area.
Two Svay Rieng land dispute representatives have been charged again for violating Covid-19 law; separately, Mondulkiri province indigenous families file a land clearance complaint against a Takhmao city resident.
Bunong villagers flushed out by Sesan dam floodwaters have been taking boats to visit ancestral grounds, wading through clusters of dying trees that were not adapted to survive permanent floods. They are now bracing for a new fight as a rubber company eyes their refuge on higher ground.
Indigenous community representatives told a forum on extractive industries on Friday that they were concerned about the effects mining projects in their areas could have on their health and livelihoods, and asked that they be better informed by companies and the government.
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