Australia’s ANZ will compensate hundreds of families forcibly evicted by a Cambodian sugar plantation and refinery to which it loaned $40 million a decade ago.
Experts say the settlement sets an important precedent for how other major banks deal with human rights issues, particularly in emerging markets, and could influence other ongoing disputes.
The settlement, announced on Thursday, follows a years’ long campaign by NGOs on behalf of communities kicked off their farms by Phnom Penh Sugar’s operation in Kampong Speu, a province to the west of capital Phnom Penh.
