About 250 protesters gathered on Friday to release a joint statement appealing to the government to resolve six ongoing land disputes in Siem Reap province that are affecting 1,006 families and 3,139 hectares of land in three districts, according to community representative Keo Sophy of Banteay Srey district’s Tbeng commune.
The protesters, who met in Tbeng commune, issued a statement calling for courts to stop arresting land representatives and for the government to settle their land disputes in favor of poor communities.
Phoeun Pha, a community representative in Varin district’s Srenoy commune, said the land grabbing was a serious abuse of human rights. “If there is no proper resolution for us, we will continue to protest, even if we are threatened by authorities or court officials,” he said.
