In Cambodia, buns continue their fight against Bolloré

Today, begins in Versailles, the appeal trial brought by members of the Cambodia Bunia ethnic group against the Bolloré group which they accuse of having robbed their lands.

PECH CHERADA district, MONDULKIRI - Sitting on his motorcycle, Khlang Thol points an area of the finger.""""""""""""""""This is where my field was.I cultivated rice and fruit trees on this land of around 3 hectares, """"""""""""""""explains this 43 -year -old farmer.""""""""""""""""If I was missing food, I was going to get it in the neighboring forest"""""""""""""""".

According to the traditions of its ancestors, Thol changed the location of its field every five to six years, in order to let the earth regenerate without using chemicals.""""""""""""""""What I could grow in a year was enough to feed my wife and my six children,"""""""""""""""" he said.

But today, the only thing that remains of the old rice field of Thol, these are heveas, perfectly aligned as far as the eye can see, in this remote region of the highlands of Cambodia.

Like some 800 other families in the commune of Bosra, in the eastern province of Mondulkiri, Thol belongs to the ethnic minority Bunong, an Aboriginal ethnic group and mainly animist who has been practicing a traditional way of life for centuries.For the Bunong, the MIR, which means land, is the central element of their culture: the buns run plots and production between families, without real notion of individual property.

The cultivation of hevea sounds the death knell for the traditional lifestyle of the buns

But since 2008, Thol can no longer cultivate his fields as his ancestors have always done.That year, the Cambodian government granted an economic land concession, commonly known as ELC (Economic Land Concession), in Socfin-KCD, a subsidiary of the Luxembourg group Socfin, a company specializing in the production of palm and rubber oil.The following year, the company received a second joint ELC from the first.The two concessions, owned by two subsidiaries recorded in Cambodia, called Varanasi and Sethikula, cover 6,659 hectares of land with leases of 70 and 99 years, respectively.In a few years, the primary forest has been shot down and the fields have been destroyed to produce natural rubber on an industrial scale.

For the Bunong, these ELCs have sounded the death knell for their traditional lifestyle.Deprived of their livelihoods, they have brutally entered the market economy.

Krey Quin, member of the community, explains:

In 2019, then 48 years old, he borrowed money for the first time in his life with a microfinance institution.

""""""""""""""""I must now do more journeys than before to find small jobs through the region, so I needed a motorcycle,"""""""""""""""" he explains.

The origin of community problems is in the complexity of the recognition of land ownership for the Aboriginal communities of the country.According to the United Nations Human Rights Office in Cambodia, the country is home to 455 Aboriginal communities, representing 179,000 people.Since 2001, the Cambodian land law has established recognition of municipal land, a legal regime which aims to protect the land of ethnic communities against the encroachment.But the process is """"""""""""""""very long, expensive and complicated"""""""""""""""", notes the United Nations office in an email, believing that it would take 100 years to validate all the municipal land at the current rhythm.

The compensations were not accepted for all

Like most Aboriginal communities in Cambodia, Bosra's Bunongs had no land title when Socfin-Kcd received its two ELCs.As a compensation, the company offered Bunong the possibility of receiving $ 200 per hectare of lost land or receiving land below in the concessions.A complication factor was that most members of the community did not know exactly the size of the areas they operated.A third type of compensation was to start cultivating and collecting rubber as independent harvesters within the land of the company.Quin chose this last option.He explains :

But all members of the community are not satisfied with these compensation offers.

""""""""""""""""For the Bunong, the land is life,"""""""""""""""" said Kroeung Tola, a community manager who has not accepted any of the options proposed by the company.""""""""""""""""I wanted to find my lands inside the concession, and not those they offered for relocation, which were too small and too far away.""""""""""""""""

At first, he and other members of the community tried to find an agreement at the local level, involving the authorities and Socfin-Kcd, in order to recover their land.They also tried to have their land recognized at community level, as provided for in land law, but the process has been pending since 2012.

explains Tola, in reference to a legal proceedings which they initiated 10,000 kilometers from their small town in Bosra.

The Bunongs turn to French justice

In 2015, 80 community representatives brought legal action in France against the Bolloré group, the indirect parent company of the Socfin group, based in Luxembourg.Although being a minority shareholder with 39.75 % of the shares, a complaint was filed against the French company on the grounds that it exercises real control over Socfin. Après six ans de procédures judiciaires, l'affaire a connu une première conclusion en juillet, lorsque le tribunal de première instance de Nanterre, en banlieue parisienne, a rejeté la demande des Cambodgiens, jugeant qu'""""""""""""""""aucun des requérants ne peut prouver un droit réel d'exploitation des terres litigieuses.""""""""""""""""

Cette décision """"""""""""""""n'a pas tenu compte du contexte local de l'affaire"""""""""""""""", explique Tola, qui mène également des activités de plaidoyer en tant que coordinateur du Mondulkiri Indigenous People Network.

Alors qu'une première audience en appel doit avoir lieu le 13 décembre à Versailles, Sek Sophorn, l'avocat cambodgien en charge du dossier, n'a """"""""""""""""pas beaucoup d'espoir"""""""""""""""".

""""""""""""""""Nous avons soumis de nombreux documents montrant les conséquences des concessions sur le mode de vie des Bunong, mais le tribunal demande des titres de propriété"""""""""""""""", explique-t-il. """"""""""""""""Mais cela ne veut pas dire que je suis pessimiste.France is one of the states that have voted in favor of the Declaration on the Rights of Aboriginal Peoples.I therefore hope that the French judge will take it into account when he will make his decision.There is no paper to prove the property property of the Bunongs because of their lifestyle, but that does not mean that they have no rights.""""""""""""""""

Contacted by email, Dominique de Leusse, Socfin's lawyer in this case, indicates that his client does not wish to comment on an in progress procedure.

Socfin-KCD, la filiale basée au Cambodge, affirme dans une déclaration fournie à VOD qu'elle soutient des """"""""""""""""projets de développement local"""""""""""""""" en améliorant ou en entretenant des routes, en construisant des ponts ou en installant des puits d'eau à l'intérieur du village.After years of mediation with the Bunong, a series of agreements have also been signed to preserve 560 hectares of municipal land within ELC, including sacred forests and traditional cemeteries.

The future of threatened bun culture

""""""""""""""""Ils en ont détruit la plupart lorsqu'ils ont défriché la terre"""""""""""""""", explique Thol, cet agriculteur de 43 ans père de six enfants, en faisant référence aux cimetières de la communauté. """"""""""""""""Mais je suis quand même reconnaissant qu'ils nous aient laissé trois d'entre eux"""""""""""""""".

The farmer is not convinced, however, that what has been left by the company will be enough to preserve Bunong culture, threatened by the disappearance of their land.

""""""""""""""""J'ai peur que les nouvelles générations perdent nos traditions"""""""""""""""", dit-il. """"""""""""""""À la maison, nous parlons encore le bunong en famille.But since everyone has to spend a lot of time working, I'm afraid that parents and grandparents are running out of time to teach children our traditions and our language in the future.""""""""""""""""

Additional Kong Raksmey and Liblib report

The small newspaper.com thanks VODENGLISH.News for allowing him to translate this article.