On 6 March 2024, police officers entered the villages in Preah Vihear province, Cambodia firing live ammunition and intimidating residents, following a longstanding land dispute between several villages and Seladamex Co., Ltd. On 8 March 2024, 29 land rights defenders were arrested and charged with “clearing forestland and enclosing it to claim for ownership”.

Seladamex had been granted an Economic Land Concession in March 2011 in Srayang and Phnum Tbaeng Pir communes in Preah Vihear’s Kuleaen district. The concession led to land conflicts with hundreds of families who were already living in the area.