"Phnong petition over Mondulkiri land", 31 August 2018

One hundred Phnong ethnic people in Mondulkiri province’s Busra commune have thumbprinted a petition to reject Thieng Try Company’s request for an economic land concession to grow coffee in the area.

...[L]andowners claimed they needed the land to live and work on and pass down to their children...

...[T]wo international companies had already gotten concessions in the area, but the local community hadn’t seen any benefits from them.

Villager Kroeung Tola, 28, said most members of the Phnong and Kroeung ethnic groups didn’t have the skills to work in offices or factories, so they relied on the land for their livelihood.

“The areas hosting investments from local and foreign companies face serious problems in terms of livelihood, emigration, losses of farmland and forests,” Tola said.