Vietnamese rubber developer and Cambodian Indigenous communities reach understanding to settle protracted land dispute
(Banlung, June 15, 2024) – Twelve Indigenous villages in Cambodia’s Ratanakiri province have signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Vietnamese agribusiness giant HAGL Agrico, following a breakthrough in a decade-long mediation process aimed at resolving a protracted land dispute. The communities have been embroiled in a conflict with HAGL Agrico since 2010, when the Cambodian […]
Thai Court Greenlights Trial Against Global Sugar Supplier Mitr Phol
Thailand’s Court of Appeals last week denied Mitr Phol’s motion to dismiss a historic class action lawsuit filed against the company by plaintiffs representing hundreds of Cambodian families who were violently displaced to make way for one of the Thai sugar giant’s industrial sugar plantations. The case also shines a light on the serious human […]
Sustainable sugar group Bonsucro ignored rights abuses by member, UK body finds
Women watch their farm houses burn during forced eviction of Bos village (October 2009) (Phnom Penh) – The UK-based “sustainable sugarcane” certification body Bonsucro violated its international human rights responsibilities, according to a statement released by the UK National Contact Point (UK NCP), a government body that handles complaints against British multinational enterprises. The NCP […]
U.S. Court Orders Coca-Cola to Turn Over Evidence in Thai Human Rights Case
Lead Plaintiff Hoy Mai with her children (Atlanta, GA.) – A U.S. federal court in the Northern District of Georgia last week ordered the Coca-Cola Company to turn over evidence related to an ongoing class action against Thai sugar giant Mitr Phol in the Thai courts. The decision, an important victory for plaintiffs representing hundreds […]
ANZ payment to displaced Cambodian families brings landmark human rights case to a close
(Phnom Penh) – Cambodian families who were forcibly displaced by Phnom Penh Sugar Company have received a promised payment from Australia’s ANZ bank, which financed the sugar company from 2011-2014. Distribution of the funds, which ANZ agreed to pay in 2020, was complete as of this week, according to Inclusive Development International and Equitable Cambodia, two NGOs […]
Peugeot: act against land-grabs in Cambodia now
Inclusive Development International joined partners Equitable Cambodia and Mighty Earth in an open letter to Peugeot, a global automobile brand, calling on the company to use its substantial influence to ensure the return of land, restoration of degraded forests and waterways, and full compensation to Indigenous communities in Cambodia’s Ratanakiri province whose land and livelihoods […]
Announcement of the Bangkok South Civil Court Permitting Class Action Lawsuit against Mitr Phol
In 2020, Cambodian plaintiffs representing more than 700 farming families won a landmark appeal allowing them to move forward with their class action against Asia’s largest sugar producer, Mitr Phol. The transboundary class action Hoy Mai & Others vs. Mitr Phol Co. Ltd. is the first of its kind in Southeast Asia. The case was filed, with […]