The Bunong people's land struggle with Socfin

GRAIN | 30 April 2024

Bunong Indigenous Community in Bousra, Mondulkiri. 2023. Photo: GRAINIn 2008 at the height of Cambodia’s economic land concession programme, the Luxembourg-based Socfin group secured 12,000 hectares of land in Mondulkiri province, near the Vietnam border. The concession -meant for rubber plantations- was granted without the knowledge or consent of the local communities. This, along with several other reports of land grabbing and land conflicts, prompted a halt to the government’s concession programme. Despite this, Socfin’s rubber plantation remains operational. Meanwhile, the affected local communities have been pursuing justice to get their land back.

In August 2023, GRAIN travelled to Bousra in Mondulkiri province to meet and speak with the Bunong Indigenous communities impacted by the plantation about their 15 year long struggle and the road ahead.

“Before Socfin came, we were living harmoniously in the highlands, where the forest and the land provided all that was needed. The company’s presence has destroyed our forest and our culture, making it impossible for us to practice farming and fishing anymore,” said Trang Seun, a villager that GRAIN met in Bousra.

Trang Seun is one of 80 plaintiffs who filed a case against the plantation owners through the French courts in 2015. After years of dispute with the company and lacking faith in the Cambodian legal system, community members decided to take legal action in France, the home country of the Bolloré group, which owns almost 40% of Socfin.

Socfin’s rubber plantation covers seven villages in the Bunong community territory, which includes farmland, sacred forests, cemeteries and grazing land. The villagers involved in the lawsuit explain that when Socfin came to their area, they were given three options: (1) get financial compensation for their land; (2) exchange their land for land provided by Socfin somewhere else; or (3) produce rubber on their land for Socfin under a profit-sharing agreement with the company.

According to one of the plaintiffs, villagers who traded their land for another area, were very disappointed. The land that was designated for them by the company was in bad condition: muddy, full of rocks and not suitable for agriculture. The land was also far from the villages. “Without a motorbike, it is hard to get to your farm, resulting in additional expenses,” said Klang Po, one of the village members. When villagers refused to accept the rocky plots and demanded something better, the company said it did not have other land to offer. The affected villagers were given no option but to take the land or accept a small compensation of USD 200 per hectare.[1] “We were very disappointed, but we didn’t know how to respond,” Klang Po explained.

So Krun, another plaintiff who traded his land, explained that his new farm is over 50 kilometres away from his house, near the Vietnam border, accessible via a poorly maintained road. He and his family face numerous challenges, particularly from border authorities who restrict their access to the border area.

After nearly a decade, the villagers are still awaiting justice and the return of their land. In October 2019 nine Bunong representatives attended a hearing on their case at the Tribunal of Nanterre. In July 2021, the court dismissed the lawsuit on the ground that the plaintiffs could not prove the land was theirs and ordered the villagers to pay USD 21,314 (€20,000) in compensation to Bollore.[2]

Despite the disappointing decision, the villagers are not giving up and are taking the case to the French court of appeals. Kreung Tola, one of the villagers, emphasises that their main demand is the restitution of their land. “We’re not interested in acquiring distant plots. The company can use their power, but we will never be afraid. They displaced us from our rightful land and want us to work for their profits, causing us immense suffering. Our demand is simple: give us our land back.”

Other villagers affected by Socfin’s concession opted for a tripartite negotiation involving Socfin, Cambodian authorities and the Bunong Indigenous People Association (BIPA), starting in 2014. The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights also participated as an observer. According to Neth Prak of BIPA, the process yielded a modest victory for the villagers, as an agreement was reached to restitute 500 hectares of land within the concession area to the communities.

However, this process was stopped in 2016 when Socfin called for support from the German international cooperation agency, GIZ, to conduct a mapping of the contested land.[3] The following year, the Mekong Region Land Governance (MRLG) project, funded by Switzerland, Germany and Luxembourg, initiated a mediation process together with the Independent Mediation Group (IMG). BIPA explained that this mediation, funded by MRLG and led by IMG, created confusion and undermined the communities direct negotiation efforts. Moreover, the mediation turned secretive, as Socfin demanded that all parties accept a confidentiality agreement – which posed challenges for the communities. The process went on for four years and concluded in September 2021. In a joint statement issued one year after the talks ended, MRLG and Socfin claimed the process was a success and that the land dispute had been resolved.[4]

For the villagers the results were disappointing, seeing no tangible improvement to their situation.[5] They also grew aware of just how the meditation process could erode community solidarity. As noted in the joint statement, Socfin agreed to allow four villages – Pu Teut, Pu Raing, Pu Char and Pu Luk – to pursue communal land titles for 511 hectares within its 12,000-hectare concession. Nevertheless, the company stipulated that the land could not be developed by the communities until they received the title. Socfin also promised to provide funds for “community development”, but only for families involved in the mediation process and only for a limited period of time that was not specified in the statement.[6]

--> click here to read joint statement between Socfin KCD and 5 villages

Broken promises and the debt trap
Initially, many families chose the third option offered by Socfin, but over time, only around 50 families held on to it, continuing to produce rubber for the company on their own land. Neth Prak explains that they did so out of immediate necessity. But, they too faced losses as their land became integrated into Socfin’s concession, obligating them to use the land under the company’s terms. This has led to great disappointment among the villagers, who are now left with smaller plots and are unable to practice their traditional farming systems.

These villagers, now categorised as “smallholder rubber farms” by the company, resist in their own way. For instance, they allocate parts of their land for growing alternative crops like coffee, pepper, avocado and durian, or practice intercropping with rice, maize or vegetables. They also organise collectively to sell their rubber to other buyers and refuse to sell it to Socfin. Despite Socfin’s promise of higher rubber prices compared to the prevailing market rates in Cambodia, community members lack trust in the company and have decided to collectively find other buyers.

Socfin allows villagers to sell rubber to other buyers, yet the new contract, arising from the mediation process, specifies that if families opt to sell to others, they must pay Socfin for the seedlings and other inputs initially provided by the company. This payment is determined by the land area involved. Villagers said that Socfin tried several times to meet the communities to collect these payments, but everyone refused to meet with the company.

According to a document obtained by CamboJa news outlet, the total amount Socfin seeks from the villagers exceeds USD 100,000.[7] In some cases, this surpasses the small compensation initially received by villagers for the loss of their land. Faced with this predicament, farmers have taken a united stand to refuse to pay this “debt” to Socfin.

Socfin’s head office in Luxembourg has now hired Earthworm Foundation to conduct an in-depth review of all the allegations made against Socfin from a range of plantations in Asia and Africa, including Cambodia.[8] As of now, no information has been released regarding Earthworm’s visit to Cambodia. However, the affected communities have said they are not interested in meeting with Earthworm, citing their loss of trust in Socfin after years of mishandling their demands for land restitution.

The struggle for justice in Bousra has been a long and difficult one. Though wearied, the community remains resolute to continue fighting until justice is served.