Logo of Phnom Penh Post newspaper Phnom Penh Post - Ethnic Areng Valley minority group petitions for recognition

Ethnic Areng Valley minority group petitions for recognition

Ministry of Rural Development official Yim Chung receives a recognition petition from Chong representatives on Wednesday.
Ministry of Rural Development official Yim Chung receives a recognition petition from Chong representatives on Wednesday. Photo supplied/Peng Srysor

Ethnic Areng Valley minority group petitions for recognition

Representatives of the Chong ethnic minority in Cambodia’s Areng Valley filed petitions on Wednesday requesting official recognition.

Ten villagers representing more than 200 families in the remote Koh Kong province area near the Cardamom Mountains filed the petition to the Ministry of Rural Development, the prime minister’s cabinet and the United Nations.

“Our Chong ancestors have been living here in Areng for a very long time. We have traditions, culture, costumes and ways of living in a community,” the petition reads. “We have faith in spirits and [practise] slash-and-burn planting following our ancestral traditions.”

The application requests official recognition from authorities, with community members claiming they made a similar request at the commune level a year ago, but local officials did not allow the request to advance.

“The local authorities, they do not register us, because they said we did not have our own language. And he said he’s very busy and cannot sign for us,” said community representative Hoeng Pao.
“We will decide what to do after Khmer New Year,” said Yim Chung, a representative at the Ministry of Rural Development.

“Despite the Chong language being all but forgotten in Areng, the valley is unique in that animist traditions, dependence on nature for livelihoods, etc. are stronger than anywhere else in the country,” Alex Gonzalez-Davidson, the founder of the environmental group Mother Nature, said in a message.

According to a profile of the community by the Cambodian Center for Human Rights, the Chong have lived in the Areng Valley “since time immemorial”.

“Many were displaced during clashes with the Khmer Rouge,” the profile continues. The Chong then returned after the ultra-Maoist group’s collapse in 1998. Today, the Chong face a new challenge in the form of hydropower dam construction and other developments.

Chak Sopheap, director of CCHR, said “indigenous groups are the first victims of Cambodia’s fast-paced destruction of forests”, as they often are more reliant on natural resources.

“Recognition as an indigenous community would allow the Chong group to apply for a collective land title . . . providing them with land tenure security and therefore protection from land-grabbing and displacement,” she explained.
Sopheap said the process must be sped up and simplified. Only 18 out of 458 communities have been given collective land titles as of July 2017.

Gonzalez-Davidson alleged the process is purposefully complex and expensive, so that the government and private sector can continue stealing land from indigenous groups.

This version corrects the byline for the photograph.

MOST VIEWED

  • 12th Cambodia int’l film festival to see return of Hollywood star

    Phnom Penh is set to come alive with the magic of cinema as the highly anticipated 12th Cambodia International Film Festival (CIFF) takes centre stage. Boasting an impressive line-up of 188 films from 23 countries, including captivating shorts, feature films, documentaries and animation, the festival promises an

  • Brawl marrs football final as Indonesian take gold in seven goal thriller

    The Indonesian men's U22 men national football team were crowned champions of the 32nd SEA Games in Cambodia, defeating Thailand 5-2 in extra time on May 16 at Olympic National Stadium in Phnom Penh. The match was marred by an ugly incident that occured in the 91

  • Bareknuckle champion wants Kun Khmer fighter

    Dave Leduc, who is the current openweight Lethwei boxing champion in Myanmar, has announced that he will travel to Cambodia this year to challenge SEA Games gold medallist Prum Samnang any time that is convenient, after their planned match later this month in Slovakia was

  • Candlelight Party disqualified from July general election

    The National Election Committee (NEC) has disqualified the Candlelight Party (CP) from contesting the upcoming general election, citing a lack of valid documentation. NEC spokesman Khorn Keomono said the CP failed to fulfil one of the three main requirements: including original documentation proving their registration

  • Thong Khon calls for orderly SEA Games closing ceremony

    Thong Khon, Minister of Tourism and permanent vice-president of the Cambodia SEA Games Organising Committee (CAMSOC), calls on all people who have received tickets to the May 17 closing ceremony of the biennial multi-sports extravaganza at the Morodok Techo National Stadium to ensure that the event

  • 1.4 billion dollar Phnom Penh-Bavet expressway due in four years

    The Government, through the Ministry of Public Works and Transport, has officially signed a public-private partnership agreement with a private company for the construction of a Phnom Penh-Bavet Expressway project that will connect the capital to Svay Rieng province. The budget for the project is