Displaced Cambodians file OECD complaint against ANZ Bank for financing massive land grab
(Phnom Penh) Inclusive Development International and Equitable Cambodia have filed a formal complaint with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) against the Australian ANZ Bank. The complaint was lodged on behalf of 681 families who were forcibly displaced and dispossessed of their land and property to make way for a sugar plantation and […]
Dropping Cambodian sugar client does not let ANZ Bank off the hook for financing human rights abuses
(Phnom Penh) – Inclusive Development International and Equitable Cambodia expressed disappointment that ANZ Bank has cut its business ties to the Cambodian firm Phnom Penh Sugar without first ensuring redress for the grave harms caused to hundreds of families by the plantation that it financed. The Australian newspaper reported on Saturday that ANZ, through its […]
How can Australia send refugees to a country that won’t help its own displaced? by Natalie Bugalski
(The Age) – After months of cozying up to the authoritarian government of Hun Sen, Australia has finally managed to convince Cambodia to accept its refugees from Nauru and Manus Island. Never mind that Cambodia has neither the resources – nor the human rights record – to guarantee the proper resettlement of these asylum seekers. […]
Time for the Asian Development Bank to rethink displacing the poor, by David Pred
(The Cambodia Daily) – Every year millions of people around the world are forcibly displaced from their land, homes and livelihoods to make way for large-scale development projects. Most often those who are forced to sacrifice their place on Earth for both public and private interests are amongst the poorest and most vulnerable people in society. […]
ABC Special Report: ANZ faces accusations it financed business that forced villagers from land
One of Australia’s big banks is facing scrutiny it financed a Cambodian sugar business responsible for forcing almost 500 families off their land, as the conduct of Australia’s ‘big four’ in developing countries is analysed. Click here to watch the special report.
World Bank Group implicated in illegal seizures of indigenous land in Cambodia and Laos, communities call for Bank’s help to get their land back
(Phnom Penh) – Representatives of seventeen indigenous communities from Cambodia’s Ratanakiri province filed a complaint to the World Bank’s private lending arm today, describing illegal seizures of their farming and grazing land and destruction of their forests and sacred sites. The complaint, submitted on behalf of affected communities by Equitable Cambodia, Cambodian Indigenous Youth Association […]
ADB slammed in official investigation of Cambodian railway resettlement, ordered by its Board to repair damage done
(Manila / Phnom Penh) – The Asian Development Bank (ADB) must undergo “a mind shift” in the way it treats people impacted by its projects, according to a scathing investigation report released today. In its most damning investigation to date, ADB’s internal watchdog, the Compliance Review Panel (CRP), found that the regional bank failed to […]
Dropping Phnom Penh Sugar without compensating its victims will not relieve ANZ’s responsibility
Equitable Cambodia and Inclusive Development International call upon ANZ to right the wrongs it has done by financing the Phnom Penh Sugar plantation and not just jump ship. In response to revelations last week that ANZ had bankrolled the high-profile land grab in Cambodia, ANZ made the following statement: “Where we have found that a […]
ANZ bankrolls massive land grab in Cambodia
(Phnom Penh) –Two confidential social and environmental audits leaked to the Clean Sugar Campaign indicate that ANZ Royal Bank provided significant financing for a sugar plantation and refinery owned by the notorious Cambodian senator and tycoon Ly Yong Phat. ANZ confirmed its financing of the Phnom Penh Sugar Company in a meeting with campaign and […]
US Congress Passes Law Demanding Redress for Boeung Kak Community, Pressures World Bank to Take Action
(Phnom Penh) – The Boeung Kak Lake community in Cambodia’s capital Phnom Penh, and others around the world who are fighting for justice from international financial institutions, won a major political victory from the United States Congress on Wednesday. The 2014 Consolidated Appropriations Act, approved by the US House of Representative, requires “the United States […]