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.
UN Human Rights Council adopts resolution welcoming Guiding Principles on Security of Tenure for the Urban Poor
(Geneva) – The UN Human Rights Council adopted, in its 25th session, a resolution on the right to adequate housing, which welcomed the Guiding Principles on Security of Tenure for the Urban Poor. The guiding Principles were presented to the Council by the Special Rapporteur on Adequate Housing Raquel Rolnik in her final thematic report on […]
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 […]
World Bank’s Lending Arm Linked to Deadly Honduras Conflict
(Kate Woodsome, www.huffintonpost.com, January, 10 2014) – The World Bank’s private lending arm failed to apply its own ethical standards in disbursing millions of dollars to a palm oil company accused of turning a region of Honduras into a war zone, according to an internal bank investigation. The audit, released Friday by the World Bank’s Office of […]
Response Letter to World Bank President Jim Kim Regarding IFC Investment in the Financial Sector
This letter was written to respond to a World Bank reply on April 18 to a March civil society letter regarding the audit of the International Finance Corporation’s lending to the financial sector. IDI, along with the over 50 groups that signed on to the letter, believe that the IFC’s response is inadequate and […]
EU’s Everything But Arms initiative is impoverishing Cambodian farmers: Trade scheme must be reformed to safeguard human rights
(Brussels) – A European Union (EU) trade initiative intended to reduce poverty in the world’s poorest countries has driven thousands of Cambodian farming families into destitution and led to serious human rights violations, Inclusive Development International (IDI) and Equitable Cambodia and said in a report released Monday. The report, Bittersweet Harvest, assesses the human rights […]