Foreign companies squeeze farmers out of business, forcing labor migration

Cambodian farmers have voiced their concerns about the domination of foreign companies in their hometowns as company owners continue to control more farming lands, making it harder for locals to make a living and causing a labor migration.

This is evident in villages where the native Kouy minority live in the Preah Vihear province.

The authorities have granted foreign companies there the right to rent outlands to nonlocals at the expense of the villagers who have lost much of their farming lands, forcing many to look for work opportunities abroad. Now the aggrieved villagers and rights groups have started disputing the legal basis of the companies’ entitlement to control their lands and demanding reforms.