Areng’s Chongs Need Communal Land Title to Protect Their Identity

One of the Chong’s houses in Pralay that would be affected by Areng dam construction

    The Chongs are indigenous peoples who live in Pralay, Chomnorb and Thmor Donpov communes, Thmor Bang District, Koh Kong Province around the Cardamom mountains of southwest Cambodia. The 437 Chongs’ households with an estimated 1,500 residents are insisting communal land title after erupting the issue of the Stung Cheay Areng dam development project at the Areng river in Thmor Donpov Commune.

Besides the destruction of natural resources, environment, livelihoods, local residence, and culture caused by dam construction which would flood approximately 20,000 hectares of land in the area, Chong peoples are now worrying about land grabbing and resettlement because they don’t hold communal land title.

A Chong woman said, “These days, we are insisting communal land title to protect our area and trying to register Chong indigenous identity since now Chongs don’t own land registration in ministry and even in province.”

The residents and their ancestors have lived on the land since immemorial time. They have only letters issued by their local Commune Chief recognizing their possession of the land, but unfortunately none of them have land titles.

Another villager said, “I am Chong, and I have lived here since I was born. My ancestors are Chongs either. I own a house but I have only letter of land possession from Commune Chief, but I don’t have land title.” 

In 2006, China Southern Power Grid began conveying possibility studies in support of the construction of a 108-megawatt hydroelectric dam in the area, but in 2010 the company cancelled their investment plans since they realized that the project could not bring about benefits due to heavy social and environmental impacts. Later, the China Guodian Corporation then reportedly adopted the project and conducted further surveys in November 2012, but pulled out in December 2013 claiming the dam was not economically viable.

 However, in January 2014, Sinohydro United Ltd. took over the project, and the local people started to recognize the issue.

A Chong man in Pralay said, “ The first company came with machines to study the area, but backed out and then another company took over to measure land, including village land, paddy land, house land in all three communes. After a long pause, in early 2013 another company also came to measure house land, interviewed each family and demanded them to fingerprint on document to recognize their private land ownership and to oppose dam construction. In contrast, later on there was a hearsay that people in Areng supported dam construction and agreed to relocate. It was opposite from what we did. Hence, people no longer trust all those companies because they cheated us.”

Another Chong woman said, “They came to meet us and demanded us to fingerprint. They said that if we don’t follow them, we won’t have any evidence to prove that the land is ours. But after we did, they said we agreed to allow dam construction. It made me furious. I don’t believe they develop this area. I have paddy land everywhere. I live in a comfortable life with enough water, but if I am relocated, how can I find water?”           

“If we have communal land title, we can protect our land and keep on practicing our tradition without any threat.” She added.

 Legally, according to the 2001 Land Law, the Chong peoples have rights to collective ownership.  The Land Law similarly protects their rights to manage lands according to their traditional customs. The community’s collective ownership also includes all the rights and protections of ownership that are enjoyed by private individual owners.

 Furthermore, no authority or a person outside the community can acquire any rights to immovable properties belonging to an indigenous community, and nothing should be done without their consent. Thus, even before the consideration of the Areng dam, it must be clear that no other person has any right to that land and the land must be officially registered as a State private land.

A young man from Mother Nature which is a Cambodian movement of environmental activists, fighting for the protection of the Areng Valley and the Cardamom mountains said, “Chongs are the special indigenous people as they are original indigenous people, and when government wants to do something affecting them, the government must do it with their consent."

Perspective - What the ASEAN Community will bring to young people

ASEAN Youth Forum on 22 August 2016 in Siem Reap, Cambodia

Since the establishment of ASEAN, this regional integration has put many efforts toward gaining success, prosperity and harmony. Each country has created various policies and mechanisms with the same goal. In the recent years, there is an emergence of ASEAN citizens’ active participation, especially young people. Remarkably, there is an increase of young leadership, entrepreneurship, and youth employment within the region. With clear objectives, ASEAN provides youth with enormous benefits in the fields of cultural exchange, human resource development, economic integration, human trafficking prevention and environmental protection.

First of all, ASEAN promotes high understanding and mutual respect among the members through cultural exchange. For example, many cultural events have been celebrated in ASEAN region to support the conservation and preservation of ASEAN cultural heritage. Besides, it ensures its continuity to enhance awareness and understanding of the people about the unique history of the region and the cultural similarities and differences between and among ASEAN member states. The notion of culture focuses on the processes of interactions and socialization within ASEAN which have produced long-term attitudes and habits with respect to the management of issue of conflict and peace. We share the conviction that the culture of peace is a set of values, attitudes, modes of behavior and way of life that reject violence and prevent conflicts by tackling their roots causes to solve problems through dialogue and negotiation among individuals, communities and nations. Interestingly, ASEAN youth has chances to learn new languages, get to know other religions, and understand the protocol during ASEAN summit and how to speak in ASEAN formal meetings, which also promotes a culture of cooperation and the way ASEAN interacts with each other not only among country’s leaders but also citizens.

Secondly, human resource development is seen as one of the significant efforts which ASEAN community contributes to their youth. To achieve high human quality, ASEAN youth like us have been given more opportunities via ASEAN University Network to pursue desired degrees in another country in the region through funded scholarships with an aim of equipping them with useful and better knowledge they might not be able to acquire in our country. It is undeniable that roles of youth have been taken into consideration since either governmental or non-governmental institutions of ASEAN such as ASEAN Foundation and CHULALANGKORN University which have been paying much attention to youth involvement as they frequently organize conferences and workshops that enable young people to express their opinions and take part in decision making and finding solutions for certain issue. More than these, ASEAN youth can exchange their practical knowledge with each other via volunteering activities. For instance, Cambodian medical students have collaborated with other ASEAN students on many healthcare projects to help out poor and vulnerable people in Cambodia. Hence, effective health care services will be ensured by ASEAN in the whole region as it will help one another in disaster strikes and fight against nasty diseases. Furthermore, this community eventually empowers youth to be more skillful due to the ASEAN Framework for Equitable Economic Development as they aim to generate more productivity to the community. To meet this need, youth has unconditionally been introduced with some high-demanding technical skills such as engineering, mechanics and electronics on the ground that they can boost the pace of mutual development among all member countries.

ASEAN Economic integration is another benefit which youth can absorb. It is expected that through free flow of labors, youth will be provided with more job opportunities, more incomes and advanced technology. Since this community brings out large market with convenient conditions for foreign investors, more investments and business are strongly believed to take place widely in the region. With no trade barriers, accessible and qualified infrastructure will be firmly constructed and connected with one another throughout the region. Thus, it encourages young entrepreneurship with initiative ideas of creativity and innovation to largely involve in the world of free market with more competition as it will be very beneficial for them and the future generation. For example, a program called YSEALI Generation: Power of Entrepreneurship, which was held at Ho Chi Minh City from 27-31 May, 2015 as a regional exchange program focused on training 60 youth from ASEAN countries with entrepreneurial skills and mindsets that are necessary for them to successfully start and grow their business. Consequently, youth has more choices to mass goods and services with low prices and good qualities in this competitive market across the region.

In today’s trend, ASEAN political cooperation has brought about massive benefits to youth in terms of peace building and security maintenance in the region. Also, they are committed to fighting against terrorisms, pirates, drug trafficking and especially human trafficking which youth is subject to. Human trafficking is of course a serious crime that affects the human rights, dignity and integrity of all its victims including women, men, and children. Taking a real example of ASEAN’s context, all member states have already created anti-human trafficking laws to promote and protect the rights of the victims. During the economic integration, there will be free flow of human labor which accelerates either development or human exploitation. However, ASEAN’s citizens, especially youth, who wishes to cross borders, will be informed and provided with useful information before making decision as their connection with host countries is reliable.

Sustainable development in ASEAN requires environmental protection which youth can actively involve in. ASEAN has been working together to tackle environmental problems and bring out positive change. Certainly, ASEAN youth will be guaranteed to have good living and health condition with sustainable environmental development. ASEAN strongly promotes clean and green environment with low level of pollution, deforestation, global warming and climate change. Also, youth will be empowered to gain capacity in helping their community by taking part in environmental protection activities and to have the voice in any decisions making in both local and regional level. Through ASEAN Environmental Year 2015 celebrated under the theme “Empowering the Youth for a Green ASEAN Community”, many young ASEAN leaders will be equipped with knowledge about environmental protection actions. ASEAN youth will be able to build network, learn how to deal with challenges, find effective solutions and improve particular skills.

All in all, ASEAN builds connection and cooperation which create various opportunities for youth to make more friends in different countries, build networks, get higher education with scholarship provision, find wide market for job employment, and live with sustainable development. Therefore, promoting young leadership plays a very important role in increasing understanding about ASEAN and even encouraging others to participate and work for our community. Building ASEAN community will benefit for wide participation from relevant stakeholders, including young generation. ASEAN youth must pay attention and grasp this opportunity to participate for better ASEAN community.

 

How Khmer diaspora’s Children are raised in America

Alina in Khmer Buddhist temple in Chicago

The dark and destructive period in Cambodia from 1975 to 1979 has resulted millions of death which has stuck  survivors with bitter memories, sorrow of being separated, and new lives in despair.  To avoid the war and seek for safety, many innocent Cambodians cried for humanitarian help and fled for resettlement in other countries, mostly to many different states of the United States. Chicago which is the third largest city of America is also the place where many Cambodian refugees first settled down, initially in Uptown neighborhood on the city’s North Side. As years pass on, Khmer diaspora and their children are consequently living and sharing their belonging as both Khmer and American. In a modern society, the way Khmer-American children are raised is fascinating.

Remarkably, children who are raised in Cambodia are different from those raised in America in terms of education, thought, belief, and level of social involvement due to outside influence or society that surrounds the children although most families in America try to keep their cultural practices and Khmer tradition. It is the fact that in Cambodia, Khmer children are raised with high expectation that they have the responsibility to financially and emotionally care for the family, whereas, in the United States, the children are more individualistic, independent and self-sufficient.

Living in Skokie, a suburb north of Chicago, with a mother from Battambang and a father from Siem Reap, Cambodia, a simple beautiful woman with nobly soft manner who can speak Khmer a little bit, Alina, has provided with a good care and support from her parents. She said, “My parents were very nurturing and helpful. And I was thankful that most of the pressure was not from them but actually from myself to continue to do better and grow as a human.”

While in Cambodian society, females are expected to conform to traditions, fulfill family’s demands, follow their parents’ dream, and are usually discouraged to get higher education and instead are supposed to stay at home to help their parents for household works, such as looking after younger brothers or sisters,  more Khmer-American women have freedom and can access to higher education. 

Alina who is studying Human Medicine at Michigan State University said, “I was supported financially by my parents in regards to schooling. I am very thankful for that and would not be where I am without that financial support… their main goal as parents is for me to be respectful and get a good education… as far as marriage and career, these things have been much to my freedom to choose as well.” 

Alina and other youth during Pchum Ben in Chicago

By originating with stricter rules in Cambodia, parents in the United States do not want their children to be completely Americanized; therefore, they raise their children with traditional rules and beliefs. While many youth are still raised with traditional cultural values and restrictions, Khmer-American children are losing a little of their cultural values as well as their language being in the United States. These youth simultaneously face pressures of accelerated acculturation, pressures to maintain their cultural identity and traditions at home, and pressures associated with identity and individuality.

Alina said, “My parents are very religious but I'm not yet I still have basically the same values they do.” “I grew up in what I like to call a culturally Khmer home while my interactions in school have been largely American. This does create some difficulties at times but I have learned that it has made me a much more open, flexible, and versatile person. Understanding both cultures is important as well as navigating between them. Thus, it makes me more interested in exploring and reclaiming my Khmer side of my identity after college when I realized how valuable some of the customs, cultural values, religious values, such as meditation and mindfulness can be to an individual.” she added.

Based on her experiences living among other American and British students, Alina explained, “The experience was quite confusing and difficult; however, I was grateful for it because it allowed me to identify positive aspects of Khmer culture that has been ingrained in me due to my upbringing and being in the community. Understanding of Khmer language is difficult, but I am confident in my ability to continue strengthening it. Also, knitting was something my mother taught me when I was 12. It represents the transmission of culture that I have largely received by my mother and the other women in my family. Simply put, older generation, especially women are so important in the preservation, transmission, and evolution of culture.” 

Different from Cambodia, children in the United States have active involvement in social movement towards positive change. Children are encouraged to help their community by doing social activities.

“I am deeply involved in a process toward social change and positive healing. We are all definitely capable of it! It does require a deep investigation of the self in relation to family, community, and society however.” Alina claimed.

Notably, Alina spends her free time in Asian Americans Advancing Justice which works to help Asian Americans community overcome their social obstacles. Additionally, she engages more in National Cambodian Heritage Museum and Killing Fields. She is also an American peace fellow who came to Cambodia with the Cities of Peace program to learn about Cambodia in April 2015.

Alina and other Khmer people in National Cambodian Heritage Museum and Killing Fields in Chicago