UK/US-headquartered Global Witness, an environmental non-governmental organisation (NGO) campaigning against natural resources exploitation and poverty , alleges that at least two Vietnamese rubber firms have illegally seized parcels of land in Cambodia and Laos, in collusion with Government authorities.
Naming the two companies as Hoang Anh Gia Lai (HAGL) and state-owned Vietnam Rubber Group (VRG), the environmental and human rights watchdog said in a report that people dependent on the Cambodia and Laos forest lands for livelihood have been evicted, to give way to the companies’ rubber operations.
However, both VRG and HAGL denied the accusation; the latter explaining that it has followed the laws of the countries i9n which it operated.
The land grab issue in Cambodia and Laos came into light due to Vietnam’s scarcity of land for expanding rubber plantation.
In a statement, HAGL confirmed that it hassubsidiaries growing rubber and sugar in Cambodia and Laos. Nonetheless, it said that it also built homes, schools and a hospital to the community in those areas.
Global Witness alleges that HAGL and VRG have unlawfully acquired leases on huge plots of land through political connections.