Deal #8779

In breach of the right of indigenous peoples to self-determination, there was no attempt from the company to consult affected communities or seek their free, prior and informed consent to conduct operations. The company provided no notification and very little information to affected communities prior to commencing operations. Since the concessions were granted, affected communities have experienced loss of both communal and household property. At the communal level, they lost access to state forests, grazing lands, water sources, reserved lands, spirit forests, burial grounds and other sacred sites. In addition, more than a hundred households in affected communities experienced loss of household property such as orchid lands, rice fields, animals, crops, and structures. As a result of these losses, affected people experienced regressions in their enjoyment of the right to an adequate standard of living; the right to the highest attainable standard of health; and the right to practice cultural and spiritual traditions. Despite efforts to seek redress, affected people have been denied the right to an effective remedy for human rights violations. The experience of the villagers interviewed for this report suggest that the introduction of large-scale agribusiness into such settings can reduce local food security and sovereignty, shrink existing livelihoods while failing to provide appropriate and effective alternatives, and bring about a host of other damaging repercussions on the well-being and human rights of local populations.