Source: IDI: https://www.inclusivedevelopment.net/cases/mitr-phol/
Hundreds of Cambodian families who were violently displaced by Thai sugar giant Mitr Phol—a supplier to global brands such as Nestlé, Mars and Coca-Cola—have been struggling for justice for over a decade. Now, with the support of Inclusive Development International, our Cambodian partner organizations, and a team of Thai lawyers, they’re taking their case to the Thai courts in a groundbreaking class action suit. This is the first transboundary human rights litigation of its kind in Southeast Asia and will set a precedent for whether transnational corporations can be held legally accountable in their home countries for abuses they commit abroad.
Cambodia: Challenging Mitr Phol land grab
More than 2,000 families in 26 villages were displaced. Affected households lost extensive rice fields, orchards, grazing land, crops and access to forests that sustained their livelihoods. In some instances, police and private security forces violently evicted residents, bulldozed houses, torched rice fields, and beat and arrested villagers. Families were left homeless and landless, with many forced to migrate to Thailand to find work.
Hundreds of Cambodian families who were violently displaced by Thai sugar giant Mitr Phol—a supplier to global brands such as Nestlé, Mars and Coca-Cola—have been struggling for justice for over a decade. Now, with the support of Inclusive Development International, our Cambodian partner organizations, and a team of Thai lawyers, they’re taking their case to the Thai courts in a groundbreaking class action suit. This is the first transboundary human rights litigation of its kind in Southeast Asia and will set a precedent for whether transnational corporations can be held legally accountable in their home countries for abuses they commit abroad.
CASE FILE
Location:
Cambodia – Oddar Meanchey province
Project:
Sugarcane plantation
Companies:
Mitr Phol Sugar Corporation and Bonsucro
Key concerns:
Land grabbing and forced evictions
Destruction of homes, crops and property
Homelessness and impoverishment
Corporate impunity and failure to provide redress
Multi-Stakeholder Initiative greenwashing
Community goals:
Return of land and compensation for losses
Key investors and buyers:
Mitr Phol Sugar Corp is a privately owned group of companies, mainly owned by the Vongkusolkit family. Its current and former sugar buyers include Nestlé, Mars-Wrigley, Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Corbion and Total.
While Coca-Cola took some initial steps to investigate the allegations and engaged with Mitr Phol on the concerns, it never made its findings public and failed to use its leverage to compel the company to provide redress to the victims in Cambodia. The company has since attempted to distance itself from the problem rather than fulfilling its promise to have zero tolerance for land-grabbing in its supply chain.
Community leader Mai believes that Coca-Cola is culpable. “I think that what Coca-Cola has done here is illegal, because they buy sugar from this company that uses violence against villagers, forcefully takes over our land, and then Coca-Cola makes drinks to sell back to us,” Mai told the Phnom Penh Post in 2015. “I don’t have a problem with Coca-Cola buying sugar from farms in Cambodia, but they need to find somewhere else to plant [sugar cane] that does not affect people like this.”
Coca-Cola was Ordered to Turn Over Documents Relating to Land Grabbing in Northern Cambodia