This is Cambodia now – logging, poaching, mineral extraction, turning lakes into land and destroying rivers, as well as exporting massive amounts of sands. There are systems in place where (officials) exploit the environment for profit and our group has been doing as much as we can to stop these unethical projects and protect the environment – and that is why we are a threat in the regime’s eyes.

Sand extraction may sound like a strange thing to be concerned about, but beach sand is a key ingredient in concrete, and is a dwindling resource that can’t be replaced with desert sand. The extraction of this essential material is driven by urban development. The irony is that much of this sand is going to China, where entire ghost cities are being built, left empty, and then demolished, in order to goose their economic reports.

Vietnam and Cambodia are different countries separated by mountains and language, but they have a lot in common. One of the similarities is that they are both seen as cheap sources of construction-grade sand. One of my favorite SLRPNK posts is this story shared by @wanderingmeomeo in !vietnam@slrpnk.net - about how a small community of people living on the river banded together to stop sand pirates destroying their home in the face of government indifference and corruption.

Cambodia is probably following Vietnam’s lead in cracking down on environmental defenders like Hoang Thi Minh Hong.