Laos

Vietnam Rubber Group stripped of Forest Stewardship Council certification for forest destruction, illegal land grabs and human rights abuses

Rubber Barons

Vietnam’s two biggest rubber companies are moving into Cambodia and Laos, seizing farmland, flouting land and forest protection laws and wrecking local livelihoods.

Laos

Largely overlooked by the international community since suffering heavy bombing during the Vietnam War, Laos recorded the fastest growing economy in Southeast Asia in 2012. A decade of surging growth has attracted investor attention, with agribusinesses from nearby countries like China and Vietnam flooding in to cash in on an abundance of arable land and cheap labour.

Vietnam Rubber Group says its doors are now open to people affected by plantations in Cambodia and Laos

This press release, copies of the Vietnam Rubber Group decision and details on how to use the complaints mechanism are all available in English, Vietnamese, Lao and Khmer at the bottom of the page.  Vietnam’s state-owned rubber giant, Vietnam Rubber Group (VRG), has announced steps to reform how it does business in neighbouring Cambodia and Laos, in response to requests by Global Witness and local groups for the company to respect national laws and citizens’ rights.

案例分析：越南企业与国际金融家如何造成柬埔寨和老挝的圈地危机

English version 2013年5月，全球见证组织发布一份报告，着重指出大规模的土地出让和非法伐木给环境、社会和治理带来的负面影响。这份报告名为《橡胶大亨：越南企业与国际金融家如何造成柬埔寨和老挝的圈地危机》[1],记录了越南的两家大型橡胶企业——越南橡胶集团（VRG）和黄安嘉莱（HAGL）——以及柬老两国政府长期以来如何罔顾有关法规，给社会治理、当地社区和森林多样性造成破坏性的后果。

Cambodian communities submit complaint to World Bank over bankrolling of Vietnamese rubber giant behind land grabs and human rights abuse

Global Witness welcomes and supports a complaint submitted to the International Financial Corporation (IFC) today by Cambodian communities whose lives have been devastated by Vietnamese rubber baron Hoang Anh Gia Lai (HAGL). The IFC – the private lending arm of the World Bank – invests in HAGL, a company responsible for environmental and human rights abuses in their plantations in both Cambodia and Laos.

Credit Suisse ignored human rights commitments and became major shareholder in Vietnamese rubber giant 2 weeks after land grab scandal

Credit Suisse became the largest institutional shareholder in Vietnamese rubber giant Hoang Anh Gia Lai (HAGL) just two weeks after Global Witness exposed a range of environmental and human rights abuses in the company’s plantations in Cambodia and Laos. Such action is in direct contravention of Credit Suisse’s commitments to human rights, the campaign group revealed today (1). The disclosures come as another investor confirmed it had divested from HAGL as a result of the Global Witness findings (2).  

Deutsche Bank divests from Vietnamese land grabber HAGL following Global Witness’ expose

Deutsche Bank no longer holds any significant stock in Vietnamese rubber giant Hoang Anh Gia Lai (HAGL) Global Witness has learned. The decision comes after the campaign group’s research revealed a wide range of environmental and human rights abuses in HAGL’s plantations in Cambodia and Laos.

Global Witness calls for investors to drop Vietnamese rubber giant HAGL over failure to reform on land grabs

Vietnamese rubber giant Hoang Anh Gia Lai (HAGL) has failed to keep to commitments to address environmental and human rights abuses in its plantations in Cambodia and Laos, Global Witness said today. The campaign group says the company now poses a financial and reputational risk to its investors, including Deutsche Bank and the International Finance Corporation, and recommends they divest.

Global Witness responds to HAGL’s claims over inaccuracy of Rubber Barons report

Global Witness understands that Hoang Anh Gia Lai (HAGL) CEO Doan Nguyen Duc held a press conference during which the company contested evidence in Global Witness’ report ‘Rubber Barons’. This report highlights how the company’s rubber plantations in Cambodia and Laos are violating laws and contributing to environmental and human rights abuses.