Areng Valley dam activist given marching orders #SpanishNational UPDATED

[geovalin]

Kevin Ponniah and Chhay Channyda

Interior Minister Sar Kheng has ordered immigration authorities not to renew the visa of Spanish environmental activist Alejandro Gonzalez-Davidson, which expires on February 20, senior immigration department officials said yesterday.

Gonzalez-Davidson, of Mother Nature, an NGO, has led a campaign against the controversial Stung Cheay Areng Dam project in Koh Kong province and has attracted a large following on Facebook for his activism.

The Khmer-speaking Spaniard attracted a thinly veiled threat of deportation from senior ruling party lawmaker Chheang Vun in December, three months after he and other Mother Nature activists were briefly detained for blocking security forces and authorities on an access road to the Areng Valley.

Sok Veasna, the director of the department of non-immigrants and technology at the Interior Ministry’s general immigration department, which handles non-permanent visas for foreigners, confirmed the order yesterday.

“Our minister decided not to extend his visa, so we already made a call and would like to meet him … to let him know that his visa will be expired and he will need to leave Cambodia,” he said.

“Our ministry still has his passport, however. We request him to come and pick up his passport and leave Cambodia.”

Veasna said Gonzalez-Davidson would not be banned from returning to the Kingdom if he leaves voluntarily. But otherwise, he would be deported and barred from returning.

Sok Phal, the director-general of immigration, said that the decision was made after local authorities in Koh Kong lodged a complaint about Gonzalez Davidson’s activities.

When asked if he was being denied a visa because of his environmental activism, Phal replied, “Don’t ask me that. I can’t comment on it; I only do technical work.”

Koh Kong provincial governor Bun Leut said that he filed the complaint to the MoI that led to the decision.

“Alex made trouble with local authorities in Thma Bang district. He took the car of his NGO to block my deputy governor’s group who went to visit the villagers in the Areng area,” he said.

Gonzelez-Davidson said that there was “no doubt” in his mind that the decision to deny him visa renewal was related to his anti-dam activism.

He also rejected the governor’s interpretation of the September road-blocking incident.

“He says that we were blocking the road and we stopped the authorities from meeting the villagers. To anyone who has any understanding of the situation, that is absolutely ridiculous. The only time the authorities have visited the villagers in 15 years has been to cheat, threaten or scam them.”

He added that the Areng Valley campaign had been “extremely successful”.

“They will have to deport me. I will throw as many eggs as I can at their face,” he said, vowing not to leave the country before his visa expires.

Senior opposition lawmaker Son Chhay condemned the decision and said he would seek to question Sar Kheng in parliament about the exact reasons why the visa had been denied.

“Alex has done so much good for the country … what he is trying to do is not for his own benefit – he was trying to protect our environment,” he said.

“It’s not going to be easy for Sar Kheng.”

http://www.phnompenhpost.com/areng-valley-dam-activist-given-marching-orders

[geovalin]

CNRP leader voices support for activist

Tue, 17 February 2015

May Titthara and Daniel Pye

Opposition leader Sam Rainsy has called for anti-dam campaigner Alex Gonzalez-Davidson to be allowed to remain in Cambodia after the Khmer-speaking Spanish national was told the authorities would not renew his visa last week.

Rainsy, the Cambodia National Rescue Party president, yesterday wrote a letter to Interior Minister Sar Kheng calling on him to reverse his decision to deny the activist a visa.

“I and other Cambodian people do not think he has committed any crime requiring deportation,” Rainsy wrote.

“He has also expressed his love of Cambodia and its traditions; he speaks fluent Khmer, much better than many foreigners who are living in Cambodia.”

Gonzalez-Davidson, who has long campaigned against the planned construction of the Stung Cheay Areng hydropower dam in Koh Kong province, would be the first foreign NGO worker to be prevented from entering Cambodia since Global Witness staff were denied visas in 2005.

Kheng ordered the Interior Ministry’s Immigration Department not to issue Gonzalez-Davidson with a new visa, the Post reported on Saturday.

The move followed a thinly veiled threat of deportation from ruling party lawmaker Chheang Vun in December, three months after the founder of environmental group Mother Nature was briefly detained in Koh Kong for preventing security forces from using an access road leading to the Areng Valley.

Monks and youth activists yesterday penned a joint letter calling on the King to request the government to reverse its decision not to issue Gonzalez-Davidson a new visa when it expires on Friday.

Heng Samnang, Khmer Youth Empire spokesman, said the group would follow up the letter with a protest campaign.

“We have many strategies to prevent the authorities from expelling him from the country,” Samnang said.

Sok Veasna, director of the Department of Non-Immigrants and Technology at the Department of Immigration, declined to comment, saying he “only followed the order from the Ministry of Interior”.

The Cambodian Centre for Human Rights said that the possible deportation would “undoubtedly cause concern among Cambodian NGOs that any foreign staff they employ could face similar punitive measures if they engage in work deemed undesirable”.

http://www.phnompenhpost.com/cnrp-leader-voices-support-activist