Hundreds of police, vans and ambulances were sent to Kon Rơ Wang for a land acquisition that the households there had not accepted. Y-Khuê stood in front of them with empty hands.
Name Y-Khuê, a teacher
Where Kon Rơ Wang village, Thắng Lợi ward, Kon Tum city, Kon Tum province
When 6 January 2022
Compensation offered 46 million per sào, set by the local authorities
Where things stand
On 6 January 2022 the authorities moved on the land of the teacher Y-Khuê, in Kon Rơ Wang village, Thắng Lợi ward, Kon Tum city. Her household and many others were compelled to give it up although they had not agreed the terms.
The compensation had not been approved by the households. The figure of 46 million per sào was set by the local authorities, and according to Y-Khuê it is far below what land in that position, close to the city, is worth.
Villagers saw hundreds of police and officers arrive, with ambulances and vans. Y-Khuê stood there with nothing in her hands, and her husband and children could do nothing. There is no answering a force assembled on that scale.
What the community asked for instead
- That the authorities come and discuss the acquisition with the family, and explain the reason for it.
- That a reasonable settlement be offered, at the current value of the land.
- That the family be left able to buy other land, and to go on making a living from it.
That, the community argues, is how a country is made strong: people who can still work and produce. What was sent instead was an armed force, to a household treated as an opponent.
What we are reporting, and what we are not
The date, the place, the compensation figure and the scale of the deployment are as Y-Khuê and her neighbours described them to us. The valuation is her judgement of what the land is worth, not an independent assessment. We have seen no published justification from the authorities for the price or for the size of the force.
Why it matters
How, then, are the people of the Central Highlands to be satisfied, and how are they to farm and trade in peace? Land near a city is worth taking, and the households on it are Dega. The pattern is the same from one province to the next: a price nobody agreed, and enough police present that agreement is beside the point.
