Thirty Arrested in Land Protest
RFA - June 20, 2012
Vietnamese police detain
farmers after a third day of protests over a land eviction.
Vietnamese authorities
arrested 30 farmers Wednesday as they held a third day of protests in front of a
municipal building in the capital demanding the government return land they say
they were forcibly evicted from three years ago.
One of the group of farmers, from Ha Dong district on the outskirts of Hanoi,
said they had gathered in opposition to an earlier ruling by a state inspector
who found that the confiscation of their land was legal.
“We do not agree with the conclusion reached by the State Inspectorate—that is
the reason for our protest,” the farmer, who spoke on condition of anonymity,
told RFA’s Vietnamese service.
“We don’t want to have to do this—we are in middle of the farming season.
However because of this injustice, we have been forced to lead a prolonged
public protest.”
Members of the security forces, who during earlier protests had looked on but
had not intervened, moved in, arresting 30 of the group and taking them to a
“rehabilitation” center in Hanoi’s Dong Anh district.
The Hanoi city government requisitioned the farmers’ land, in Duong Noi
village’s La Duong commune, in 2009 to develop two new townships, as well as a
hospital and school. Since then, only 350 of 4,000 households have resisted
eviction by authorities.
On Tuesday, while holding a second day of protests in front of the Vietnam
Communist Party’s Petitions Office near Mai Xuan Thuong Park, nearly 100 of the
farmers had said they were willing to lay down their lives to protect their
land, with some even threatening self-immolation.
Capital clash
The protest follows clashes which broke out last week between villagers and a
group of men hired to clear their land for the controversial EcoPark satellite
city, also on the periphery of Hanoi, leaving several villagers injured and
others vowing to protect their homes should demolition crews return.
The site in Hung Yen province’s Van Giang district has been the scene of a
number of confrontations over the past several years since local authorities
granted the developer 500 hectares (1,235 acres) of land used by the villagers.
The villagers say the land allocation was made without fair negotiations and
have refused to leave.
All land in Vietnam belongs to the state, with people having only the right to
use it. Land expropriation has been linked to several high-profile incidents of
unrest in recent years.
Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung called in February for a revamp to the
country’s land management policies and vowed to punish corrupt local officials
involved in illegal land grabs.
Dung also warned officials to ensure that evictions and land seizures are
carried out "in strict accordance with the law."
Reported by RFA’s Vietnamese service. Translated by An Nguyen. Written in
English by Joshua Lipes.