Environment Day March Halted by Police

Some 400 students, monks and activists were halted from a peaceful march for Environmental Day on Thursday, failing to deliver petitions to the Ministry of Environment and other institutions calling for an end to deforestation. No clashes were reported. Cambodia’s forests provide many services to the rural poor, including minority groups, but those forests are being developed economically for rubber and other products. The government has had a ban on public assembly in place since massive labor and pro-opposition demonstrations in January. (Suy Heimkhemra, Phnom Penh)