US sanctions Chinese company over Dara Sakor project in Cambodia
- According to the US Treasury Department, the company falsely registered as Cambodian in order to build on protected national park land
- The company ‘forced Cambodians from their land and devastated the environment’, says the department
The Treasury Department accused Union Development Group (UDG) of “seizure and demolition of local Cambodians’ land” for the construction of Dara Sakor, a coastal resort area spanning 36,000 hectares (90,000 acres) that is planned to include golf courses, casinos, luxury housing, an airport, and a port large enough for cruise ships.
According to the Treasury Department, UDG falsely registered as a Cambodian company in order to build on protected national park land. The company “forced Cambodians from their land and devastated the environment”, the department says.
UDG was granted a 99-year lease for the project in 2008.
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“As is too often the case with Beijing’s One Belt One Road initiative, these activities have disproportionately benefited the [People’s Republic of China], at the expense of the Cambodian people,” the department said in a statement.