30 May 2018 by CADTM France , CADTM Belgique , Collective
Photo caption: Communities protest against Socapalm in Douala, on the day of Socfin’s 2017 AGM
NGOs and solidarity organisations supporting the struggles of affected local communities assess the problems caused, and promises unkept, by the SOCFIN group, as shareholders meet for the rubber and oil palm giant’s AGM on 30 May.
Five years ago, on 5 June 2013, a first international mobilisation of local communities affected by the SOCFIN group (of which Vincent Bolloré and Hubert Fabri are the principal shareholders, at 38 % and 50 % respectively) was held. From Cameroon to Cambodia to Liberia, local groups rose up together to denounce the problems they were generating. At the same time, NGOs and solidarity organisations stood before the shareholders gathered for their Annual General Meeting. Since then, civil society organisations and affected local communities have persistently reached out to the company and its leadership to draw attention to the negative impacts of the group’s activities. Despite numerous mobilisations, both locally and internationally, mails and reports documenting the problems posed in terms of communities’ rights, the company has ignored most of the complaints and refused to dialogue with the communities to resolve the conflicts.
Land conflicts, lack of access to natural resources, polluted rivers, poor compensation, precarious working conditions: the living conditions for communities surrounding the plantations have been getting worse as land pressures intensify. From 2010 to 2017, the land area controlled by SOCFIN has grown by 25% from 323,198 to 402,344 hectares, while the area under production has grown by 36%. This expansion has exacerbated tensions, because in many cases concession agreements were drawn up without the participation of land-owner or land-occupying communities, or sometimes against their will.
Since last year, SOCFIN has taken measures to implement a “responsible management policy”, adopted in 2016. But local communities do not report real progress on the ground. For example:
NGOs which accompany the communities are facing legal threats from SOCFIN. A defamation lawsuit brought against Greenpeace is in motion, while another suit filed against Sherpa and ReAct, as well as Mediapart, was lost by Socfin but is now being appealed. The list grows longer as one takes into account the lawsuits filed by the Bolloré group on the same issues. Since 2009, more than 20 lawsuits have been filed by SOCFIN and Bolloré. [2]
The financial impacts of the SOCFIN group for its leaders and shareholders is unquestionable. But the social, political, economic, environmental and human right impacts on local communities remain contentious and their demands are still pending. Unilateral commitments have not proven to be the answer.
Brussels/Luxembourg/Paris, 29 May 2018
Signatories:
Media contacts:
Belgium: Manuel Eggen, +32 478 93 37 47 - manu at fian.be
France: Eloïse Maulet : +237 656 44 82 05 – eloise.maulet at projet-react.org
Luxembourg: Marine Lefebvre, +352 49 09 96 26 - marine.lefebvre at sosfaim.org
More information:
Articles and media releases about SOCFIN and land conflicts : https://www.farmlandgrab.org/cat/show/700
Information about the struggle of the International Alliance of Local Communities affected by SOCFIN/Bolloré : https://www.projet-react.org/en/the-landless-fight/
Informations about the Malen case Sierra Leone : http://www.fian.be/Landgrabbing-by-SOCFIN-in-Sierra-Leone-documentation?lang=en
[1] In Sierra Leone, more than 35 % of expenditures that SOCFIN claims to make for the direct benefit of communities goes to build and repair road infrastructures. These roads are needed by the company for its business activities and transport of palm oil, and are unfairly accounted for as social projects for the benefit of local communities.
[2] “We won’t be silenced by Bolloré gag suits!”, 25 January 2018, https://www.asso-sherpa.org/op-ed-we-wont-be-silenced-by-bollore-gag-suits
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