PHC (ex-Feronia) in DRC : New revelations in a palm oil scandal in the DRC
Today, a civil society coalition, of which FIAN is a member, is simultaneously calling on the Belgian, German and Dutch ministers to take responsibility for the disastrous impact on communities affected by PHC in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Although Belgium has decided to end its investment, via its development bank BIO, in this problematic agribusiness multinational in 2022, the situation of local communities is far from resolved. On the contrary, new revelations have once again vindicated the communities that have been demanding their land back for decades.
American court documents reveal that European development banks, including BIO, have prevented the return of almost 60,000 hectares of land taken from these communities in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The conflict actually dates back to the early 1900s, when Unilever established massive plantations on 100,000 hectares in what was then the Belgian Congo. In 2015, a loan agreement was signed between Belgian, German and Dutch development banks and PHC - the company that took over the former Unilever plantations. This is the same document that was recently discovered in court documents in Delaware, as part of a court case involving PHC.
The communities and NGOs that have been supporting them since then have finally been able to see the exact terms of this agreement, to which they had been systematically denied access since 2015. They discover that the banks demanded that PHC return to the communities nearly 60,000 hectares of land that it was not using, as a precondition for granting the loan. They also demanded that PHC divide the remaining 40,000 hectares into smallholdings and grant them new titles in order to fly under the radar of DRC legislation.
But while no land has since been returned to the communities, the change of titles and the loan itself did take place. None of this information was ever communicated to the affected communities, who are now involved in a senseless mediation process. Even worse, PHC now claims that the original land titles are still valid, while one of its owners is suing the others for using the company for money laundering. [1]
Today, the civil society coalition is calling on European governments to suspend the mediation process and allow the communities access to the land documents and legal support to defend their interests.
Signed by
Corner House - UK
FIAN-Belgium
FIAN- Germany
Global Legal Action Network
GRAIN
Institute of Sustainable Agriculture (ISA) - Liberia
Jogbar United Women Empowerment and Development Organization (JUWEDO) - Liberia
Milieudefensie - Netherlands
Oakland Institute - US
Rettet den Regenwald - Germany
RIAO-RDC - DR Congo
Struggle to Economize Future Environment (SEFE) - Cameroon
Syndicat des paysans riverains de la Socapalm (Synaparcam) - Cameroon
World Rainforest Movement
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