Cambodian Land-Grabbing Epidemic
Katie Scott Aiton | September 18, 2009
On the horizon of Cambodia’s future lies a mish-mash of high-rise casinos and five star beach resorts juxtaposed between swelling refugee camps and rubbish dump homes; a ‘justified’ vital makeover for the adolescent democratic kingdom.
Hundreds of thousands who escaped the horrifying Khmer Rouge regime are suffering, homeless once more. The nation’s future, housing, livelihood and personal security are all severely threatened.
Last month whilst working in the province Brait Bra, on the outskirts of Phnom Penh, I had an opportunity to discuss the problem of land grabbing with Peng Sophan . Sitting wringing his hands, his face is weathered, exhausted, jaded, with a monotone breath Sophan told the hauntingly common story of loss and violence during life under Pol Pot. As a survivor, Sophan has dedicated his life to re-building his country and community. Sacrificing his independence, he mercifully cares for 67 abandoned children at ‘The Lighthouse’.
As we spoke, rumors were buzzing like flies around the covered market, whispers alleging that virtually all the land surrounding the slum area had been sold. Sophan’s, and his friends’, fears were confirmed; the ground underneath their home had been sold. The buyer was an influential ally of the local politicians, the wealthy Korean real-estate company, Phepimex Shukaku.
Sophan’s eyes alighted with anger as he exploded,“What I am going to do with the children? Under Pol Pot we suffered, but quickly. Under this democratic nation, we will die slow and painfully.”
He will be offered no compensation. Under the 2001 Land Law, anyone who has used the land for at least five years can claim full title. Established in 2005, Lighthouse’s beacon for justice and support from the government goes unnoticed.
These evictions alone will see an estimated 4,250 families loosing their homes and businesses.
The poor have been the major target for evictions. Unjustly they are among the millions who are being thrown off their land, thanks to legal loop holes, with little or no compensation or appropriate paperwork to lay claim to lost land and homes.Land ownership has always been a contentious issue in Cambodia. Since the communist era of the 1970’s, the Khmer Rouge regime saw the eradication of private ownership of land, collectivising property and terrain, whilst eliminating anyone who opposed.
The fall of the regime 1979 saw survivors and those who fled to neighboring countries return to lay claim to the ruined nation. The entire country is tainted by unjust death, punctured by landmines. Housing the large, young and overwhelming poor population in South East Asia has posed major problems ever since, complicated further by the absolute lack of land registry documentation.
Sophan’s story is sadly all to common in the region. According to the World Bank, Phnom Penh, a major site of urban development, has witnessed 133,000 people (more than 10 percent of its population) evicted since 1990.
The nation has become a refuge for opportunists, and their cash, escaping the paralysed financial markets of the West.
Decorating the plush riverside hotels, venture capitalists are pitching up, wearing neatly pressed linen ‘jungle wear’. Atrracted by the country’s natural beauty and the tourism boom they race to claim soil once seized by the Khmer Rouge.
Leading human rights groups have denounced as rights violation that powerful individuals and private companies have obtained ‘prime real estate’ at little or no cost, with local state institutions often benefiting from the financial transactions. Cowering beneath the banner of spineless rhetoric, ‘necessary for development’, the local government promotes future positive benefits for local communities.
Yet the majority of obliterated communities have been sitting empty for months, soullessly un-inhabited; lying in wait of ‘critical’ development. Walking past the empty, fenced off land, Sophan comments;“ Its no wonder we have no trust or respect in the government. We are being robbed, from our ancestral soil, we have no power, we are helpless”
Bubbling under the seemingly calm and harmonious surface of theses communities, locals endanger the past two decades of relative peace, promising “there will be more violence”.
Prime Minster Hen Sun, offers no solution with his recognition that, “Land-grabbing creates serious threat to the social and political stability of Cambodia.”
There is no sign of Cambodian authorities slowing down the pace of the land-grabbing orgy and forced evictions in the near future. The democratic state seems chronically unable, or unwilling, to respect its own laws, regulations and sub-decrees.
Instead the government are facilitating international powerful individuals and companies to rob the proud people of Cambodia of their ancestral rights, stripping them, yet again of their dignity and agency. Swelling the ranks of the landless, unemployed and poverty-stricken.
To stem this tide of human rights violations land grabbing and other economic pillage must be brought to light in international political arenas. Otherwise the myth that evictions are crucial for ‘positive development’ will be allowed to perpetuate.
Katie Scott Aiton grew up in the Borders of Scotland. She holds an undergraduate and masters degrees in Social Anthropology from the
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JoshRockman
April 8, 2010 at 1:21 am
Fiji Orphans
This is a shocking story and feel for the locals who have suffered enough in times past. There is tragedy all around the world. I just got back from Fiji where I was filming a promotional video for the Coptic Orthodox Church. They are trying to raise funds to build an orphanage there. The poverty is great in Fiji but the real heart breaker is to see the 25,000 orphans roaming the streets. No-one does anything about it, no Government assistance or care factor. Most of the orphans are due to sex through boredom!! I am not a part of the Coptic Orthodox Church but am glad to see someone…anyone helping the needy children in Fiji. I have worked with this group before and they have nothing but love in their hearts…if you want to see the existing Coptic video you can here.