According to a recent assessment by the World Bank[1], poverty has been reduced across the Cambodian population, but inequality has increased. The standard of living of the extreme poor grew at the slowest rate. Over 90 percent of Cambodia’s poor are living in rural areas and more than 70 percent of Cambodians depend on land for their livelihood. Land tenure security and improved access to land and natural resources are therefore main pillars for the country’s strategy on poverty reduction. The World Bank report, however, found that landlessness has risen rapidly, from more-or-less equal distribution in 1989 to 20 percent of rural households lacking land in 2004. On the other hand, approximately 2.7 million hectares have been approved for concession management and large land areas are being kept by non-producers for speculation, which results in there being no land for the people who need to farm for their livelihood. The ongoing land-grabbing carried out by powerful people has not been resolved yet. There are urgent tasks that need the government's attention. Despite the Royal Government’s repeated commitment to combat illegal land encroachment[2], real political will to enforce the relevant articles of the 2001 Land Law still appears lacking.
It has been several years since the Land Law entered into force on 30 August 2001. The RGC, in particular the Ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction, has been responsible for institutional restructuring, staff capacity building, policy development, and legal documentation that the Land Law requires. To strengthen this effort, the RGC has passed the Strategy of Land Policy Framework (2002) as well as a series of key Sub-Decrees[3]. The signing of the Sub-Decree on State Land Management and the Sub-Decree on Economic Land Concessions by the Prime Minister last year marks a milestone towards increased transparency and accountability in the use and management of the state’s natural assets. However, the effective implementation of the two Sub-Decrees will require firm commitment and support from the RGC and its development partners.
Over the past decade local and international NGOs have significantly contributed to the shaping of a pro-poor policy and legal framework for land reform in Cambodia. NGOs welcome continued cooperation between the RGC and civil society to support and speed up implementation of land related laws and policies.
1. Land administration
Only about 20 percent of land owners in Cambodia hold secure title to their land[4]. In 2002 the Land Management and Administration Project initiated a pilot project on systematic land registration in 10 provinces and the municipality of Phnom Penh. The project aims to register 1 million parcels by 2007 to improve peoples’ livelihoods by providing secure tenure through the systematic issuance of titles that are legally enforceable. However, NGOs are concerned that if the land registration process is not opened up to community participation and supported by effective public awareness activities it will not only cause a deteriorating effect on peoples’ livelihoods, but it will also increase landlessness.
The majority of people in rural areas are illiterate, and as a result it is difficult for them to understand the process and procedures of land registration. They are often ignorant of their rights, especially in relation to their immovable property. The results of the 2006 poverty assessment by the World Bank show that the likelihood of obtaining a legal land title increases with income. There is anecdotal evidence that carelessness in some areas of systematic registration has allowed for opportunistic people to take advantage of the land registration process. As a result the landowner becomes landless, and powerful people who already have substantial land acquire more land legally. This is clearly in contradiction to the poverty reduction strategy and the land distribution policy committed to by the RGC.
2. Land conflict
The problems created by legal loopholes in the 1992 Land Law and the lack of a comprehensive land policy have been compounded by the transitional hazards brought on by the expansion of the free market, and it appears that in the rush toward privatization, huge swathes of land have come under the ownership of a small handful of people. Land disputes started to emerge in Cambodia in the early 1990s, often involving powerful people who grabbed land from poor farmers. In response to this, the RGC under the 2001 Land Law has created the Cadastral Commission system; a mechanism to replace the pre-existing 1999 Land Dispute Settlement Committees that had failed to adequately address this problem.
A study made by a group of national and international organizations on the level of land disputes[5] and the effectiveness of dispute settlement in Cambodia has shown that at least 1,551 land disputes have occurred between 1991 and 2004, with disputed land totaling more than 380,000 hectares, and affecting more than 160,000 farming families. According to the study, land disputes increased 50 percent in 2000 compared to 1999. After a decrease in land disputes in the period after the new Land Law was enacted in 2001, the number of disputes increased again by 50 percent in 2004 compared to 2003. Almost two-thirds of the dispute cases that were recorded in interviews have yet to be resolved. In one-third of these cases the claimants have given up hope and no longer pursue the case. As an overall result of the survey, the efficiency of land conflict resolution through both the Cadastral Commission and the court system is highly questionable.
3. Land distribution
No groundwork on land distribution has yet taken place. Demand for land has steadily increased with a significant proportion of landless families (for example young married couples) having never owned land. In 2003 the RGC adopted the Sub-decree on Social Land Concessions, but the results of piloting the transfer of private state land to landless poor remains to be seen. NGOs are concerned about possible allocation of social land concessions in forested areas or areas under rightful claims by indigenous communities.
Even though the 2001 Land Law prohibits further encroachment, land encroachment is still happening. The increasing value of land, especially fertile land with agricultural potential, is leading to the twin phenomenon of landlessness with good land held idle by rich and well-connected people for speculative purposes. This land as well as unused economic concession land could serve as an asset for a social land concession program.
4. Management of State Property
In a period where there is a clear lack of legal support and legal documentation for the management of state property[6], some such properties have gradually become legally owned assets of private individuals or companies through the sale, exchange or grabbing by powerful, local and international opportunists. These properties have been lost without the notice of the general public, which is to say there is no participation from the public, who are recognized by the 1993 Cambodian Constitution as the owners of the country with equal right to benefit from these properties.
In addition to the provisions in the 2001 Land Law relating to the management of State property, the RGC has recently adopted two legal texts with the aim of ensuring and protecting immovable property of the State. The Sub-Decree on State Land Management and the Sub-Decree on Economic Land Concessions are believed to serve as effective legal tools for the transparent and accountable management of state land. Although the legislation is reasonably sound, the question remains whether a more complex and technical legal framework can resolve the problem of illegal acquisition of state land where an easily manageable legal system has previously failed. Instead of focusing on the drafting of new legislation, more support for implementation of existing laws and regulations is needed. The enforcement of Article 18 of the 2001 Land Law is an indicator for the political will to regulate private transactions of state land.
w Real political will to carry out changes in the area of land reform is critical if the above issues are to be addressed. This includes renewed commitment to the 2004 cross-cutting monitoring indicators for agriculture and natural resources.
w After extensive pilot testing, systematic land registration should now be implemented in areas that most urgently need registration, including those in high profile land disputes or undergoing disturbing rates of illegal land acquisition. Moreover Government should cooperate with NGOs to improve community participation and public awareness in the systematic land registration process.
w The Cadastral Commission system needs to be reviewed and participation of representatives of civil society in reconciliation teams in district and provincial levels Cadastral Commissions ensured.
w Effective and urgent actions need to be taken to reconvert unused land and unexploited economic concession land to state private land for the implementation of an effective social land concession program. Pilot social land concession projects on non-forested, vacant land should be implemented as soon as possible.
w The RGC, in accordance with the Sub-Decree on State Land Management and Economic Concession should seek to redress the loss of State land that has been sold, and is now owned by an individual or investment company. Further expansion of informal land markets on state land needs to be prevented by immediate enforcement of Article 18 of the 2001 Land Law.
w The economic land concessions review process outlined in the Sub-Decree on Economic Land Concessions should be properly and speedily implemented. The RGC should invalidate any contracts whose concessionaires commit a serious violation of the contract or the Land Law, and shall ensure that other contracts be compliant with laws.
For further information on the issues raised in this paper, please contact:
Land and Livelihoods Programme of the NGO Forum on Cambodia, Tel: 023 994 063, Email: ngoforum@ngoforum.org.kh.
[1] World Bank (2006): Cambodia: Halving poverty by 2015? Poverty Assessment 2006.
[2] See for example the speech by Prime Minister, Samdech Hun Sen, at the Conference of the Ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction on 6 February 2006
[3] This includes the Sub-Decrees on Systematic Registration, the Sub-Decree on Sporadic Registration (2002), the Sub-Decree on Organization and Functioning of the Cadastral Commission (2002) and the Sub-Decree on Social Land Concessions (2003).
[4] World Bank Poverty Assessment 2006
[5] Note that the survey only recorded major land dispute cases that involve one or more powerful actors and more than one family.
[6] See Article 15 of the 2001 Land Law for a definition of State public property.
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