Cambodia Suspends Controversial Land Concessions | The Jakarta Globe

Cambodia suspended new land grants on Monday after the murder of a prominent activist shone the spotlight on increasing violence surrounding territorial disputes.

Prime Minister Hun Sen said in a statement that the government would “temporarily suspend granting economic land concessions” to “ensure equity and to strengthen the effectiveness” of leased land management.

The authorities have faced mounting criticism in recent years from rights groups and the United Nations over forced evictions around the country that have sparked protests and displaced tens of thousands of mostly poor people.

The death of well-known environmental activist Chhut Vuthy, who was gunned down by a military police officer on April 26 while gathering evidence of illegal logging in a remote forest, has added to the controversy.

Cambodia’s government granted some 800,000 hectares (two million acres) in land concessions to well-connected private firms in 2011, according to local rights group Licadho. The figure represents roughly five percent of the country’s entire area.

A further 300,000 hectares have been leased already this year, the group says, accusing authorities of a land grab.

Hun Sen said that the government would take back land from any firms that breach their lease by “cutting trees to sell, without developing the economic land concessions... and grabbing villagers’ or community land”.

The order, which comes as UN special rapporteur on human rights in Cambodia Surya Subedi is in the country to examine the impact of land concessions on local communities, said the deals should “provide real benefits to the nation and the people”.

Ou Virak, president of the Cambodian Center for Human Rights, welcomed the government decision, but said more need to be done to compensate local communities for previous deals.

“Most economic land concessions do not have environmental or social impact assessments,” he said.

In January, the United States warned Cambodia about potential “instability” over land disputes, after villagers threw bricks and Molotov cocktails at police who fired back with tear gas and rubber bullets in a clash sparked when authorities demolished some 200 homes in a community in the capital Phnom Penh.

Land ownership was abolished during the 1975-1979 rule of the communist Khmer Rouge and many legal documents were lost during that time.
Cambodia Suspends Controversial Land Concessions | The Jakarta Globe