Land Grabbing & Poverty in Cambodia: The Myth of Development

ABSTRACTED FROM THE INTRODUCTION: There is little evidence... that ordinary Cambodians are benefiting from the mass confiscation of their land. On the contrary, those who are displaced are explicitly excluded from any benefits, and instead find themselves facing loss of income, poor health, lack of education and other dire consequences that are directly opposed to the government’s public commitment to development, expressed through targets such as the “Millennium Development Goals” (MDG). There is no sign of the Cambodian authorities slowing down the pace of land grabbing and forced evictions, usually committed in flagrant contravention of their own laws. Economic Land Concessions continue to be granted in unlawful secrecy, concealed from the public, and sometimes in sizes far exceeding the legal limit of 10,000 hectares.

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