Where Has All the Land Gone? Land Rights and Access in Cambodia - Volume 1: Review of Land Issues Literature and Property Law

Based on a review of the documents we have been able to collect so far, it appears that many Cambodian farmers are losing their land because of the combined effects of the market economy and the wholesale privatisation of what previously were commonly used resources such as forest and wetlands. For centuries the rural poor in Cambodia have been augmenting the insufficient income provided by the marginal and risky business of rain fed lowland rice production by foraging in the forests and fishing in the floodplains. Whilst the distribution of land in Cambodia still appears to be comparatively equitable, compared to elsewhere in the region, there are signs that consolidation is occurring at an alarming rate. More than 8 million hectares of Cambodia are now under long term forestry concessions, and 1 million hectares are now dedicated to commerdal fishing lots. With 3.3 million hectares under conservation management, 27 million hectares under cultivation and one million hectares taken up by towns and infrastructure, there is not much of the Cambodian commons left. Despite the vastness of public space already appropriated for private gain, some pubic officials still act as though there is still an abundance of public land under their control that is theirs to sell. During the course of preparation of this review, local Cambodian newspapers earned almost daily stories of court cases and protests by farmers dispossessed by officials and military officers who have misused their authority. Sales of public property for personal gain, including ministerial head offices, schools and lan within national parks were openly reported and unprosecuted. Our forthcoming inventory of cases and suite of in depth case studies will likely reveal more about the prevalence of the use of force and the abuse of power to expropriate the property the poor in Cambodia depend on for their survival. The current administration of land titling under the guise of the 'Land Law 1992' seems to be organised in such a way that the rural poor and other disadvantaged groups find that it is prohibitively expensive and dauntingly complicated to obtain certification of their land rigths. Some Cambodian elites appear to be exploiting this situation, by expropriating formally untitled property occupied by the vulnerable families and then abetting evictions to effect dispossesson of the occupants who have been targeted by speculators or developers. Our forthcoming review of land titling systems in Cambodia will try and identify remedies and strategies to end such practices.

Cambodia