A Change of Guard

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Sunday 31 August 2014

Resolving Land Disputes and Protecting Citizens’ Rights

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By William E.Todd, U.S ambassador to Cambodia

For thousands of years, Cambodia has been a place where people’s lives are deeply connected to the land they cultivate.  With more than half of the country’s labor force still employed in the agricultural sector today, the land continues to be the backbone of the Cambodian economy.  This week, Sopheap from Phnom Penh wrote to me to express her concerns about this precious resource.  She asked, “Villagers from provinces as far as BanteayMeanchey and Pailin have been coming to Phnom Penh to ask our national government to help resolve land disputes.  How can we improve our land policy to prevent land disputes and protect citizens from forced evictions?”
In recent weeks, we have seen hundreds of people marching into the capital to protest over land concessions, bringing renewed attention to this long-standing issue.  Land is a finite resource, and increased population growth and economic activity put an increasing strain on public lands.  A fair and effective land management policy that advances economic development and also protects individual rights is something that individual families and businesses both demand. 


Last week, Samdech Prime Minister Hun Sen expressed his own concerns about land concessions and called for greater accountability by local officials in the handling of land disputes.  It was also reported that the Prime Minister set up a new high-level inter-ministerial committee to review whether companies are abiding by the rules of the economic land concessions, which is a promising idea.  For Cambodian citizens who have been affected by land concessions, the Prime Minister’s call for action has raised hope that positive changes may be within reach, but implementation will be key.
It is not surprising that an issue as complex as land management continues to present challenges.  Moratoriums on land concessions have temporarily addressed the problem but are not a permanent solution.  According to a report issued this month by the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the number of violent forced evictions from disputed rural land has been on a steep rise over the past year.  In addition to ripping people from their homes, these forced evictions can lead to environmental degradation through illegal logging and other practices and contributes to public distrust of government.  
The process for determining land use works best when the transaction is open and transparent, with equal and full access to information for all interested parties.  Experience shows that the most effective way to reduce disputes is to ensure that all decisions on land use are made with maximum participation from the communities that are impacted by the decisions.  In the United States, most federal public land falls under the Bureau of Land Management, which administers public lands and makes them available for recreation or commercial use, and the National Park Service, which manages our national parks.  These agencies have the responsibility to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of the land for the current and future generations, and they make sure that they are doing so by soliciting feedback from the public and by being subject to oversight by the U.S. Congress.  Citizens who feel that their rights have been infringed can appeal the decision in court.
In Cambodia, bringing land concessions into a fully transparent process will go a long way towards ensuring that public land is used for the public good instead of for the short-term economic gain of a few.  In keeping with the spirit of the Prime Minister’s recent statements, I encourage relevant government officials at all levels to work more closely with civil society groups and the communities affected by evictions.  A partnership between citizens and their leaders is the only way to repair the distrust caused by land evictions and to ensure that land disputes are resolved fairly and equitably.  At the national level, if the government and National Assembly can find a way to build a truly open and transparent land management policy, it will help Cambodia to achieve a proper balance between the promotion of economic growth and the protection of the rights of individual citizens.
Thank you very much for reading my column this week.  If you would like me to answer your question, please e-mail me at AskAmbToddPP@state.gov



William E. Todd is U.S. Ambassador to the Kingdom of Cambodia.

- See more at: http://thecambodiaherald.com/opinion/detail/3?token=YzU5MGVlYTc0YjhjZWU5M2M0YjQ1NGFhOWU5YjY0#sthash.L19Z5Iqo.dpuf

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

the newly printing US dollars is the root of all evil deeds around the world...mr ambassador tell your friends at the FED/US central bank to quit printing money and lend it to their friends in foreign banks [at zero interest rate] which they promised to buy US treasuries [ an US gov I owe YOU ] then earn interest in billions from american taxpayers ; these foreign banks now have all these excess money to lend to companies so they can go on a shopping spree in every poor country around the world ... land grabbing is happening just about in every poor country, not just in Cambodia. All these problems happen right after the FED/US central bank decided to print money to save their banker friends which caused the global economic collapse of 2008... now the bankers are richer than ever , thanks to the US central bank policy of robbing from the poor to give it to their friends/ the rich.... and Mr ambassador is complicit in this matter , since he dare not say something in this matter to his boss [ obama ]

Anonymous said...


Thank You Mr. Ambassador William E.Todd for expressing your concerns about social injustice in Cambodia.

Best wishes and good luck to you !!

Sarith

Anonymous said...

Ah...Mr. Ambassador may not be well learn as you are sir! I got the notion in US Federal lands are being control by the UN. Umm...like the Boundary Water in Minnesota, virgin timber got blown down but no loggers were allowed to go in and harvest the down timber. I think latter on the down timber caught on fire and useful resource went up in smoke for the sake of natural evolution.

My opinion is every person should be entitle to a piece of land without money being paid for that property as he/she starts out family life. From there on he/she can buy or sell if they want to acquire more property to increase their lively hood. This would put every person on level opportunity to get a go on life. After all, people cannot create land from thin air like bankers able to create money from thin air.

MagogMademn

Anonymous said...

Give the ambassador a break would you.
It is not even his job to go out of his way to write this article.

Anonymous said...

Heng Soy wanted to get out of his grave to revive his KI blog which is now a ghost town.

Anonymous said...

4:52 am

It would really be a ghost town when the readers stop peeking at it.
I notice the Pageviews have jumped higher after it requires the sign in policy.
It put a smile on Jendha’s face since she will commercialize KI like Khmerization soon.

Anonymous said...

jendha said all of you don't have to worry about KI Because Ly Diep can bring the counter up to 3 millions next month . Only PhD Ly diep make khmer all over the world come to read Ly Diep trash cnrp but in long beach no one read his new paper at all even is free. Please PhD Ly Diep don't mad because it's true and your know it. ha ha when you point finger to some one you was happy but when I point finger to you than you get mad but i tell the true. isn't it?

Anonymous said...

Here is a little discouraging statistic...

Did you know that 26 people own 26%of Earth? That the richest 1% own 41.5% of Earth? That 85% of the population own no land at all? Brithish Queen, owns 1/6 of the planet.

So hopeful of a better future of equality and democracy, right?

Magog

Anonymous said...

"British Queen, owns 1/6 of the planet."

----

Really, but she doesn’t even Britain and Scotland is going to vote for independence.


Anonymous said...

[Give the ambassador a break would you.
It is not even his job to go out of his way to write this article.

1 September 2014 4:06 am]


did you know that all a person needs to be appointed ambassador of a foreign country is to give LOTS of money to the party whether it is democrat or republican--not much else required... when that party wins that person will get a position in the gov of his/her choice ...plus it helps if that person is good at ass-kissing to the higher up.

Anonymous said...

I'll tak KI & Ly Diep over Khmerization any day!

Anonymous said...

11:43 am

Is that a fact or just your ignorant rumors?
Give me a link to what you claim.

Anonymous said...

1 September 2014 5:50 am
People click KI to see if KI is DEAD yet. That's all.

Anonymous said...

9:19 am


You are writing trash !

Anonymous said...

1:19 am

Yep, I do that every day, both KI
and Theary Seng's Truth 2 Power.

Anonymous said...

12:38 pm

Just like Theary Seng's Truth 2 Power, KI is now dead !

Anonymous said...

KI is now dead

Anonymous said...

Mr. Todd,

Why so many problems in Cambodia because that what Hanoi wants Khmers to preoccupied so that Khmers don't have time and means to stop Viet expansionism.