Cambodia For Sale

by Chua Sue-Ann


An astounding forty five per cent of Cambodia’s land has been sold off, says The Guardian’s report Country for Sale.

Foreign-owned companies can and have snapped up prime real estate in tourist centres and urban areas as well as large pieces of rural land on a 99-year plus 99-year concession. Influential individuals and companies, often colluding with state officials, continue to drive poor and vulnerable communities from their land. The most common problem involves the illegal acquisition of urban land for commercial development or dubious economic concessions of rural land for large-scale farming or mining.

With little information made public, the real impact of foreign land sales on the Cambodian economy is difficult to ascertain. However, what is certain is that forced evictions and land-grabbing remains a significant problem in this fast growing economy.

At today’s session, Depika Sherchan a project officer with the Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE) said that an estimated 150,000 Cambodians live in fear of forced evictions, with 70,000 concentrated in the Phnom Penh area alone. COHRE is an international organisation based in Geneva with offices all over the globe. Cambodia is one of their primary focus countries in the Asia Pacific region along with Burma, Bhutan, the Philipines and Sri Lanka. Their work is based on Article 11 of the United Nations International Convenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights 1966 which recognises the right of everyone to an adequate standard of living with emphasis on adequate housing and continuous improvement of living conditions.


With regards to housing rights, the key issue is having security of tenure whether in the form of land titles or rental agreements to allow people to live without fear of evictions. Acceptable housing standards should also include the availability of public amenities, a safe environment, good accessibility and facilities, accessible, located near facilities, safe environment, culturally-adequate and more. The Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights’ (Licadho) 2007 publication reports 98 new cases of land grabbing affecting more than 5, 242 families were documented that year.

Sherchan also explained that Cambodia’s persistent land crisis has its roots in the Khmer Rouge rule, from 1975 to 1979, when the state confiscated land and destroyed all record of land titles and maps. Subsequently, it was extremely confusing and almost impossible to ascertain who rightfully owned land. In contemporary Cambodia, the combination of corruption, absence of secure land tenure for the urban poor and the rapid introduction of private land market breeds land grabbing and the associated human rights violations.

During her hour-long session, Sherchan noted that governments can carry out evictions if the procedures conform to international human rights standards and if the land is vacated for public good.

“In Cambodia they say it’s for public interest but it is not,” Sherchan said, adding that land was being cleared for plantations, hotels and golf courses.

Those affected by evictions and relocations are often forced to sign eviction papers without being provided information on compensation, the intended use of the land and their rights. According to the Licadho report, fair compensation is rare and those who attempt to fight for their land and housing rights often face intimidation, violence and baseless criminal charges filed against them. The forced evictions are frequently accompanied by threats from hired thugs and armed forces.

One local student guide laments the fate of the evicted, “People cannot do anything. They can try in court (but they) never win.”

“It does not mean (the government) does not know [about the housing problem] but they just ignore it,” he adds.

Sherchan however remains optimistic that given the relevant training in negotiation and rights, communities are able to resist pressures from powerful corporations and state officials while negotiating a better compensation package for themselves.