Indigenous people say way of life at risk from land development

17/03/2010
DPA

Phnom Penh - Cambodia's indigenous communities warned Wednesday that their culture and customs risk disappearing as the government grants further land concessions to investors.

Representatives from four indigenous communities called on the government to respect the rights to which it has committed itself under local and international law. They added that foreign donors, who last year provided almost 1 billion dollars to the government, should monitor Phnom Penh's compliance with those obligations.

Pheap Sochea, a representative of the Bunong tribe in the north-eastern province of Mondolkiri, said indigenous peoples' lives, traditions, culture and religion are inextricably linked to the land and natural resources.

"If we don't have land, what will happen to our traditions, to our customs?" he asked at a press conference in Phnom Penh.

"Some experts have found that a lot of tradition is going to become extinct."The comments followed a meeting of the United Nation's Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination in Geneva this month, at which Cambodia's compliance with its obligations under the convention that created the committee was evaluated.

The committee concluded that Phnom Penh must do more to protect indigenous peoples' lands. It said the government must take measures to prevent the intimidation of those who protest the loss of communal lands and to prosecute those who intimidate.

Chhith Sam Ath, the head of the non-profit group Forum, a coalition of civil society groups, said the government typically makes land concessions without consultation and local people do not benefit.

"The key issue is economic land concessions, which affect land, forest, culture and burial grounds," he said at the press conference, where the representatives gave their feedback on the UN committee's meeting.

In its released remarks, the committee said "a proper balance" needs to be found between Cambodia's economic development needs and the rights of its more vulnerable people.

Dam Chanthy, from the Tampuon minority in the north-eastern province of Ratanakkiri, called on the government to ensure development projects protect the environment.

"If the government wants to preserve the identity and traditions of the indigenous people, then it must pay attention to protecting the environment because the environment is linked to the livelihoods of the indigenous people," she said.

Development without benefits, she said, would impoverish already poor communities, "so please pay attention to the indigenous people's communities before granting concessions."

The UN committee also called on Phnom Penh to delay issuing further land concessions in areas where indigenous people have applied for that land in their collective name.

Chhit Sam Ath said at least 1 million hectares have been granted in land concessions to commercial concerns whereas none have been registered for indigenous people because the system in operation for them was "so, so slow."

"And once the land has been granted as an economic land concession [for 99 years], how can we register the land because there is no more land to be registered?" he asked.

Graeme Brown, an independent consultant on the rights of indigenous people, said the problem has reached a crisis point with large tracts of land given over to land concessions, mining and hydropower projects.

"There are some areas such as Kratie and Stung Treng provinces where about 90 per cent of the whole province has been given away to industrial development," he said. Solving the problem is urgent, he said, because all the indigenous people in Cambodia are under threat.

The solution, he added, is simple: "Implement the laws - there is no shortage of laws in Cambodia to rectify the problem."