UN expert finds corruption and suspect land grabs affecting the poor in Cambodia
Large-scale land grabbing in Cambodia, inadequate legal protection for tenants, poor water and sanitation, and bias
against women and indigenous people are among the major issues cited by a United Nations human rights expert on housing
after a visit to the South-East Asian country.
The Special Rapporteur on adequate housing for the UN Commission on Human Rights (OHCHR), Miloon Kothari, also called
for the Government's assurance that the people of Cambodia will be housed in accordance with international human rights
and asked for a moratorium on land swaps.
Noting a "significant incidence" of corruption and lack of transparency was "exacerbating land disputes and skewing land
ownership patterns to the disadvantage of both the rural and the urban poor," Mr. Kothari nevertheless gave the
Government good marks for "some positive trends and best practices observed," including consultations with urban poor
about their housing concerns.
But overall, the preliminary findings highlighted a large number of potentially illegal land swaps taking place without
public participation, a land management system that did not track land records, and a weak justice system that did not
adequately address land law, allowing forced evictions of suspect legality.
It also found open-air sewage and garbage spread around houses in poor areas, lack of access to water, sanitation, and
electricity forcing villagers to turn to expensive private suppliers, and increasing economic and military acquisitions
of communal lands by individuals that had seriously impacted the living conditions of indigenous populations and women.
During his almost one month trip which ended this September, Mr. Kothari met with numerous government officials, local
human rights groups, and non-governmental organizations, (NGOs) and visited first hand the Battambang, Beantey Meanchey,
Siem Riep, and Kompong Speu provinces to gain an idea of urban and rural housing conditions.