CAMBODIA. Land and resource rights

Transcription

1 296 IWGIA THE INDIGENOUS WORLD 2011 CAMBODIA The indigenous peoples of Cambodia comprise approximately 20 different groups. 1 The size of the indigenous population is unknown but 1.34% of the total population or approximately 179,000 people reported an indigenous language as their mother tongue in the 2008 population census. 2 The 1993 Cambodian Constitution guarantees all citizens the same rights, regardless of race, colour, sex, language, religious belief or other differences. In recent years, the Cambodian government has made reference to indigenous peoples (literally, indigenous minority peoples) in various laws and policies. These include the 2001 Land Law, the 2002 Forestry Law, the 2009 National Policy on Development of Indigenous Minorities, the 2009 Policy on Registration and Right to Use of Land of Indigenous Communities in Cambodia and the 2009 Sub-Decree on Procedures of Registration of Land of Indigenous Communities, among others. Land and resource rights T he 2001 Cambodian Land Law includes provisions for the collective titling of indigenous communities land and defines indigenous communities. Land that can be covered by communal titles of indigenous communities includes residential land, land on which the community practices traditional agriculture, and land reserved for shifting cultivation. 3 The 2009 Sub-Decree on Procedures of Registration of Land of Indigenous Communities clarifies that reserved land is land that the community previously cultivated and that no more than a total of seven hectares of spirit forests and seven hectares of burial forests can be included in a collective title. Communities must register with the Ministry of Interior before they can be granted a communal land title. A 2009 circular defines the identification of indigenous communities, to be carried out by the Ministry of Rural Development, as an initial step in the registration of indigenous land. 4

2 EAST & SOUTH EAST ASIA Prey Long Forest 2. Stung Treng Dam site 3. Sambor Dam Project 4. Lower Sesan II dam project site 5. Stung Atay Dam Project 6. Stung Cheay Areng Dam Project 7. Stung Tatay Dam Project In 2010, an indigenous community was granted a collective title for the first time. The classification of the land of two other communities is being changed so that titles can be granted. Seventeen other indigenous communities have been registered as legal entities by the Ministry of Interior, and another 31 have been identified as indigenous by the Ministry of Rural Development. 5 Protection of indigenous peoples land rights is still, however, vastly inadequate. The high profile case of land-grabbing by the wife of a senior Cambodian politician in Kong Yu village, Ratanakiri province, remains unresolved after many

3 298 IWGIA THE INDIGENOUS WORLD 2011 years. 6 Land grabbing involving indigenous land continues. Large-scale developments continue to have devastating impacts on indigenous peoples; these include the development of plantations and tourist sites, mining and the construction of hydroelectric dams and roads. There has been essentially no meaningful consultation of indigenous peoples during project decision-making and no free, prior, and informed consent given. 7 Over the last decade, the Cambodian government has granted large numbers of economic land concessions for rubber, pine trees, corn and other plantations in indigenous areas. A 2007 UN report found that the alienation of indigenous land through the grant of concessions is undermining the ability of indigenous communities to register their collective ownership of traditional lands, and enforce their rights to land under the Land Law. 8 Indigenous communities have lost forests (including sacred forests), other sacred sites, agricultural land, residential land and other land. In 2009, the Cambodian government agreed to provide 100,000 hectares of land to Vietnamese companies for rubber plantations. 9 The land has primarily been in indigenous areas. During 2010, one Vietnamese company continued to develop a rubber plantation and others began to develop others in the area of Prey Long forest, the largest area of intact lowland evergreen forest remaining in Southeast Asia, and of great importance to the Kui people. 10 Development of other concessions granted in earlier years continued and new concessions were granted in numerous other areas around the country where indigenous peoples live. The government has made it clear that it considers tree plantations to be forests, 11 so forests can be converted to plantations without changing official measures of forest cover. In 2010, the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination expressed concern about reports of the rapid granting of concessions on land traditionally occupied by indigenous peoples without full consideration, or exhaustion of procedures provided for, under the land law and relevant sub-decrees... It recommended that the State party develop appropriate protective measures, such as a delay in the issuance of a concession on lands inhabited by indigenous communities who have applied to be registered legally in order to obtain land titles until the issue of collective ownership titles and indigenous peoples rights to possess, develop, control and use their communal lands, where at issue, has been assessed and determined, and after consultation with and the informed consent of the indigenous peoples. 12

4 EAST & SOUTH EAST ASIA 299 Mining operations and exploration continue to threaten areas where indigenous peoples live. In Preah Vihear province, indigenous and non-indigenous communities have made efforts to resist a mining company that has expanded its goldmining operations and stopped artisanal mining and gold panning by local communities. For more than a decade, indigenous peoples in northeast Cambodia have suffered from the unmitigated and uncompensated downstream impacts of hydropower dams located in Vietnam, despite ongoing calls for remedy by the affected communities. 13 The construction of dams planned on the mainstream Mekong River and its tributaries in Laos would have a significant impact on fisheries in Cambodia. In September, the 1,260 MW Xayaburi dam in northern Laos became the first mainstream Mekong River dam downstream of China to reach the stage of invoking a regional decision-making mechanism. 14 There has been talk of mainstream dams on the Mekong downstream of China for many years but this is the first time any of the mainstream dams has reached this advanced stage. If it is approved, it is likely that other planned Mekong dams will also be approved. The Cambodian government has also continued to push for the development of large hydropower dams inside Cambodia; many of these projects would disproportionally affect the country s indigenous peoples by jeopardizing the natural resources on which they depend. In Cambodia s southwest, construction has begun on the 110 MW Stung Atay dam 15 and the 246 MW Stung Tatay dam, 16 and in 2010 the government reportedly signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for a new feasibility study for the 108 MW Stung Cheay Areng dam. 17 Construction of all three dams will involve resettlement of indigenous peoples. There has already been an influx of Chinese workers and more non-indigenous people are expected. In the northeast, the Cambodian government has also signed MOUs for feasibility studies for two dams located on the Mekong mainstream, the 460 or 2600 MW Sambor dam in Kratie province 18 and the 980 MW Stung Treng dam. 19 These dams would together involve resettling more than 29,000 people (many of them indigenous) and would have an impact on millions of Cambodians. 20 The environmental impact assessment of the 400 MW Lower Sesan II dam was approved in December 2009, despite local communities protesting against the construction of the dam. 21 Advocacy actions by indigenous peoples, particularly around land and resource rights, continued to increase in However, this has been met by intimidation. According to a civil society report,

5 300 IWGIA THE INDIGENOUS WORLD 2011 When communities sought to engage with their government in compliance with legal processes, what were the results? In short, the research shows that while there were some superficial attempts to address the issues expressed in the complaints, the vast majority of communities who lodged complaints in 2009 saw no improvements nor were they offered alternative solutions to alleviate their plight. Instead, many experienced increased threats, intimidation, land grabs and more land concessions. 22 The National Forest Program (NFP) includes REDD (Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation), a mechanism to pay for forest protection through carbon markets or funds. 23 The government has developed a roadmap for drafting a REDD strategy and policy, and feasibility studies are being carried out for REDD projects in indigenous areas. Media and access to information In 2010, consultations with indigenous peoples in four provinces revealed that indigenous peoples have little access to independent media and information that addresses their needs. Most media is not in indigenous languages, disproportionately disadvantaging women and elders (including traditional leaders). In Ratanakiri province, a service has been established within the provincial government radio station to provide information in indigenous languages but the service is limited and information on issues of concern to communities is generally inadequate. Education In 2010, a UNESCO report raised special concerns about the education of indigenous children in Ratanakiri and Mondulkiri provinces, 24 although a number of bilingual educational initiatives have been undertaken. The Ratanakiri Department of Education now runs its own bilingual non-formal education program. The Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports (MoEYS) manages and implements a pilot formal bilingual education program in 30 primary schools in three northeastern provinces, following a model that was developed by international NGOs. In 2010, MoEYS approved guidelines for bilingual education in Cambodia, which it

6 EAST & SOUTH EAST ASIA 301 will disseminate in The guidelines limit formal teaching in the mother tongue to grades 1-3 only but provide a legal basis for formal bilingual education. 25 Indigenous students continue to face great hardships in pursuing a university education, although the National Policy on Development of Indigenous Minorities calls for support for the university-level education of indigenous students. Officially approved orthographies of the Kreung, Tampuen, Brao, Bunong and Kavet languages are in use. This year, an orthography of the Kui language was completed (but has not yet been officially approved) and an orthography of the Jarai language is underway. Health The difficulties that Cambodian indigenous peoples face are reflected in their health status. They have higher risk of illness and less access to quality healthcare services than others. The 2005 Cambodia Demographic and Health Survey found that, in the provinces with the highest indigenous populations (Ratankiri and Mondulkiri), the mortality rate among infants (under one year) and children under five years was twice that of Cambodia in general, and three times that of Phnom Penh. 26 A recent UNDP document highlighting progress towards Millennium Development Goal 4 (reducing child mortality) shows marked disparities between provinces, with provinces with high indigenous populations showing significantly less progress than the rest of the country. 27 The government s policy of community participation in the health care system provides a mechanism by which accountability of health service providers could be improved. Indigenous civil society Cambodian indigenous peoples are increasingly recognizing the relevance of the term indigenous and using it to refer to themselves. A growing number of Cambodian indigenous people are familiar with the international indigenous peoples movement. 28 The Indigenous Rights Active Members (IRAM), a nation-wide grassrootsbased indigenous peoples network, focuses on awareness raising and advocacy on indigenous peoples land and natural resource rights and helps indigenous

7 302 IWGIA THE INDIGENOUS WORLD 2011 communities to gain legal recognition. The Cambodian Indigenous Youth Association (CIYA) aims to mobilize and build the capacity of indigenous youth to work for indigenous communities; it has carried out activities such as critical research, facilitating community dialogues and organizing the Indigenous Peoples Day and an indigenous peoples forum. Notes and references 1 The National Policy on Development of Indigenous Minorities, for example, identifies 24 indigenous groups. National Policy on Development of Indigenous Minorities, National Report of Final Results of Cambodian 2008 Population Census (Summary). 3 Land Law (2001). 4 Circular on the Procedures and Methods for Implementing the National Policy on Development and Identification of Indigenous Communities (2009). 5 Brief Progress Update on IC Registration as Legal Entities up to Dec ILO. 6 NGO Forum on Cambodia, The Rights of Indigenous Peoples in Cambodia: report to United Nation s Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. 76 th Session. NGO Forum in association with Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact, March See also The Indigenous World 2008, 2009 and ibid. 8 Economic Land Concessions in Cambodia: a Human Rights Perspective. Special Representative of the Secretary General for Human Rights in Cambodia. p Kunmakara May, 2009: Cambodia, Vietnam ink deal on rubber. Phnom Penh Post. 23 Sept. 10 Lang, Chris, 2009: Cambodia s Prey Long forest is equivalent to life itself for local communities. WRM Bulletin. Issue Cambodia s National Forest Programme strategic framework document. December CERD report See, for example, NGO Forum on Cambodia s Down River: The Consequences of Vietnam s Se San river Dams on Life in Cambodia and Their Meaning in International Law (2005). 14 MRC Receives first Notification of Mainstream Mekong Project, MRC media release. 15 Initial Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (IESIA) Report on Atay Hydropower Project in Veal Veng District, Pursat Province by SAWAC Consultants for Development (July 2008). 16 Work Will Start on Koh Kong Dams This Week, The Cambodia Daily, April 1, Cambodia signed the 53.2 billion memorandum of understanding Hydropower Project, Jian Hua Daily. Nov. 5, Chinese to study four dams. Phnom Penh Post, Nov. 7, Gov t gives contract for $2bn dam to VN firm, Phnom Penh Post, March 18, MRC SEA for Hydropower on the Mekong Mainstream. SEA-Main-Final-Report.pdf 21 Baird, Ian G., 2009: Best Practices in Compensation and Resettlement for Large Dams: the case of the planned Lower Sesan 2 Hydropower Project in Northeastern Cambodia. Rivers Coalition in Cambodia, Phnom Penh.

8 EAST & SOUTH EAST ASIA Cambodian Human Rights Action Committee and Housing Right Task Force, 2010, Still Losing Ground: Evictions and intimidation in Cambodia, CHRAC and HTFP p Cambodia s National Forest Programme strategic framework document. December Education for All Global Monitoring Report images/0018/001866/186606e.pdf 25 Guidelines on Implementation of Bilingual Education Programs for Indigenous Children in Highland Provinces, UNDP, Phnom Penh. Current Status of Cambodian Millennium Development Goals (CMDG), Draft Power Point document, September 19, See Baird, Ian G., 2011: The construction of indigenous peoples in Cambodia. Pages In Alterities in Asia: reflections on identity and realism, ed. Leong Yew. Routledge, London and New York This article was prepared by a group of people working in consultation with indigenous peoples across Cambodia