statical analysis on land dispute 2008_eng

8/9/2019 Statical Analysis on Land Dispute 2008_Eng

1/20


2/20


3/20

Statistical Analysis on Land Dispute Occurring in Cambodia(For the year 2008)

Contents PageSummary ..................1

Introduction ...............1

Methodology ..............2

Result of the Data Analysis

Number of Land Dispute Cases (By Provinces):................................................................................2

Number of Affected Households: .....................................................................................................3

Size of Land under Dispute: ..............................................................................................................3

Type of Land under Dispute: ............................................................................................................3

Status of Land Disputed: ...................................................................................................................4

Range of Authorities which Land Dispute Cases Were Referred to: ..................................................4

Situation of Land Occupation in Disputed Area: ...............................................................................5

Reasons for Land Acquisition:...........................................................................................................6Type of Actors: .................................................................................................................................7

Type of Claims for Possession of Disputed Land (by Actors): ...........................................................8

Conclusion ................9

Land Dispute Data Illustration in GIS-map: ........................................................................................10

Annex I: Number of Land Dispute Cases (By Provinces) ................................................................10

Annex II: Map illustrations number of affected household by provinces .........................................11

Annex III: Size of Land Dispute Area .............................................................................................12

Annex IV: Primary Land Dispute Type ...........................................................................................13

Annex V: Status of Land Dispute ....................................................................................................14

Annex VI: Situation of Land Occupation in Disputed Area ............................................................15Annex VII: Reasons for Land Acquisition: ......................................................................................16

Figure 1: Land Dispute Location...........................................................................................................2

Figure 2: Authority to which Land Dispute Case were Referred: ...........................................................5

TablesTable 1: Number of Affected Households.............................................................................................3

Table 2: Size of Land Dispute Area .......................................................................................................3

Table 3: Land Dispute Type ..................................................................................................................4

Table 4: Status of Land Dispute ............................................................................................................4Table 5: Situation of Land Occupation in Disputed Area: .....................................................................6

Table 6: Activities Occurred During the Land Dispute: .........................................................................6

Table 7: Reasons for Land Acquisition: .................................................................................................7

Table 8: Type of compliant actors involved in land dispute: ..................................................................7

Table 9: Type of defendant actors involved in land dispute: ..................................................................7

Table 10: Type of claims and documentation held by complaints: ........................................................8

Table 11: Possession paper claim by defendants: ..................................................................................8


4/20

-1-

Statistical Analysis on Land Dispute Occurring in Cambodia(For the year 2008)

Summary

Land disputes have been known as a critical issue for Cambodia at the present. The causes of thedisputed have been described driving by law not being fully enforced, less involvement of localauthorities, and people knowledge related to legal and policy is limited. Land disputes have seendramatically increased in particularly in these last couple years. For instance, 173 land dispute cases

were collected from local media for the year of 2008. These cases were collected from four local media-Kohsantepheap, Rasmey Kampuchear, The Cambodia Daily, and Radio Free Asia. All collected cases,

were brought to verify with existing Land Dispute Database of the Land Information Centre. All thecase were recorded and updated. The majority of dispute cases reported more likely occurring withinzones of rapid economic growth. Each disputes reported relatively big. In average, around 200 familiesare involved in a land dispute case. More than half of land disputes occurred in productive land(Chamkar and paddy field) with size more than 50ha. The majorities of land disputes erupted longtimes a go, but only few been resolved.

Introduction

Increasing land value, ineffectiveness of law enforcement, lack of communitys knowledge in legal and

policy, and unclear roles and responsibilities of key responsible authorities are in part the driving forcesleading to land disputes in Cambodia. Most of disputes more likely happen in the areas, which are notclear legal entity ownership i.e. forest areas or land not yet being titled. Having seen this issue, manymechanisms and approaches have been made by the Royal Government of Cambodia. Variousinstitutions body or working groups have been formed. In line with those mechanisms and approaches,non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and development partners also play an important role toreduce those land conflicts. Almost every issue of the local newspapers mention of land disputes.

Various mechanisms from different government agencies have been made and applied, but the resultsseem not found significantly change.

Land Information Centre is a unique project of the NGO Forum on Cambodia under the land and

livelihoods programme. It was established since middle of 2006 to provide strategic information to allprojects under LLP to do advocacy for policy changes to benefit the poor and vulnerable groups.Information used for advocacy comes from the result of researches, investigations, and results ofdatabase analysis. Compilation of land dispute cases issued in local media (Kohsantepheap, RasmeyKampuchear, The Cambodia Daily, and Radio Free Asia) is one of the LIC project. The results of theanalysis also used to inform public about the overview of land dispute situation in Cambodia annually.

The overall objective of this land dispute database analysis aims at highly the general situation of landdisputes occurred within the year 2008. The analysis aimed to highlight the key players and itsintervention from key responsible agencies.


5/20

-2-

Methodology

Data analysis for this report come from the most updated information collected from local media andprovincial-based NGOs partners within the year 2008. Before analysis it was verified and updated onour existing land dispute database system. Four local media named: Kohsantepheap, RasmeyKampuchear, The Cambodia Daily and Radio Free Asia, were chosen as the key information for land

dispute data updated. Some cases were brought to verify with NGOs Forum provincial network fromtheir respective areas. The case counted for the database, only any case, which involve more than 5households.

There are 173 land dispute cases were issued in the local media within this year 2008. Each single casewas validated with the database or verify with NGO provincial network member. The database werestored as spatial data in Geographical Information System (GIS) database. The system enables togenerate results on geographically basis. A simple statistical data analysis result also possible to acquirefrom this system.

Result of the Data Analysis

Number of Land Dispute Cases (By Provinces):

The result of the analysis from 173 LD cases shows that the areas with the high rate of land disputesare lowland experiencing rapid economic growth, and in forested land. The figure 1 below shows theprovincial with the highest number of land dispute cases were Sihanoukville, Kampot, and Kandal,followed by Siem Reap, Battambang, Koh Kong and Banteay Meanchey. (see Annex I: Number of landdispute case by province).

Figure 1: Land Dispute Location


6/20

-3-

43.35%

16.76%10.40%

21.97%

7.51%

No data Less than 50Ha51 - 100Ha 101- 500HaMore than 500Ha

Number of Affected Households:

On average the land dispute case analyzed involved 188 families. The number of families in a landdispute ranges from 5 to 4,000 families. Most LDs that involved large numbers of families were thosein relation to in Economic Land Concession areas. In general, more than fifty percents of the landdisputes involved community more than 50 families (see Table 1 below). The largest case (involving

more than 100 households), were found in Ratanakiri, Kratie, Banteymean Chey, Kandal, Kampot andPrah Sihanouk provinces (see Annex II: Map illustrations number of affected household by provinces).

Table 1: Number of Affected Households

32.37%

9.83%24.28%

25.43%

8.09%

5 - 49

50 - 99100 - 200

>200No data

Size of Land under Dispute:

Nearly half of the land disputes involved less that 50 ha of land. However, some land disputes are asbig as 8,000 ha with the average being of 276 ha. Only a few (10%) land dispute cases occurred in landareas larger than 500 ha (Table 2: Size of land dispute). Most of the larger disputes in terms of land size

were in relation to conflict between a local community (community forest land) and an economic land

concession company. (see Annex III:: Map illustrates the size of disputed land by provinces).

Table 2: Size of Land Dispute Area

Type of Land under Dispute:

Different types of land use defined in this report depend on the report from media or NGO provincialnetwork members. From the Table 3 it is clear that more than half of land disputes (54.34%) occur inproductive land areas (Chamkar and rice agricultural land). About one quarter (22.54%) of disputes

involve residential areas and (13.29%) in the forest land which being used by local community. Thisresult suggests that, if disputes continue for long periods, they are likely to have negative impact onlivelihoods and income generation activities as the majority of cases involve productive land. In Siem

Number of involved households Percentage

5 - 49 32.37%

50 - 99 9.83%

100 - 200 24.28%

>200 25.43%

No data 8.09%Minimum 5 HHs

Maximum 4000 HHs

Average 188 HHs

Size of land Dispute Percentage

Less than 50Ha 43.35%

51 - 100Ha 7.51%

101- 500Ha 21.97%

More than 500Ha 10.40%

No data 16.76%

Total 100%Minimum


7/20

-4-

22.54%

39.31%

15.03%

2.89%1.16%

13.29%

1.16%

0.58% 4.05%

Residential land Agricultural landChamkar field Forest Land - Community ForestForest Land - State Land WetlandOther UnknownNo Data

Reap, Ratanakiri, Kampong Speu and Kampong Chhnang province more than fifty percent of thedispute cases recorded involved Chamkar or agricultural land.(see Annex IV: Map illustrates type ofdisputed land by provinces).

Table 3: Land Dispute Type

Status of Land Disputed:

The below table shows that only small proportion of land dispute cases (less than 13%) were resolvedwithin the year 2008. With verifying with the record in the Land Dispute Database, some cases takelonger than 10 years to reach a resolved as many legal mechanisms or conflict resolutions approachescan be applied, which often take time. With these cases being reported this year, there is not manycases found to be resolved within such a short period, only some were reported partly resolved. Thedetails of status of case resolutions are given in Table 4 below. The only provinces in which cases were

partially resolved during 2008 were Phnom Penh and Pailen (see detail of each province in Annex V).

Table 4: Status of Land Dispute5.20% 4.05%

6.94%

1.73%

82.08%

Partly resolved

Resolved for both complainant and defendant

Resolved for complainant

Resolved for defendant

Unresolved

Range of Authorities which Land Dispute Cases Were Referred to:

Once conflict occurs, people tend to seek help from various authorities. Some conflicts were submittedas complaints to many authorities at different level, including the Prime Ministers Cabinet. From theillustration of figure 2 it clear that the majority of land dispute (87.86%) are referred to immediate localauthorities (village, commune, or district level). This results show that village development council orcommune council could play a very important role in term of facilitation or mediation during theconflict resolution process for people in their administrative jurisdiction.

Land dispute type PercentageResidential land 22.54%

Agricultural land 39.31%

Chamkar field 15.03%

Forest Land - CommunityForest

13.29%

Forest Land - State Land 1.16%

Wetland 1.16%

Other 2.89%

Unknown 0.58%

No Data 4.05%

Total 100%

Status of Resolution Percentage

Partly resolved 5.20%

Resolved for bothcomplainant and defendant

4.05%

Resolved for complainant 6.94%

Resolved for defendant 1.73%

Unresolved 82.08%


8/20

-5-

5.78%

3.47%

49.71%

27.75%

8.09%

6.36%

0.00%

5.78%

3.47%

6.36%

27.17%

8.09%

2.31%

5.78%

4.05%

87.86%

0.00% 20.00% 40.00% 60.00% 80.00% 100.00%

Others

Department of National Assembly and Senate's

Affairs

Provincial Hall

Prime Minster's Cabinet

Concil of Minister

Ministry of Interior

Royal Palace

National Assembly

Supreme Court

Appeal Court

Provincial Court

National Authority for Land Dispute Resolution

National Cadastral Commission

Provincial Cadastral Commission

District Cadastral Commission

Local Authorities (Village, Commune and District)

Percentage

The second most common authority which people requested for interment on land dispute cases wasthe Provincial Governor (49.71%). Nearly one third (27.75%) of cases also filed their complaint directto the Prime Ministers Cabinet. Interestingly, only a few cases were found that it referred to district,provincial, or national Cadastral Offices or the National Authority for Land Dispute Resolution(NALDR). The Provincial court also plays an important role as 27.17% of LD cases brought to theprovincial court during 2008.

Situation of Land Occupation in Disputed Area:

The Table 5 below shows that nearly two thirds of disputed land is occupied by the complainant1 whilethe dispute is ongoing. The result shows that despite being under conflicts and sometime being forcedto leave, but the complaints more likely still could access to those land or resources. For more detailed

status of land dispute occupation by province, see in Annex VI.

1Complainant here refers to those who submitted their complaints to any authorities.

Figure 2: Authority to which Land Dispute Case were Referred:


9/20

-6-

Table 5: Situation of Land Occupation in Disputed Area:

67.63%

8.09%

19.08%

5.20%

Complainant Occupy Def endant Occupy

Occupied by Both No ocuupation / Unknow n

Methods for land Acquisition:

Table 6 below reveals that of the 173 cases, more than two thirds (63.58%) involved the use of violenceor threats during acquisition of the land under dispute. In total, 76.88% of cases involved the misuse ofpower, money or deceit by defendants as a means to acquire the land in question.

Notably, about 67.63% of the land conflict cases involved local authorities. In some case they areamong the defendants claiming the land under dispute. This involvement is of a concern given the roleof these local authorities play in land dispute resolution mechanisms.

Although not in high percentage, the 24.86% of detention of actors in the land dispute, together withthe larger proportion of threat and violence used is one of the biggest concerns for civil society during2008. These strategies are a significant deterrent against people claiming their rightful possession toland.

Table 6: Activities Occurred During the Land Dispute:

Reasons for Land Acquisition:

The analysis in Table 7 reveals that more than half of land disputes were based on land acquisitionrelation to Economic Land Concessions and plantation project (Table 7). This could be due tooverlapping of property boundaries as a result of unclear boundary definition through inaccurateground-true survey by local authorities before the land was granted for concessionaires. The otherreasons that often raised were related to the unclear boundary demarcation of Community ForestConcession areas.

Claiming that land under dispute was state land and state development areas, or private individual land(26.59% and 9.83%, respectively) was also a common result of the analysis. This phenomenon, again,indicates that rapid economic growth is one of the more significant driving forces leading to land

conflict in Cambodia, particularly in areas where title have not yet clarified (Annex VII).

Land Dispute Situation Percentage

Complainant Occupy 67.63%

Defendant Occupy 8.09%

Occupied by Both 19.08%

No occupation / Unknown 5.20%

Total 100%

Activities occurred during land dispute PercentageUsing authorities letter to claimed 5.78%

Using Threats or Violence 63.58%

Using power/money/deceit 76.88%

Using detention method 24.86%

Authorities involved 67.63%

Other method 1.73%


10/20

-7-

Table 7: Reasons for Land Acquisition:

9.25%6.36%

31.21%

9.83%9.25%

26.59%

7.51%

ELCs / Social Land Concession Military Purpose

Plantation / Farming Private Individual Land

Residency State land / Development Area

No Information

Type of Actors:

Due to the limitation of information in data sources, nearly fifty percent of the cases were reported

without detailed information on complainants represented. As Table 8 below shows, out of 86complaints more than two thirds (79.07%) are farmers. Among those, more than one quarter(18.60%) are indigenous people; in only a few (1.16%) cases has the complainant been either acompany or local government officials (Table 8).

Table 8: Type of compliant actors involved in land dispute:

79.07%

18.60%1.16% 1.16%

Company Farmers and Non Farmers

Indigenous People Of ficial

Out of the 107 defendants represented, more than one quarter (29.91%), were companies, primarilythose with economic land concessions. About twenty percents were local authorities and militaryofficials and in a further percent, the defendant was unknown (Table 9).

Table 9: Type of defendant actors involved in land dispute:2.80%

29.91%

19.63%18.69%

1.87%

21.50%

1.87% 3.74%

Community Company

Local Authority (Village-District Level) Military

MilitaryActor type Complainant Others (Unknow n)

Police Provincial and National Authority

Purpose of land acquisition Percentage

ELCs / Social Land Concession 9.25%

Military Purpose 6.36%

Plantation / Farming 31.21%

Private Individual Land 9.83%

Residency 9.25%

State land and Development Area 26.59%

No Information 7.51%

Total 100%

Actors Number Percentage

Company 1 1.16%

Farmers 68 79.07%

Indigenous People 16 18.60%

Official 1 1.16%

Total 86 100%

Actors Number Percentage

Community 3 2.80%

Company 32 29.91%

Local Authority(Village-District Level)

21 19.63%

Military 22 20.56%

Provincial andNational Authority

4 3.74%

Police 2 1.87%

Others (unknown) 23 21.50%

Total 107 100%


11/20

-8-

Type of Claims for Possession of Disputed Land (by Actors):

Nearly fifty percents of the cases were reported without detailed information on complainants claimfor possession of the land under dispute. Out of 86 complainants, nearly fifty percents of communitymember had no official documents2 to assure the legal possession but claim that they had settle on theland by clearing forest and land. About twenty percent of claims have received unofficial recognition by

local issued by local authorities since they first occupied the land. Among those, eighty percent claimownership of the dispute land through it being traditional community land inhered from theirancestors. Among land disputes, only a small amount of claims that had legal documents3 to prove theirownership (Table 10). This data revealed that official land title will play very important role in reducingthe land conflicts in the future. .

Table 10: Type of claims and documentation held by complaints:

44.19%

9.30%2.33%

18.60%

20.93%

3.49% 1.16%

Authorized Letter Buying/Selling Recipt Informal Settlment

Ohters Register Receipt (LMAP) Tranditional Claim

Unauthorized Letter

Out of the 107 defendants type of claims, nearly half of total cases had unofficial (unauthorized)documents to claim possession of the land whilst. And, more than fifty percents (51.40%) had officialdocuments, either in the form of a letter from government authorities or contract documentation for aeconomic land concession.

Table 11: Possession paper claim by defendants:

37.38%

14.02%

45.79%

1.87%

0.93%

Authorized Letter ELC Recognized LetterRegister Receipt (LMAP) SLCUnclear

2 Official document refer to any official letter recognized by local authorities3

Legal document refer to any document legally recognized at National Level

Possession Claim Number Percentage

Authorized Letter 3 3.49%

Buying/Selling Receipt 1 1.16%

Settlement 38 44.19%

Unauthorized Letter 18 20.93%

Register Receipt(LMAP)

2 2.33%

Traditional Claim 16 18.60%

Others 8 9.30%

Total 86 100%

Possession Claim Number Percentage

Authorized Letter 40 37.38%

ELC Recognized Letter 15 14.02%

Register Receipt (LMAP) 1 0.93%

SLC 2 1.87%

Un cleared letter 49 45.79%

Total 107 100%


12/20

-9-

Conclusion

From the analysis we can concluded that land dispute in Cambodia is still serious and effective actionsshould be taken soon. Most of the cased tense in areas saw as rapid economic growth. This could bedue to the booming of land speculation business. Most cases happened relatively big, in average 200family were involved with average size about 50 ha. Even lot of dispute resolution mechanisms were

applied, but success seem little achieved. Most of the conflicts lead to use violence. The conflict causedby unclear of possession paper or overlap of land ownership.


13/20

-10-

Land Dispute Data Illustration in GIS-map:

Annex I: Number of Land Dispute Cases (By Provinces)


14/20

-11-

Annex II: Map illustrations number of affected household by provinces

32.37%

9.83%24.28%

25.43%

8.09%

5 - 4950 - 99100 - 200>200No data

Grouping Percentage

5 - 49 32.37%

50 - 99 9.83%

100 - 200 24.28%

>200 25.43%

No data 8.09%

Total 100%

Minimum 5 HHs

Maximum 4000 HHs

Average 188 HHs


15/20

-12-

43.35%

16.76%10.40%

21.97%

7.51%

No data Less than 50Ha51 - 100Ha 101- 500HaMore than 500Ha

Annex III: Size of Land Dispute Area

Grouping Percentage

Less than 50Ha 43.35%

51 - 100Ha 7.51%

101- 500Ha 21.97%

More than 500Ha 10.40%

No data 16.76%

Total 100%

Minimum - 1 ha

Maximum 8000 ha

Average 276 ha


16/20

-13-

22.54%

39.31%

15.03%

2.89%1.16%

13.29%

1.16%

0.58% 4.05%

Residential land Agricultural landChamkar field Forest Land - Community ForestForest Land - State Land WetlandOther UnknownNo Data

Annex IV: Primary Land Dispute Type

Grouping Percentage

Residential land 22.54%

Agricultural land 39.31%

Chamkar field 15.03%

Forest Land - CommunityForest

13.29%

Forest Land - State Land 1.16%

Wetland 1.16%

Other 2.89%

Unknown 0.58%

No Data 4.05%

Total 100%


17/20

-14-

Annex V: Status of Land Dispute

5.20% 4.05%6.94%

1.73%

82.08%

Partly resolved

Resolved for both complainant and defendant

Resolved for complainant

Resolved f or defendant

Unresolved

Status of Resolution Percentage

Partly resolved 5.20%

Resolved for both

complainant and defendant4.05%

Resolved for complainant 6.94%

Resolved for defendant 1.73%

Unresolved 82.08%


18/20

-15-

Annex VI: Situation of Land Occupation in Disputed Area

67.63%

8.09%

19.08%

5.20%

Complainant Occupy Def endant Occupy

Occupied by Both No ocuupation / Unknow n

Grouping Percentage

Complainant Occupy 67.63%

Defendant Occupy 8.09%

Occupied by Both 19.08%

No occupation / Unknown 5.20%

Total 100%


19/20

-16-

Annex VII: Reasons for Land Acquisition:

9.25%6.36%

31.21%

9.83%9.25%

26.59%

7.51%

ELCs / Social Land Concession Military Purpose

Plantation / Farming Private Individual Land

Residency State land / Development Area

No Information

Grouping Percentage

ELCs / Social Land Concession 9.25%

Military Purpose 6.36%

Plantation / Farming 31.21%

Private Individual Land 9.83%

Residency 9.25%

State land / Development Area 26.59%

No Information 7.51%

Total 100%


20/20

The NGO Forum on CambodiaevTikanGgkarminEmnrdaPi)al sIBIkm

statical analysis on land dispute 2008_eng

Documents