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Viewing cable 06PHNOMPENH365, ANATOMY OF A LAND DISPUTE: TWO CASESQOM WESTERN

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
06PHNOMPENH365 2006-02-24 07:47 2011-08-30 01:44 CONFIDENTIAL Embassy Phnom Penh
VZCZCXRO7380
PP RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM RUEHNH
DE RUEHPF #0365/01 0550747
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 240747Z FEB 06
FM AMEMBASSY PHNOM PENH
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 6087
INFO RUCNASE/ASEAN MEMBER COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 PHNOM PENH 000365 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EAP/MLS, DRL, AND OES--ANN STEWART AND PETER 
O'DONOHUE 
USAID FOR ANE/SPOTS--MARY MELNYK AND JOHN WILSON, 
ANE/ESA--DEIDRE WINSTON AND DEBORAH KENNEDY-IRAHETA 
BANGKOK FOR REO JIM WALLER 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/21/2016 
TAGS: PHUM PGOV SENV ECON CB
SUBJECT: ANATOMY OF A LAND DISPUTE:  TWO CASESQOM WESTERN 
CAMBODIA 
 
REF: A. 05 PHNOM PENH 479 
 
     B. 06 PHNOM PENH 348 
 
Classified By: Economics Officer Jennifer Spande for reason 1.4 (b). 
 
1.  SUMMARY.  Land disputes affect 45% of the population of 
the western province of Banteay Meanchey and 10% of the 
population in neighboring Battambang province, according to 
estimates by local NGO activists.  During a Feb. 1-3 trip to 
the region, Econoff and Econ FSN learned that such disputes 
are on the rise.  In some cases, government officials failed 
to enforce decisions favorable to villagers or overturned the 
decisions withoQ explanation.  The use of frontmen and 
pseudonyms on land titles, overlapping goverment claims, and 
sometimes weak legal basis for villagers' land claims 
contribute to NGO difficulty in taking a systemic approach in 
tackling the issue.  Villagers in Banteay Meanchey asserted 
that, if necessary, they would resort to violence to defend 
their land; while villagers in Battambang said that they 
would continue to pursue their cases vigorously but without 
using violence.  END SUMMARY. 
 
Battambang:  Land Disputes in Cambodia's "Rice Bowl" 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
 
2.  (U) Known as the "rice bowl" of Cambodia, Battambang 
province in Western Cambodia shares a long border with 
Thailand and its provincial capital, also named Battambang, 
is Cambodia's second largest city.  Governor Prach Chan 
related that Battambang saw protracted fighting during the 
Khmer Rouge period and the ensuing conflict between 
Vietnamese-backed soldiers and the Khmer Rouge.  The long 
history of guerrilla warfare in the province led to very 
fluid land occupancy.  In many districts, residents fled 
their homes during periods of intense fighting and returned 
once the fighting subsided.  New migrants--often displaced 
from their home provinces or looking for better economic 
opportunities--also came to Battambang with the end of the 
war.  Governor Prach Chan noted that these migrants should 
have asked for government permission to settle on new land, 
but rarely did. 
 
3.  (SBU) Pol Sarith of the NGO Vigilance estimated that 90% 
of the land disputes in Battambang involve the military and 
that following the war, many military commanders claimed to 
own the land their soldiers had "liberated".  From 1996 until 
about 2000, he explained, military officers were typically a 
party to disputes.  However, as they sold their disputed 
holdings, the number of cases of villagers squaring off 
against new "owners" has risen, and these now account for the 
majority of cases.  Sarith also noted that 40% of Vigilance's 
current land dispute caseload involves cases in 11 villages 
involving 12,000 people who have settled on environmentally 
protected land without government permission.  (Note:  It is 
common for different government bodies, as well as private 
citizens, to have conflicting claims to the same land.  End 
note.)  Indeed, Governor Prach Chan told Econoff that 2/3 of 
the province is state-owned environmentally protected land, 
leaving little available land for migrants or newlyweds 
establishing new households. 
 
4.  (SBU) NGO observers estimated that about 10% of the 
provincial population is involved in a land dispute and that 
the number of land disputes appears to be rising.  Yeng Meng 
Ly of the NGO Adhoc noted that they had 13 land dispute cases 
in all of 2005, but in January 2006 alone they received three 
new cases.  (Note:  Most of Adhoc's cases involve hundreds of 
people each.  End Note.)  Road development is causing a rapid 
rise in land prices, which in turn is fueling land 
speculation.  Speculation is so rampant, Meng Ly noted, that 
people from Phnom Penh buy land in Battambang from the 
military without having seen the land or even knowing where 
it is.  Sarith noted that the affected villagers are becoming 
increasingly angry each year.  Some turn to NGOs for legal 
help, he said, but others arm themselves with machetes, 
hammers, or whatever they can find and prepare to forcibly 
battle eviction. 
 
Ompil Pram Dahm:  Dispute Threatens Long-Settled Community 
--------------------------------------------- ------------- 
 
5.  (SBU) The residents of Ompil Pram Dahm village, whose 
name means "Five Mandarin Trees", lived on the same land for 
generations.  In 1994, fighting between the Khmer Rouge and 
government-backed soldiers displaced the entire commune, 
sending more than 1,000 families living in seven villages in 
 
PHNOM PENH 00000365  002 OF 004 
 
 
the commune to Bovel commune 12 kms away.  The displaced 
villagers lived in Bovel commune until 1997, when fighting 
ended.  However, when they tried to return to Ompil Pram 
Dahm, the former Khmer Rouge soldiers settled in the area 
said that they had liberated this area and now owned part of 
the land where the village was located.  Undeterred, the 
original residents moved back to the area.  However, the 
soldiers sold 120 hectares of disputed land to 90 families 
from Battambang and neighboring Banteay Meanchey provinces. 
Some villagers lost all their land in these sales, while 
others lost just a portion of their land or none at all.  The 
residents were unsure if the buyers bought this land in good 
faith or knowingly bought disputed land; the villagers were 
unaware of the sale price. 
 
6.  (SBU) In 2003, the villagers decided that they had had 
enough and agreed to work together to plant rice in the 
disputed areas.  In November 2003, the Ministry of Land 
Management issued a letter recognizing the right of the 
original residents to grow rice on the disputed land. 
Villagers planted rice, but when harvest time came, the 
purported owners came and claimed the rice harvest. 
Villagers' complaints to police and commune council had no 
effect.  In 2004, the military mediated an agreement between 
the buyers and the villagers whereby 76 hectares of the 120 
disputed hectares was divided evenly between original 
residents and new buyers.  However, 44 hectares, belonging to 
34 families, are still in dispute. 
 
7.  (SBU) Residents say that because of the loss of their 
land and the areas still in dispute, the village no longer 
has sufficient land to feed itself.  They must rent 
agricultural fields in other areas and increase their incomes 
by raising additional livestock and sending some villagers to 
work as day laborers in Thailand.  Moreover, a new generation 
of landless villagers is being created as many families no 
longer have land to give to newlyweds.  In 1999 and in April 
2005, villagers traveled to Phnom Penh to protest in front of 
the National Assembly.  They remain frustrated by the 
remaining 44 disputed hectares but are unsure of what action 
to take.  They say that they will not resort to violence, as 
they fear arrest. 
 
"Heaven for the Rich, Hell for the Poor" in Banteay Meanchey 
--------------------------------------------- --------------- 
 
8.  (U) For economic migrants after the Khmer Rouge period, 
Banteay Meanchey province seemed like a dream come true:  a 
relatively sparsely populated province with fertile land and 
a 180 km-long border with Thailand, allowing for easy access 
to consumers and day labor jobs in Thailand.  But according 
to the governor of the province, General Heng Chantha, 
Poipet, the province's largest town, is "heaven for the rich 
and hell for the poor".  Poipet has attracted many migrants 
hoping for well-paying jobs at its casinos, but leaves most 
struggling to survive on the low wages of day laborers and 
merchants.  More than 3,000 Cambodians cross into Thailand 
each day to sell their wares at a market just across the 
border, and an unknown number come to work as day laborers on 
construction projects, agricultural fields, or shining shoes 
on the streets of Poipet.  Children working as porters 
smuggle clothing and other goods into Thailand on foot, often 
walking more than 20 km each day just to earn a dollar and a 
half. 
 
9.  (U) As Poipet has quickly and dramatically transformed 
from a dusty border crossing to a bustling town with six 
casinos, land prices have risen dramatically and land 
disputes have followed quickly behind.  According to Khun 
Borin of the Cambodian Association for Rural Development and 
Health, land in Poipet commune that was mined and essentially 
worthless in 1992, was worth about USD 20 per square meter in 
2000 and USD 100 per square meter today.  Prices for land all 
along the Thai border and in the provincial capital, 
Sisophon, have also increased dramatically in recent years. 
Similarly, rising land prices are fueling land speculation, 
but because wealthy investors don't take up residence on 
their land, squatters move in. 
 
10.  (SBU) Unscrupulous individuals use different ploys to 
take advantage of the demand for land.  Gen. Chantha noted 
that some unethical government officials sent to work in the 
province hire people to move in to uninhabited land to create 
a dispute that they can use to their advantage.  Andy 
Kervell, Technical Advisor to the provincial Mine Action 
Planning Unit, told of several cases where desperately poor 
 
PHNOM PENH 00000365  003 OF 004 
 
 
people are told that they can have small plots of land if 
they are willing to demine the land themselves, but when the 
demining is finished, the land owner reneges on the deal. 
Lee Huong of Adhoc noted that over the past few months, most 
of their cases have involved villagers who are removed 
reportedly because the land they occupy has been declared a 
community forest, only to have the forest cleared by others 
once these villagers leave. 
 
11.  (SBU) Borin estimated that 45% of the provincial 
population is involved in a land dispute.  Gen. Chantha noted 
that in just one of the provinces' eight districts, there are 
more than 100 active land disputes involving more than 5,000 
people, and the number of land disputes across the province 
are increasing each day.  Nhem Sarath of Adhoc reported that 
they have received 16 land dispute cases involving a total of 
10,000 individuals since January 2005. 
 
Prey Prik:  Community May Use Violence to Defend Land 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
 
12.  (U) From 1995 to 1999, a disparate group of 
Cambodians--all of whom had been internally displaced or 
living in refugee camps during the war--settled in Prey Prik 
village, located in Poipet commune just 10 km from the casino 
strip and 8 km from the Thai border.  The village is situated 
on a former minefield, and in fact some of the 815 families 
who settled in Prey Prik did so before the area was formally 
demined by the Cambodian Mine Action Center in 1997.  During 
the war, the area had been occupied by the Royal Cambodian 
Armed Forces' 911th regional military battalion. 
 
13.  (C) In 1999, the battalion began building small roads in 
and around the village (with the villagers' consent) and also 
began to sell both occupied and unoccupied land to new 
owners.  Although other commune residents were listed as the 
land owners, many say that in fact these people are merely 
frontmen for a small group of powerful Cambodians.  Borin 
told Econoff that he saw documents listing Khun Kim (Deputy 
Commander in Chief of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces), Nhem 
Soeun (wife of CPP faction leader and Senate President Chea 
Sim) and Hok Lundy (Commissioner General of the National 
Police) as some of the purported owners of the land. 
 
14.  (SBU) The disputed land claims remained dormant until 
2005 when Chun Samnang, one of the sellers, created a list of 
purported land owners and turned it in to the commune 
authorities.  Samnang had also been appointed--rather than 
elected--as a village representative, over the mounting 
objections of some of the villagers.  His list of land owners 
reportedly included the names of the new buyers as well as 
his friends and associates among the earlier settlers. 
However, villagers who were out of favor with Samnang were 
left off the list, regardless of their claim to the land. 
589 families filed a complaint alleging that they were being 
stripped of 103 hectares that was rightfully theirs. 
 
15.  (SBU) Initially, commune and national authorities 
appeared to be sympathetic to the villagers' claims.  On 
August 7, 2005, the commune chief gave the villagers a 
temporary land certificate, and on August 22, 2005, the 
Council of Ministers issued a directive saying that the 
disputed land belongs to the villagers and they have the 
right to live there.  However, just a week later, the Prime 
Minister issued a circular asking the Minister of Land 
Management to reconsider these decisions, and provincial 
authorities quickly canceled the temporary land certificates. 
 Villagers now fear that they will be forcibly evicted, just 
as their neighbors in Kbal Spien, only a few kilometers away, 
were in a violent episode in March 2005 (Ref A). 
 
16.  (SBU) Prey Prik villagers have no agricultural land 
other than small family gardens; they work as day laborers in 
Thailand.  Many villagers travel to Thailand daily to work as 
shoe polishers and porters, earning about USD 1.50 per day 
and paying about 40 cents to commute by motorcycle taxi.  The 
villagers want to gain permanent title to the land so they 
can construct buildings, including a school.  They are 
determined to remain on their land, and told Econoff that 
they will try to persuade government officials not to evict 
them.  However, if their attempts at persuasion are 
unsuccessful, they said that they would consider resorting to 
violence. 
 
Comment 
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PHNOM PENH 00000365  004 OF 004 
 
 
 
17.  (C) These two cases help illustrate some of the reasons 
NGOs have had difficulty in addressing land disputes in a 
systemic way (Ref B).  The use of pseudonyms and frontmen 
means that it is frequently difficult to ascertain who is 
really involved in land disputes.  Overlapping government 
claims must be resolved.  Cambodia's court system is 
notoriously corrupt, and offers little hope for those who 
cannot afford to buy a favorable decision.  And in some 
cases, the poor and vulnerable simply may not have legal 
rights to the land they occupy. 
 
18.  (SBU) While it is almost invariably relatively poor 
Cambodians being affected the most by land disputes, these 
two cases also illustrate that different communities bring 
vastly different economic, intellectual, and social resources 
to bear in their conflict.  Ompil Pram Dahm villagers have 
long-standing community ties, have elected leadership, and 
live in typical rural Cambodian conditions.  Their village 
chief keeps scrupulous notes about the land dispute, and the 
villagers have some, although not sufficient, agricultural 
land.  In contrast, Prey Prik is a collection of villagers 
displaced from their homes across the country who struggle to 
survive and live in conditions that are difficult even by 
rural Cambodian standards.  They have no agricultural plots 
of any size and their housing is made of plastic sheeting on 
wooden frames.  They have no elected village leader, and the 
older villagers who speak for the group are illiterate.  It 
is no surprise that those who are the most desperate are the 
ones more willing to use violence to defend their precarious 
community. 
Storella