Land rights in Cambodia: How neopatrimonial politics restricts land policy reform

Pacific Affairs

Volumn 84, Issue 2, 2011, Pages 289-308

  Un, Kheang ^a   So, Sokbunthoeun ^a  

^a NONE

Author keywords

Cambodia; Land policy reforms; Land rights; Neopatrimonialism

Indexed keywords

ELECTION; GOVERNANCE APPROACH; LAND RIGHTS; PARTY POLITICS; PATRIARCHY; PATRON-CLIENT RELATIONS; POLICY REFORM; POLITICAL SYSTEM;

CAMBODIA;

EID: 79958791215     PISSN: 0030851X     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.5509/2011842289     Document Type: Article

References (88)

1. We would like to thank Judy Ledgerwood, Stephen McCarthy, Kenton Clymer and the editors and anonymous reviewers of Pacifc Affairs for their many helpful suggestions for revision and improvement. Note
2. Beng Hong Socheat Khemero and Geoffrey Payne, "Improving tenure security for the urban poor in Phnom Penh, Cambodia: an analytical case study," Habitat International 28, no. 2 (2004): 199.
3. Paul Rabe, "Land Sharing in Phnom Penh,"
4. "Places We Live: Slums and Urban Poverty in the Developing World" policy workshop in Washington, DC on 30 April 2010: 4-5 and 19.
5. Cock's argument though is focused more on how the Cambodian elites have changed institutions and adapted the rhetoric of the "resource curse" to their own advantage.
6. Andrew Cock, "Anticipating an Oil Boom: The 'Resource Curse' Thesis in the Play of Cambodian Politics," Pacifc Affairs 83, no. 2 (September 2010): 525-546.
7. Voan Lim, "Land Regime in Cambodia," (Phnom Penh: unpublished manuscript, 1997), 17.
8. In 1989, the PRK changed its name to the State of Cambodia and began a transition from socialism to a market economy. A land distribution divided farmland on a per person basis, with 15-17 ares per family member. While this distribution was said to be conducted fairly, in some regions where land was more valuable, those in power were said to have received more and better quality land. Note
9. Judy Ledgerwood, "Rural Development in Cambodia," in Cambodia and the International Community, eds. Frederick Brown and David Timberman (New York: Asia Society, 1998), 129-130.
10. Anders Engvall and Ari Kokko, Poverty and Land Policy in Cambodia, Stockholm School of Economics Working Paper 233, June 2007, 7.
11. These reported figures were based on only official records of complaints; actual number of people affected by land confict may be higher.
12. See USAID-Cambodia, Cambodian Village Directly Affected by Land Conflict and Located in Conflict Affected Area (Phnom Penh: USAID-Cambodia, September 2005), 2.
13. Sisovann Pin, Land Crisis Echoes Pre-Revolution Period, Voice of America Khmer, Phnom Penh, August 25, 2008, http://www.voanews.com/khmer-english/news/a-40-2008-08-25-voa10-90165552.html (last accessed 21 February 2011).
14. Amnesty International, Rights Razed: Forced Evictions in Cambodia (London: Amnesty International, 2008), 7.
15. Land Law 1992, Articles 61, 68 and 76.
16. Land Law 1992, Articles 72, 73, 74 and 75.
17. United Nations Development Program (UNDP), The Report of Land and Human Development in Cambodia (Phnom Penh: UNDP, 2007), 9.
18. Land Law 2001, Articles 30, 31 and 239.
19. Land Law 2001, Articles 229 and 239.
20. Land Law 2001, Article 51. Large tracts of land have been given to private companies in the form of economic land concessions for agro-industrial development since the early 1990s. Social concessions for the landless are only available under the new Land Law adopted in 2001. Note
21. Land Law 2001, Articles 30, 31 and 239.
22. George Cooper, "Land Policy and Conflict in Cambodia" (Phnom Penh: unpublished paper prepared for North South Institute and the World Bank, 2002).
23. Gero Erdmann and Ulf Engel, "Neopatrimonialism Reconsidered: Critical Review and Elaboration of an Elusive Concept," Commonwealth and Comparative Politics 45, no. 1 (February 2007): 105;
24. Michael Bratton and Nicholas van de Valle, Democratic Experiment in Africa: Transition in Comparative Perspective (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1997), 62.
25. G Erdmann and U Engel, "Neopatrimonialism Reconsidered," 106-110.
26. Nicholas Van de Walle, African Economy and the Politics of Permanent Crisis 1979-1999 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001), 53.
27. Larry Diamond and Leonardo Morlino, "The Quality of Democracy: An Overview," Journal of Democracy 15 (October 2004): 20-31;
28. Guillemo O'Donnell, "Horizontal Accountability in New Democracies," Journal of Democracy 9, no. 3 (1998): 112-126.
29. Kheang Un, "Patronage Politics and Hybrid Democracy: Political Change in Cambodia 1993-2003," Asian Perspective 29, no. 2 (2005): 227.
30. 24 Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) consistently scores Cambodia as one of the most corrupt countries in the world. Cambodia scored 2.3 out of a best possible 10 in 2005, 2.1 in 2006, 2.0 in 2007, 1.8 in 2008 and 2.0 in 2009. See Transparency International, Corruption Perception Index, www.transparency.org/policy_research/surveys_indices/cpi/2009 (last accessed 21 February 2011). Note
31. Kheang Un, "Cambodia's 2008 Parliamentary Election: Prospect for Opposition Politics," Asia Pacific Bulletin No. 22, 22 August 2008.
32. David Roberts, "Hybrid Polities and Indigenous Pluralities: Advanced Lessons in Statebuilding from Cambodia," Journal of Intervention and Statebuilding 2 (March 2008): 63-86.
33. Sokbunthoeun So, "Land Rights in Cambodia: An Unfinished Reform," Asia Pacific Issues 97 (August 2010): 4.
34. Engvall and Kokko, Poverty and Land Policy in Cambodia;
35. S. Sovanarith et al, "Social Assessment of Land in Cambodia: A Field Study," CDRI Working Paper 20, 2003.
36. Caroline Hughes, Political Economy of Cambodia's Transition 1991-2001 (New York: RoutledgeCurzon, 2003), 33.
37. Ministry of Planning and UNDP, Cambodia Human Development Report 2007 (Phnom Penh: Ministry of Planning and UNDP, 2007), 10-23.
38. Beng and Payne, "Improving Tenure Security for Urban Poor," 182.
39. Ministry of Planning and UNDP, Cambodia Human Development Report 2007, 42.
40. Beng and Payne, "Improving Tenure Security for Urban Poor," 194-199.
41. For examples of eviction cases, see Land and Housing Working Group (LHWG), Land and Housing Issues: Additional Information and Supplementary Questions (Phnom Penh, LHWG, November 2008).
42. Land and Housing Working Group (LHWG), Land and Housing Rights in Cambodia: Parallel Report 2009 (Phnom Penh: LHWG, April 2009), 6.
43. Caroline Hughes, "Parties, Protests and Pluralism in Cambodia," Democratization 9, no. 3 (Autumn 2002) 167.
44. LICADO, Freeedom of Epxression in Cambodia: The Illusion of Democracy (Phnom Penh, December 2010), 14.
45. Paul Rabe, "Land Sharing in Phnom Penh."
46. Allyster Hayman and Sam Rith, "Lake Dwellers Among Thousands to Be Evicted," The Phnom Penh Post, 23 Februrary 2007.
47. See Amnesty International USA, "A Further 160 Families in Cambodia Faced Eviction," August 13, 2009, http://www.amnestyusa.org/document.php?id=ENGNAU2009081311790&lang=e (last accessed 31 March 2010).
48. Caroline Hughes, "Cambodia in 2007: Development and Dispossession," Asian Survey 48, no. 1 (2007), 70.
49. Economic land concessions were formerly based on two legal provisions: (1) the 1989 Council of Ministers' Instruction No. 3, which authorized the Ministry of Agriculture to grant land concessions larger than five hectares for crop production, and (2) the 1994 investment law, which allowed up to 70 years' lease of land for agricultural production. It is currently regulated by the 2001 Land Law and the 2005 sub-decree on economic land concession, which provides private actors with use rights for up to 99 years. Note
50. Cultivable land in Cambodia is as large as 6.5 million hectares of which 2.7 million hectares are considerably fertile. Approximately 3.91 million hectares are being cultivated.
51. United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR), Economic Land Concession for Economic Purposes in Cambodia: A Human Rights Perspective (Phnom Penh: UNHCHR, 2004), 3.
52. United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR), Economic Land Concession for Economic Purposes in Cambodia: A Human Rights Perspective (Phnom Penh: UNHCHR, June 2007), 1.
53. Economic Institute of Cambodia (EIC), Cambodia Economic Watch (Phnom Penh: EIC, 2009), 61.
54. Private sector representative, interview with So Sokbunthoeun, 4 March 2010.
55. MAFF may underreport land under the ELC. Thus the actual land area granted as ELCs in 2009 may be higher.
56. Data for fgure 1.2 is drawn on data from the MAFF website and sithi.org. The data also include 47 provincial concessions listed on the MAFF website without details. These are assumed to have been issued between 2005 and 2008 (the period during which concessions up to 1,000 hectares could lawfully be issued by provincial administrations. For the purpose of this analysis these concessions are assumed to be 1,000 hectares each and to be evenly distributed across the years 2005-2008. Note
57. Supreme National Economic Council and John F. Kennedy School of Government, "Raising Rural Incomes in Cambodia: Beyond Sectoral Policy, Towards a Framework for Growth" (Phnom Penh, UNDP Discussion Paper no. 4, 2007), 12.
58. World Bank, Cambodia Halving Poverty By 2015, 85;
59. see also Ministry of Planning and UNDP, Cambodia Human Development Report 2007, 13.
60. World Bank, Cambodia Sharing Growth: Equity and Development in Cambodia (Phnom Penh: World Bank, 2007), 55;
61. see also UNDP, A SWOT Analysis of Cambodian Economy (Phnom Penh: UNDP Discussion Paper no. 1, 2006), 17-19.
62. World Bank, Sharing Growth, 54-55.
63. Susanna Lundstrom and Per Ronnas, Employment and Growth in Cambodia (Sida: Country Economic Report 2006), 27-28.
64. Twenty-three concessions in 11 provinces impacted people in this way. See UNHCHR, 2007, 12.
65. Royal Government of Cambodia, "Strategy of Land Policy Framework: Interim Paper," 6 September 2003, 18-19; Guidelines for implementing state land demarcation and management were laid out in the 2005 sub-decree no. 118. Note
66. Land Law 2001, Articles 13 and 14.
67. See sub-decree no. 129 on Rules and Procedures on Reclassifcation of State Public Properties and Public Entities (2006), 27 November 2006.
68. Kheang Un, "The Judicial System and Democratization in Post-Conflict Cambodia," in Beyond Democracy in Cambodia: Political Reconstruction in a Post-Conflict Society, eds. Joakim Ojendal and Mona Lilja (Copenhagen: NIAS Press, 2009), 70-100.
69. Allyster Hayman and Sam Rith, "Boeng Kak Lake Latest City Sell off," The Phnom Penh Post, 9 February 2007.
70. Sebastian Strangio and Chhay Channyda, "Who Own the Lake? Debate Rages," The Phnom Penh Post, 3 October 2008.
71. Allyster Hayman and Sam Rith, "Lake Dwellers Among Thousands to Be Evicted," The Phnom Penh Post, 23 February 2007.
72. Allyster Hayman and Sam Rith, "Boeng Kak Lake Latest City Sell off," The Phnom Penh Post, 0 February 2007.
73. The World Bank, Management Response to the Request for an Inspection Panel Review of the Cambodia Land Management and Administration Project, http://siteresources.worldbank.org/EXTINSPECTION PANEL/Resources/LMAP_Final_Corrected_1DEC09.pdf (last accessed 8 February 2010);
74. Land and Housing Working Group, Land and Housing Issues: Additional Information and Supplementary Questions (Phnom Penh: Land and Housing Working Group, 2008), 8.
75. The project oversees the development of land policy and its regulatory framework, the improvement of land management's institutional capacity, the process of the land titling program, the resolution of disputes over unregistered land, and overall land management through land classification and registration. Note
76. Cooperation Committee for Cambodia (CCC), "Land Transactions and Emerging Issues Since Land Titling Commenced," Cambodia Development Review 12, no. 1 (January-March 2008): 9.
77. Sophal Chan and Sarthi Acharya, Land Transactions in Cambodia: An Analysis Transfer and Transaction Records (Phnom Penh: CDRI Working Paper 22, 2002), 34.
78. M.P. Tohonen, "Developing Land Administration in Cambodia," Computers Environment and Urban System 25 (July-September 2001): 411-412.
79. Author's interview with a cadastral official 31 October 2007 and findings from field research 2 June-15 July 2009.
80. Royal Government of Cambodia, "Strategy of Land Policy Framework: Interim Paper," 6 September 2003, 27-28.
81. Im Chhun Lim, "Intervention Remark on the Outcomes of Implementation of the Land Reform Program for Growth, Employment, Equity, and Efficiency," speech delivered at the National Conference of the Royal Government of Cambodia, 28-30 May 2008.
82. World Bank, Land Allocation for Social and Economic Development Project Appraisal Document (Phnom Penh: World Bank, 2008).
83. Anders Engvall, Orjan Sjoberg and Fredrik Sjoholm, "Poverty in Rural Cambodia: The Differentiated Impact of Linkages, Inputs, and Access to Land," Asia Economic Papers 7, no. 2 (2008): 74-95.
84. Cited in World Bank, Sharing Growth, 55.
85. Brian McCartan, "Gulf States Covets Asian Farms," Asia Times, 26 September 2008.
86. World Bank, Rising Global Interests in Farmland: Can It Yield Sustainable and Equitable Benefits? (Washington, DC: The World Bank, 2010).
87. Elizabeth Vivirito and Paul White, et. al., "The Aid Debate: The Donors' Challenge in Cambodia's Healthcare System," Harris School of Public Policy Studies International Policy Practicum 2009, Final Paper, March 2010.
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