wfn.org | LWF Criticizes Land Concession Policy in Cambodia

["Frank Imhoff" <Frank.Imhoff@elca.org>]

LWF Criticizes Land Concession Policy in Cambodia
Written Statement Submitted to the UN Commission on Human Rights 

GENEVA, 27 April 2005 (LWI) * Subsistence livelihood for the majority
of the Cambodian population is increasingly threatened by "land
grabbing" and unfair granting of land concessions, the Lutheran World
Federation (LWF) stated in a written statement to this year's 61st
Session of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights. The Commission
met here, March 14-April 22.

"The lack of proper controls on the granting of land concessions has
greatly compounded the general problem of landlessness and poverty in
Cambodia," according to the report elaborated jointly with the LWF
Department for World Service program in Cambodia. The report stated that
the government grants land concessions to large multinational companies
and businesses without prior consultation with the local populations. 

Examples cited in the LWF statement include the 99-year concession
(lease) to a Chinese company of a protected area under the
administration of the Ministry of Environment. The land is located
inside the Mt Oral Wildlife Sanctuary, which includes the sacred hot
springs of the Souy People in Kompong Speu Province. Although the Souy
have petitioned the government to stop the development and work has
temporarily halted, they have not been given information concerning the
processes that are pending in view of the lease on their ancestral land.

The LWF expressed support to Cambodian Prime Minister, Samdech Hun Sen,
who had meanwhile made a public statement declaring his disapproval of
the current land concession system, which primarily affects the poorest
section of the population.

The LWF statement pointed out that Cambodia was among the poorest
nations in the world, with more than a third of the population living
below the poverty line. Eighty five percent of the people were rural
farmers who depended on agriculture for their survival.

The LWF began its involvement in development cooperation in Cambodia in
1979, just after the end of the Khmer Rouge regime. (323 words)

(By Barbara Schneider, youth trainee in the LWF Office for
Communication Services)

(The LWF is a global communion of Christian churches in the Lutheran
tradition. Founded in 1947 in Lund, Sweden, the LWF currently has 138
member churches in 77 countries all over the world, with a membership of
nearly 66 million Christians. The LWF acts on behalf of its member
churches in areas of common interest such as ecumenical and inter-faith
relations, theology, humanitarian assistance, human rights,
communication, and the various aspects of mission and development work.
Its secretariat is located in Geneva, Switzerland.)

[Lutheran World Information (LWI) is the LWF's information service.
Unless specifically noted, material presented does not represent
positions or opinions of the LWF or of its various units. Where the
dateline of an article contains the notation (LWI), the material may be
freely reproduced with acknowledgment.]

* * *

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