OCTOBER 17, 2010
By WILL BAXTER
The Wall Street Journal
The companies benefiting from land acquisitions are owned or controlled by government ministers, ruling party senators, military officials and their family members
As Cambodia's economy booms after years of war and instability, its residents are struggling to cope with a new problem: Land grabs and forced evictions that have affected more than 250,000 Cambodians over the past five years, according to Cambodia-based rights group Licadho, which began recording data on land disputes in 2005.
The roots of the problem can be traced back to the rule of the Khmer Rouge, a radical Communist rebel group that abolished Cambodia's land titling system in 1975 when they outlawed ownership of private property.
Although the Khmer Rouge lost power in 1979, even today few Cambodians possess official land titles, making it easier for private businesses to force people off their land for urban development projects and large-scale agro-business plantations.
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The roots of the problem can be traced back to the rule of the Khmer Rouge, a radical Communist rebel group that abolished Cambodia's land titling system in 1975 when they outlawed ownership of private property.
Although the Khmer Rouge lost power in 1979, even today few Cambodians possess official land titles, making it easier for private businesses to force people off their land for urban development projects and large-scale agro-business plantations.
Please click here to read more...
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