A Cambodian soldier rides a motorcycle on the way to Broma village in Kratie province October 22, 2012. REUTERS/Samrang Pring |
A worker collects latex from a rubber tree in Kampong Cham province October 23, 2012. REUTERS/Samrang Pring |
By Stuart Grudgings and Prak Chan Thul
NEAR BROMA VILLAGE, Cambodia | Mon Nov 12, 2012
NEAR BROMA VILLAGE, Cambodia (Reuters) - Cambodia's transformation from war-torn basket-case to one of Asia's most promising emerging economies is being overshadowed by a backwards lurch in human rights and land policies that critics say are entrenching poverty.
Next week's visit by Barack Obama, the first by a U.S. president, will
in some ways set the seal on the emergence of Cambodia's $13 billion
economy under Prime Minister Hun Sen as it draws unprecedented interest
from investors.
Its garment export industry is booming, tourist numbers are surging and
low-end manufacturing is taking off as companies seek a cheaper
alternative to China. The capital Phnom Penh is being transformed by
plush new buildings and luxury imported cars.
Then there are places like Broma village in the eastern province of Kratie. The mostly illiterate residents have no schools, medical center or roads and they also lack legal titles to their homes.
Like
millions of Cambodians, that made them vulnerable when a company began
encroaching onto their land to expand its rubber plantation this year.
What happened next, according to Hun Sen and a court verdict last month,
was an armed rebellion against authorities by the villagers.
Twelve residents and outside activists were handed jail terms last month
of up to 30 years for taking part in a "secessionist" movement that
soldiers brutally put down.
The reality, according to Reuters interviews in the remote area and research by human-rights groups, is that the
villagers merely tried to resist the latest in an epidemic of land
grabs that is casting a shadow over Cambodia's economic awakening.
"My husband was jailed for three years for nothing while others get six
months for murder. Cambodia is finished now," said 54-year-old Sreng
Pho, whose husband was one of the people convicted for taking part in
the so-called secessionist bid.
Ahead of Obama's visit for an Asian summit, authorities in Phnom Penh plan to lock up street beggars,
according to media reports citing city officials. Hundreds of families
living around Phnom Penh's airport have been served with eviction
notices.
Dozens of people protested outside the U.S. embassy last week, asking
Obama to raise land and human rights issues with Cambodia. Sam Rainsy,
the exiled leader of Cambodia's opposition, has urged Obama to cancel
his visit to avoid giving legitimacy to the 61-year-old Hun Sen, who
consolidated his power in a bloody 1997 coup.
PRESSURE ON DONORS
As well as raising human rights concerns, conflict over land risks
stunting growth, especially in rural areas where more than 80 percent of
Cambodians live, according to interviews with economists, opposition
politicians and foreign diplomats.
An area the size of Israel has been leased to companies that often have cozy political connections,
affecting more than 400,000 land dwellers, according to rights group
Licadho. The so-called economic land concessions, totaling about 2.1
million hectares, have accelerated in the past few years, Licadho says.
Only about 20 percent of Cambodians have land titles
- a hangover from the Khmer Rouge's abolition of private property
during their 1975-1979 reign of terror - leaving people insecure and
with little incentive to invest in farming.
While the government suggests the concessions will bring long-elusive prosperity to rural Cambodia, there is scant sign of that happening. In a damning report, the U.N. special rapporteur on human rights this year found "no evidence" that revenues from land concessions were used to alleviate poverty, which remains rife in rural areas despite brisk annual economic growth of more than 6 percent.
"Without land reform you can't really develop a middle class," said Adam McCarty at the Mekong Economics consultancy.
In rural Cambodia, he said, "it's either starve or work for a landlord."
The U.N. rapporteur also highlighted the risks to investors posed by
land conflicts, such as delays in projects and reputation problems for
companies.
The
government's land policies are drawing increasing scrutiny from
Cambodia's international donors - who supply almost half the country's
budget - amid mounting evidence that land dwellers' rights have been
systematically ignored.
European
Union legal experts are carrying out a "thorough analysis" of the U.N.
report for evidence that could lead to an investigation of whether
Cambodia has broken conditions of its trade benefits with the bloc,
EU Ambassador to Cambodia Jean-Francois Cautain told Reuters. The EU is
under pressure from campaigners who say its "everything but arms"
program that allows duty-free imports from Cambodia has fuelled land
grabs.
The World Bank has frozen fresh aid to Cambodia since last year over forced evictions of families in Phnom Penh.
RUBBER FOR CHINA
Weak rule of law
is another major constraint on Cambodia's ability to attract more
investment and diversify its narrowly based economy, diplomats and
economists say.
Government critics say the court verdict in the Broma case, which
foreign diplomats who attended the 3-1/2 day trial say had little basis,
worsened a dark year for human rights as Hun Sen clamps down on opposition ahead of elections next year.
The country's leading environmental activist was shot dead this year and
a journalist covering illegal logging was also killed. Several
activists have fled the country to avoid what they say are cooked-up
charges.
Among
those jailed in the court case over alleged secessionism was Mam
Sonando, a 71-year-old radio broadcaster and government critic, who got
20 years for inciting the plot even though he never visited the area.
In an about-face, Hun Sen suspended the approval of new land concessions
in May. Since June he has dispatched hundreds of volunteer students to
the countryside to mark out 1.2 million hectares of land that will be
given to about 350,000 families.
"If you compare the speed and achievements, Cambodia moves faster than
other nations," Phay Siphan, secretary of state in Cambodia's Council of
Ministers, or cabinet, told Reuters.
The government had at times not been able to control land developments
due to a lack of legal clarity, he said. He skirted specific questions
about the Mam Sonando trial, saying only that legal cases should be
judged in court rather than by the media.
Land rights activists are skeptical about the titling drive, saying it smacks of electioneering
and will not help those who are in disputed areas. Hun Sen has approved
at least 12 new land concessions since May, saying they had been
decided before the suspension.
A TALE OF TWO CAMBODIAS
Cambodia is scooping up a small but growing share of foreign investment
in Southeast Asia, with Japanese flows alone at $300 million this year,
up from $75 million in 2011. Phnom Penh's stock exchange opened last
year, albeit with just one listed company.
More than 2.5 million tourists visited the country in the first nine
months of this year, up 24 percent on the year, and were likely to
generate about $2 billion in revenues.
Garment exports by big brands such as Nike and Adidas surged 50 percent
last year and are up 10 percent in the first nine months of 2012 to $3.4
billion.
A World Trade Organisation member, Cambodia is perhaps Asia's most open
country to investors, allowing 100 percent foreign ownership, easy
repatriation of profits and a dollarized economy that minimizes currency
risks.
Marvin Yeo, managing partner of Frontier Investment and Development
Partners, said that while land was a "particularly sensitive" issue for
investors in Cambodia, there were promising opportunities in
agriculture, manufacturing and infrastructure.
"I'm very optimistic for Cambodia ... I think it's one of the most overlooked and undervalued relative to other countries."
But as economic activity expands, companies are reporting a struggle to find skilled workers, a result of poverty and poor education.
The Asian Development Bank, calling for a "concerted approach to
improving human capital", cited a survey showing that 73 percent of
firms reported college graduates as lacking suitable skills.
"This is a constraint that will face Cambodia going forward unless they
clean up land titling. The transfer of labor from agriculture into
manufacturing and services will not happen as smoothly as they will
need," said Jayant Menon, lead economist at the ADB's Office for
Regional Economic Integration.
Cambodia also faces looming competition for investment from newly open
Myanmar - which has vast natural resources and a population of nearly 60
million, four times Cambodia's.
Although income per capita has doubled since 2005, inequality has grown
and Cambodia is ranked the second-lowest in Southeast Asia by the United
Nations Development Programme's Human Development Index.
"This country's economy is going to be in trouble. It's dependent on cutting down trees, minerals and tourism," said opposition parliament member Son Chhay. "It's not sustainable."
Near Broma village, many residents were reluctant to speak about events
leading to the trial, fearing reprisals by officials and soldiers who
still patrol the area.
The red, fertile soil is ideal for growing rubber that is mostly
exported to fuel Chinese industry. Rubber plantations, where workers
toil for $2-$3 a day, already dominate much of the landscape.
Sreng
Pho, the wife of one of the jailed men, confirmed that villagers had
sought help from activists linked to Mam Sonando after workers started
to bulldoze their land. But she and other villagers denied they had been armed and said soldiers fired without warning.
A 14-year-old girl was shot dead by the soldiers, who were backed by a
helicopter when they moved in to the area on May 16. No one has been
charged in her killing.
After the violence, officials posted a notice on villager Khat Saroeun's
house saying that titles would be given to long-term residents, without
specifying who would qualify. Khat, the only member of his family able to read the notice, is not optimistic he will get the paperwork.
"We are afraid to rise up. We have no money, we just have tears," said the 57-year-old, who avoided prison by confessing his involvement in the so-called uprising.
(Editing by Robert Birsel)
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