The Cambodian Land-Grab

SOYMB has posted about the land grabbing in Africa . The BBC reports a similar process going on in Cambodia. The country's new system of land concessions is aimed at developing the economy and capitalizing on its location in rising Asia. Since 2005, around 15% of Cambodian land has been signed over to private companies, a third of them foreign, using leases under which they promise to develop the plots and provide jobs. One of the biggest growth areas is agriculture, because of rising world food prices and scarce global supplies.

But reports of unfair and sometimes violent "land grabs" have overshadowed the process. The ancient Khmer empire had few records and Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge regime in the 1970s banned all private property. Most land titles were burned, and many people moved around during the brutal civil war that raged afterwards. So foreign and local investors taking advantage of the chaos to take land for themselves.

A government official explained how some investors get around the system. "Normally you don't need to even go via the ministry," He explained. "You can talk to the local officials, and you can just pay them to protect your land." Deals can be worth tens of thousands of dollars in bribes and payments for officials like him, whose normal earnings are the equivalent of US$200 a month. He explained how in some cases, the officials use police or military units to make sure villagers leave the land."Sometimes we need to use force because we cannot talk to people who don't understand the law and are trying to take advantage," he says. "We have to ask them to leave," he adds. "By law or by force."