Hun Sen Puts Freeze on Land Concessions
Prime Minister Hun Sen yesterday issued a moratorium on economic land concessions, temporarily halting a long-standing policy of granting land to private companies and those with powerful political connections that has sparked growing concerns from national and international human rights groups. The prime minister’s announcement comes less than a month before the country goes to the polls for the June 3 commune elections, and it coincides with a visit by the U.N.’s human rights envoy to Cambodia, Surya Subedi, who is focusing his latest mission on the impact of concessions on local communities. Blamed for evicting thousands of farmers from their land, and providing a legal context for illegal logging, economic land concessions have been granted since the late 1990s. Provided under long-term leases to companies, land concessions holders are supposed to use the land to develop industrial agriculture. …
