Minorities Press Gov’t for More Communal Titles

10 August 2012
The Cambodia Daily
Ethnic minorities and indigenous people / Forests and forestry / Human rights / Land / Social development
collective land titles / communal land titles / granted land titles / Indigenous / indigenous groups in Cambodia / indigenous people / Indigenous Rights Active Members (IRAM) / International Day of the World's Indigenous People / IRAM / Kompong Thom / Land titles / minority groups

Hundreds of indigenous people called on government to pick up the pace in granting them communal land titles at a ceremony marking the U.N.-sponsored International Day of the World’s Indigenous People in Kompong Thom province yesterday. “The gathering today is to mark the 8th anniversary of Indigenous Day and to call on the government to speed up its activity issuing communal land titles for indigenous people,” said Om Mich, coordinator for the Indigenous Rights Active Members (IRAM). … A network of 17 indigenous groups in Cambodia and their 1.2 million members, IRAM organized the day’s celebrations which attracted some 500 members of minority groups from across 11 provinces and a number of local officials. … The government established communal land titles – an alternative to individual private titles-at the urging of foreign donors as a way to protect the collective lands of the country’s indigenous communities. But the government has been criticized for issuing such titles too slowly. The government only approved the first communal land title in December 2011 and has granted at least two more since. …