2007年VOA标准英语-Despite Warnings, No End to Land-Grabbing in Ca

By Rory Byrne
Phnom Penh
03 July 2007

Soaring property prices have resulted in an explosion of land-grabbing in Cambodia, leaving tens of thousands of people destitute¹. A recent United Nations report accuses the Cambodian authorities of allowing a wealthy elite² to illegally grab land, but the government denies the accusation³ and says it is trying to stop the practice. Rory Byrne reports from Phnom Penh.

The report by the U.N.'s Rapporteur on Human Rights in Cambodia says that land-grabbing has "a devastating⁴ impact" on the poor. It says that almost 15 percent of the land in Cambodia is now owned by a tiny elite.

 

The roots of the problem can be traced back to the Khmer Rouge⁵, who ended private land ownership in the late 1970s. After the Khmer Rouge were ousted⁶ in 1979, many people settled on land without having title to it. Disputes arose when the economy started growing and land became valuable. Rights activists⁷ and small farmers say developers and influential⁸ Cambodians are ousting⁹ poor people from land they have lived on for decades.

 

The government says many disputes arise because the poor sell their land and then illegally occupy state-owned or private property. Chum Bun Rong is head of land-dispute resolution at Cambodia's National Land Authority.

A Cambodian man looks on from a small shelter at a slum-village in down town Phnom Penh, 10 June 2007

"They have a problem of a lack of money for spending so they have to sell their land and after that they become, you see, the squatter," said Rong. "They live somewhere - sometimes they live on public land. They stay, or build houses, along the sidewalks or the roads, the main road in the city sometimes, but those lands belong to the state."

Yeng Virek is the executive director of the Community Legal Education Center, which provides legal aid to victims of land-grabbing. He says the government, which sometimes expels people from the land they live on, ignores the rights of the poor in the interests of development:

"Sometimes the authorities just claim the area as state property, or they need the area for beautification of the city, for example, and, on that ground, they evict¹⁰ people," he said.

The government set up a commission to settle land disputes, but critics say it is mired¹¹ in bureaucracy and corruption¹². Unregulated development is bad for Cambodia says Kek Galabru, who heads the local human rights group, Licadho.

"I understand that the government would like to develop the country but [to] develop a country you have to do [it] in a manner that everyone is happy - not only the company [are] happy and poor people, vulnerable people, are unhappy," said Galabru. "So that kind of development I think is very dangerous for the country."

Prime Minister Hun Sen has repeatedly warned against land-grabbing, but Kek Galabru says there has been little improvement:

"When you listen to the statement[s] of the government, especially of [the] Prime Minister, it seems that he understand[s] the importance of the issue because he always threat[ens] his ministers saying, 'if you don't solve this problem, it will be a big problem in Cambodia - maybe we are going to have instability' - he said, but I don't know why it didn't work," he said. "Where is the obstacle? What level? As it's not transparent¹³, we don't know why the national authority cannot solve the problem."

Dispossessed families are often moved to makeshift camps, many without clean water, sanitation¹⁴ or medical facilities. Kek Galabru says losing their land leaves people unable to feed their families.

"Eighty percent of Cambodian people, they live in the rural area and they rely on the land for agriculture, so if you take the land from them it means they have no way to solve the problem of living," sadi Galabru. "Without land, you condemn¹⁵ them to a death."

Andouang is a relocation camp about 20 kilometers from Phnom Penh. It houses about 1,200 families evicted¹⁶ from Sambok Chap, on Phnom Penh's riverside. Most are still waiting for new plots they were promised last year. Conditions at the camp are bad, with bamboo or plastic-sheeting providing little shelter from the monsoon¹⁷ rains. Some residents suffer from malnutrition¹⁸ and disease.

"Living conditions are very bad because I have no way of making money here for my family - I have four children," said Sony, who has been living at the camp for over a year. "My husband has disappeared and has not come back for me. I have no proper shelter - only a plastic sheet, and no income at all."

Denty came to Andouang with his wife and baby last year. After losing his home, Denty lost his job because he cannot afford the cost of traveling to work.

"Living conditions are terrible. I got very sick after I came here - my wife is sick also - and I was not able to work construction any more," he said. "When I came here we had no proper shelter - only a plastic sheet - and we could not get adequate medical treatment. My wife could not give breast milk to our baby anymore, and I didn't have any money to buy milk to feed the baby."

The government says it is doing what it can to settle land disputes and to help the landless. But officials say they need foreign aid to help prepare land titles and create a computer system to maintain records.

Kek Galabru says that political will is needed if the issue of land-grabbing is to be solved.

"First of all, strong political will from all the leaders, all the ones who have the power to solve the problem. And then, second point, I think we have to empower the existing institution[s]. And implement¹⁹ the land law. Another thing also - the problem of [the] judiciary," he said. "The judicial²⁰ system is really weak, not independent, so drastic reform of that judiciary is also very important."

Earlier this month, Prime Minister Hun Sen told aid donors²¹ he would take steps to distribute illegally seized lands to the landless and to help with titling. But with Cambodia's economy expanding at about 10 percent a year, the value of land will continue to rise. Experts say that, without strong measures to prevent it, the problem will continue to grow.

1 destitute   

adj.缺乏的；穷困的

参考例句：

• They were destitute of necessaries of life.他们缺少生活必需品。
• They are destitute of common sense.他们缺乏常识。

2 elite   

n.精英阶层；实力集团；adj.杰出的，卓越的

参考例句：

• The power elite inside the government is controlling foreign policy.政府内部的一群握有实权的精英控制着对外政策。
• We have a political elite in this country.我们国家有一群政治精英。

3 accusation   

n.控告，指责，谴责

参考例句：

• I was furious at his making such an accusation.我对他的这种责备非常气愤。
• She knew that no one would believe her accusation.她知道没人会相信她的指控。

4 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。

5 rouge   

n.胭脂，口红唇膏；v.(在…上)擦口红

参考例句：

• Women put rouge on their cheeks to make their faces pretty.女人往面颊上涂胭脂，使脸更漂亮。
• She didn't need any powder or lip rouge to make her pretty.她天生漂亮，不需要任何脂粉唇膏打扮自己。

6 ousted   

驱逐( oust的过去式和过去分词 )； 革职； 罢黜； 剥夺

参考例句：

• He was ousted as chairman. 他的主席职务被革除了。
• He may be ousted by a military takeover. 他可能在一场军事接管中被赶下台。

7 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 influential   

adj.有影响的，有权势的

参考例句：

• He always tries to get in with the most influential people.他总是试图巴结最有影响的人物。
• He is a very influential man in the government.他在政府中是个很有影响的人物。

9 ousting   

驱逐( oust的现在分词 )； 革职； 罢黜； 剥夺

参考例句：

• The resulting financial chaos led to the ousting of Bristol-Myers' s boss. 随后引发的财政混乱导致了百时美施贵宝的总裁下台。
• The ousting of the president has drawn widespread criticism across Latin America and the wider world. 洪都拉斯总统被驱逐时间引起拉丁美洲甚至全世界的广泛批评。

10 evict   

vt.驱逐，赶出，撵走

参考例句：

• The lessor can evict the lessee for failure to pay rent.出租人可驱逐不付租金的承租人。
• The government always says it's for the greater good when they evict farmers from their land.当政府把农民从他们的土地赶出去的时候，总是号称是为了更大众的利益。

11 mired   

abbr.microreciprocal degree 迈尔德（色温单位）v.深陷( mire的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The country was mired in recession. 这个国家陷入了经济衰退的困境。
• The most brilliant leadership can be mired in detail. 最有才干的领导也会陷于拘泥琐事的困境中。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

12 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

13 transparent   

adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的

参考例句：

• The water is so transparent that we can see the fishes swimming.水清澈透明，可以看到鱼儿游来游去。
• The window glass is transparent.窗玻璃是透明的。

14 sanitation   

n.公共卫生，环境卫生，卫生设备

参考例句：

• The location is exceptionally poor,viewed from the sanitation point.从卫生角度来看，这个地段非常糟糕。
• Many illnesses are the result,f inadequate sanitation.许多疾病都来源于不健全的卫生设施。

15 condemn   

vt.谴责，指责；宣判(罪犯)，判刑

参考例句：

• Some praise him,whereas others condemn him.有些人赞扬他，而有些人谴责他。
• We mustn't condemn him on mere suppositions.我们不可全凭臆测来指责他。

16 evicted   

v.（依法从房屋里或土地上）驱逐，赶出( evict的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• A number of tenants have been evicted for not paying the rent. 许多房客因不付房租被赶了出来。
• They had evicted their tenants for non-payment of rent. 他们赶走了未交房租的房客。

17 monsoon   

n.季雨，季风，大雨

参考例句：

• The monsoon rains started early this year.今年季雨降雨开始得早。
• The main climate type in that region is monsoon.那个地区主要以季风气候为主要气候类型。

18 malnutrition   

n.营养不良

参考例句：

• In Africa, there are a lot of children suffering from severe malnutrition.在非洲有大批严重营养不良的孩子。
• It is a classic case of malnutrition. 这是营养不良的典型病例。

19 implement   

n.(pl.)工具，器具；vt.实行，实施，执行

参考例句：

• Don't undertake a project unless you can implement it.不要承担一项计划，除非你能完成这项计划。
• The best implement for digging a garden is a spade.在花园里挖土的最好工具是铁锹。

20 judicial   

adj.司法的，法庭的，审判的，明断的，公正的

参考例句：

• He is a man with a judicial mind.他是个公正的人。
• Tom takes judicial proceedings against his father.汤姆对他的父亲正式提出诉讼。

21 donors   

n.捐赠者( donor的名词复数 )；献血者；捐血者；器官捐献者

参考例句：

• Please email us to be removed from our active list of blood donors. 假如你想把自己的名字从献血联系人名单中删去，请给我们发电子邮件。
• About half this amount comes from individual donors and bequests. 这笔钱大约有一半来自个人捐赠及遗赠。 来自《简明英汉词典》