The Cambodian government’s plan to require that NGOs be registered is just an excuse to stifle legitimate protests, activists say.
‘This isn’t right at all’, says Mr Ponlok, owner of a waterfront cafe at Boeung Kok Lake in Phnom Penh. ‘People are being forced out and the compensation is way too small’.
Lakeside residents are being driven from their homes as developers try to fill the landmark lake in Cambodia's capital with earth and sand, prior to turning it into a residential and shopping complex. In deal signed between Shukaku Inc. and the Cambodian government, a 99-year lease to the 103-hectare lake site was granted to the developers, a location that sits under the noses of the nearby British and French Embassies.
The lake is now about one-third of its former size, wafting a lingering odour from the pollution and ubiquitous rubbish strewn along the narrowing lakeshore. In Phnom Penh’s overcast and breezeless humidity, the smell wraps itself round the visitor like an unseen—and certainly unwanted—shroud.
Maybe half of the lakeside residents have already been evicted, and the 2,000 or so families still there have been given a take-it-or-leave-it offer of $8,500 to vacate their homes and properties.
Land rights are a complex and controversial issue in Cambodia, where under the brutal Khmer Rouge regime, cities were emptied as part of a forced ruralisation scheme. The regime nationalised all private property and gutted ownership records. In a bid to settle the confusion and laythe bedrock for some sort of property rights and legal framework for ownership, a 2001 law said that people who could prove five years of continuous occupancy could apply to formally own the land, but that does not seem to apply to the lakeside residents.
NGOs based in Cambodia have played a crucial role so far in lobbying for the lakeside residents’ rights. However, the Cambodian government has tabled a new NGO law that threatens to undermine the independence of organisations and make it much more difficult for voluntary associations to be formed in the country. This in turn will hamper citizens from taking action against perceived rights violations, activists say.
According to Naly Pilorge, Director of LICADHO, the Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defence of Human Rights, there are many technical problems with the law. ‘Key provisions are vague and open to arbitrary interpretation,’ she says. ‘In many circumstances, the government has carte blanche to shut organizations down without appeal.’
The complex and mandatory registration process will close many organisations, and the law is in breach of Cambodia’s Constitution and its obligations under international treaties, according to LICADHO. Overall, there are around 3,000 NGOs operating in Cambodia, ranging from international brands such as Oxfam to village level organizations.
Photo Credit: laihiu
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charles tauk
thanks for the acknowledgement. I suggest you look at http://www.tpf-cambodia.com to get a more comprehensive overview of some of the activities. And yes, i could not agree more when it comes to the US Government. the u.s. embassies in bangkok and phnom penh have beeing singled out for a view on this website.
Heng Sombat
Charles Tauk could not said it better than this. 3,000 NGOs in Cambodia is not practical. Less than 10% are doing any good for the needed people. Cambodia needs to close those are using NGO as the front to commit crime against helpless childern. They should be shut down and arrested for the crime against GOD’s childern.
Now, US Government is one of the most currupted government and Cambodian Government not even in their league of corruption. They know how to hide that dirty laundry so well. They know how to burn good tax payers money on VICE activies and got away with it everyday. They used PORK Barrel funds to fund their currupted games in little countries, Cambodia, Loas, Africa Nations, and so on.
I could go on and on… if this News Outlet want to put mud on little country like Cambodia on NGO LAW issue. Please…let Cambodia do want best for Cambodian people. US only makes it worst everytime US gets involved. WHERE was President Carter when KR kills 2millions people? He was the wrong President at that time, and NOW… Barak Hussien Obama is another wrong President again.
If U.S. Government has no clue of HOW to play a role of being a honest partner, please go home.
Clean our noses first before we should start saying about others…
Peter Olszewski
It’s interesting of course that this article does not touch on any of the factors that have emerged in favour of NGO regulation, particularly because currently there’s a parallel common media story about abuses in orphanages.
For example, the Cambodian govt has announced an inquiry into the country’s orphanages after the Unicef voiced concerns. The number of orphanages has nearly doubled in five years, as has the number of children in care – yet almost three-quarters of them have at least one living parent.
This from the Mail Online on April 10:
“Some orphanages are fronts for child labour and sexual abuse – the British owner of one orphanage [an NGO] in Siem Reap was jailed earlier this year for assaulting several children in his care. Others are kept deliberately squalid, the children starved to look more needy. Little wonder Unicef says it wants to see most shut down.”
sokength
NGOs are useful in any society in helping the development of any countries’political, social and economy. We must have law to manage them as the bad NGOs are in the good. That is the fact.
scott zagoria
Apparently, the author does not speak from personal experience re: the ‘Lake’. In an increasingly urbanized setting, the lake had long been a pastoral refuge. The smell on the main thoroughfares is infinitely worse and the pollution situation could readily have been dealt with by a government that had anything other than pecuniary interests. There is a lake near 59th St. in Central Park in NYC, I recollect. Seems like a good place for a new hotel.
Think it through and you may recognize that the NGO community has allowed Cambodia to develop as it has. And as far as human rights are concerned, as an American I can heartily recommend that Ms. Clinton’s voice dim significantly since her credibility is rapidly approaching that of Pres. Bush in terms of global affairs and ‘morality’. She means well enough, but let’s face facts: Wealthy people from any nation haven’t a clue.
Simon Roughneen
Scott.
The author speaks from personal experience. Aside from the account from the lakeside and interview with hotel owner there as seen in the article here, you can refer to my website, where I have with photos from the water’s edge.
See – http://www.simonroughneen.com
Charles Tauk
I don’t really understand why some NGO’s are soo upset about the new NGO Law. In particular i cannot believe that the US Government issues an official statement on the subject, claiming that there is “NO NEED FOR AN NGO LAW” that finally will bring exactly that (TRANSPARANCY) what NGO’s always claim from the Government. For me these people are upset because of their free ride is finally comming to an end. Cambodia has more than 3000 NGO’s for only 17 Million People !! The critics claim that the small NGO’s are unable to do all the reporting etc. because of their limited resources. But it is’nt the small ones that complain and running storm against the new law. It’s the FAT CATS like World Vision and the likes which have a lot of sideline programs that have nothing to do with an NGO. In no other country in the world is there such a massive amount of NGO’s !! I suggest the US Government looks at his own problems, and the readers at the following websites that proof that an NGO may not be what most of us think:
WORLD VISION
http://www.onwardoverland.com/articles/worldvision.html
USAID
http://www.democracynow.org/2006/2/17/professor_mccoy_exposes_the_history_of
It is high time that the Cambodian Government puts an end to these spooks.
charles tauk