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Global land forum demands real reform to end injustice

Over 1,000 world leaders and representatives of civil society organizations flocked to Bandung, West Java, on Monday to attend a global land forum to address rampant agrarian conflicts and land grabs in many countries

Kharishar Kahfi (The Jakarta Post)
Bandung
Tue, September 25, 2018

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Global land forum demands real reform to end injustice

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ver 1,000 world leaders and representatives of civil society organizations flocked to Bandung, West Java, on Monday to attend a global land forum to address rampant agrarian conflicts and land grabs in many countries.

The 2018 Global Land Forum is organized by the International Land Coalition (ILC), a global consortium of civil society groups, farmers organizations, United Nations agencies, NGOs and research institutes, which focused on issues related to land governance, food security, poverty and democracy.

ILC director Mike Taylor said every country should conduct comprehensive agrarian reform, which is fundamental to people-centered land governance.

“Land certification is not reform. Real reform is redistributing rights. Real reform involves restructuring the system of ownership of land. This is an important message for Indonesia and all of our members,” he said during the conference’s opening session on Monday.

Taylor added that many countries needed to end killings and criminalization of people fighting for land issues, which is a common practice following land grabs in many parts of the world.

Global Witness, in partnership with The Guardian, reports that at least 197 leaders of organizations, activists and journalists who fought for issues related land tenure were killed in 2017. This has continued in 2018, with at least 66 people killed so far this year. Furthermore, thousands of others are facing the threat of intimidation, criminalization and murder.

The conference’s national committee chairman, Dewi Kartika, said the conference would also urge governments of the world to create social justice for people through the right to land.

“Land grabbing and other agrarian conflict globally can be stopped soon. Restitution for its victims can also be made through agrarian reform,” said Dewi, who is also the secretary general of Indonesian-based Agrarian Reform Consortium (KPA).

Indonesia is no exception. A number of tenurial conflicts have occurred across the country, an example being in Yogyakarta, where hundreds of residents of Kulon Progo regency have opposed the construction of the New Yogyakarta International Airport, which has seen the eviction of local residents.

The opposition has resulted in authoritarian measures by the local administration, with protesting residents being criminalized.

Presidential Chief of Staff Moeldoko said his office had formed a team to accelerate the resolution of agrarian conflict and this had been working since 2017. “We are following the updates of conflicts occurring in many regions. We are also continuing to develop a more systematic strategy,” he said during his speech at the conference.

As many countries have started their respective agrarian reforms, representatives of these countries have been sharing experiences and challenges they have faced, which differ from one country to another.

Kyrgyzstan, for example, has been conducting land reform since the collapse of Soviet Union in 1991 and is improving and developing its land relations and management throughout the country.

“The negative effect of the land reform was the strong fragmentation of agricultural land and the dominance of small-scale peasants. We face new challenges, including the development and implementation of state and regional programs for the consolidation of small land plots,” the country’s representatives said in a statement.

The Indonesian government has targeted the redistribution of 9 million hectares of land under the land objects for agrarian reform (TORA) scheme, as well as 12.7 million ha — which was later revised to 4.3 million ha — to communities through social forestry schemes.

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