Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2023, published 112nd ILC session (2024)

Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111) - Cambodia (Ratification: 1999)

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Articles 1, 2 and 3 of the Convention. Equality of opportunity and treatment irrespective of race, colour and national extraction. Indigenous peoples. For many years, the Committee has been asking the Government to provide information on the measures taken to ensure that indigenous peoples can engage in their traditional occupations if they so choose, and have access without discrimination to the material goods and services necessary to carry out these occupations, including land and other natural resources. The Committee has solicited, in particular, information on the implementation of the 2001 Land Law, the 2009 Sub-Decree on procedures to register indigenous communal land, as well as the policy on the registration of, and right to use, indigenous communal land, and the policy on indigenous peoples’ development. It has also asked for information on the practical application of the Inter-Ministerial Circular No. 001 of 31 May 2011 on interim measures protecting lands of indigenous peoples. The Committee notes with concern that the Government’s report does not contain any information in this regard. The Committee recalls that the above-mentioned legislation and implementing decrees provide for a three-steps procedure to be complied with in order to claim and obtain collective communal land titles for indigenous peoples. They encompass, firstly, the recognition of the community by the Ministry of Rural Development as an indigenous community; secondly, the registration of the said community with the Ministry of Internal Affairs as a legal entity; and, thirdly, the application by the registered community to the Ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction for the registration of their communal land title. The Committee notes from the report of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Cambodia that: (1) as of 2020, 30 indigenous communities had received collective land titles from the Ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction; (2) a total of 131 communities received recognition of their status from the Ministry of Interior; (3) 151 communities received recognition of their indigenous identity from the Ministry of Rural Development; and (4) the existing land titling process remains cumbersome and slow to secure protection for indigenous peoples, largely undermining procedural safeguards rendered by current national legislation (A/HRC/45/51, 24 August 2020, paragraphs 32 and 33). The Committee further notes the deep concerns expressed recently by the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) about reports of dispossession, displacement and relocation of indigenous peoples from their land and territories, including natural, protected areas that they have traditionally occupied, often without respecting their right to be consulted with a view to obtaining their free, prior and informed consent. The CESCR also expressed concern about the complex and slow process for the registration and demarcation of indigenous peoples’ land and the lack of effective mechanisms for protecting their rights related to their lands, territories and resources, particularly when those have not been registered in ongoing land acquisition processes (E/C.12/KHM/CO/2, 27 March 2023, paragraph 14). Furthermore, the Committee notes that the United Nations Human Rights Committee (HRC) remains concerned about shortcomings in the implementation of the legal framework and safeguards in place for the protection of the right of indigenous peoples to use and occupy their land and territories (CCPR/C/KHM/CO/3, 18 May 2022, paragraph 42). Likewise, the United Nations Committee for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) expressed concerns about the current land titling process, which is too lengthy and bureaucratic and therefore prevents some indigenous groups from being able to efficiently register their collective land (CERD/C/KHM/CO/14-17, 30 January 2020, paragraph 27). Finally, the Committee notes that the Government accepted the recommendation made through the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of the Human Rights Council that it should simplify the allocation of community land to indigenous peoples (A/HRC/41/17/Add.1, 18 April 2019, paragraph 2).

The Committee recalls that unsecure land tenure and biased approaches towards the traditional occupations engaged in by certain ethnic groups, which are often perceived as outdated, unproductive or environmentally harmful, continue to pose serious challenges to the enjoyment of equality of opportunity and treatment in respect of occupation, for many of them. It emphasizes that promoting and ensuring access to material goods and services required to carry out an occupation, such as secure access to land, and access to credit and resources, without discrimination, should be part of the objectives of a national policy on equality. Any discriminatory law and practice affecting access to and performance of an occupation, contrary to the equality policy, must be repealed in accordance with Article 3 of the Convention (see 2018 general observation of the Committee on discrimination based on race, colour and national extraction, page 6). The Committee also wishes to stress that one of the main issues faced by indigenous peoples relates to the lack of recognition of their rights to land, territories and resources, undermining their right to engage in traditional occupations. Recognition of the ownership and possession of the lands they traditionally occupy and access to their communal lands and natural resources for traditional activities is essential (see 2012 General Survey on the fundamental Conventions, paragraph 768). In light of the above, the Committee urges the Government to take immediate and effective steps to ensure that indigenous communities enjoy equal opportunity and treatment in respect of the occupation of their choice. These steps should cover their access to productive resources, market facilities and inputs, such as technology and financial services, and, in particular, to the lands and resources that they traditionally occupy or use. Pending the issuance of the land titles, whether under the Inter-Ministerial Circular No. 001 of 31 May 2011 or otherwise, the Committee requests the Government to adopt measures to protect their access to and use of such lands and resources. It encourages the Government, in cooperation with the social partners and the interested groups, to make an assessment of the current situation of indigenous peoples in employment and occupation, including in the context of local or rural development programmes affecting their activities, and the main obstacles they face to the full enjoyment of equality of opportunity and treatment. The Committee asks the Government to provide detailed information on the number of: (i) requests for land titling filed by the registered communities; (ii) land titles issued under the relevant legislation; and (iii) communities registered, and awaiting the issuance of their land titles. The Committee recalls that the Government can avail itself of the technical assistance of the ILO with regard to the matters raised above.

The Committee is raising other matters in a request addressed directly to the Government.