Territorial dispute behind the forced exodus of residents of Chalchihuitán

It’s been 14 months since some 5,000 people in Chiapas were forced to flee their homes in Chalchihuitán. And although about 4,000 have since returned, 1,200 remain homeless, a situation for which they hold the municipal government responsible.

Representatives of the displaced people told a press conference this week that they have yet to recover their properties, which were occupied by armed civilians after the residents fled.

Brazilian councilwoman assassinated in Rio de Janeiro in March was killed by a militia looking to protect its interests controlling land in unregulated slums, Brazilian official says.

Marielle Franco, the Brazilian councilwoman assassinated in Rio de Janeiro in March was killed by a militia looking to protect its interests controlling land in unregulated slums, a Brazilian official has said.

President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo handed over about 6,000 land certificates to residents during his working visit to Pekanbaru, Riau, on Saturday, as part of efforts to fulfill his administration's ambitious agrarian reform program. 

Of the total certificates, 3,000 were part of the land certification program, while the remaining half were certificates of land redistribution under the mechanism of land objects for agrarian reform (TORA). 

The Indonesian government launched the One Map Policy Geoportal (KSP Geoportal). This policy involves a more detailed map of land use, hence aiming at resolving overlapping claims - as well as preventing the emergence of new cases - across the country, including in forest areas. The map was launched by Indonesian President Joko Widodo on Tuesday (11/12).

The Liberia Land Authority (LLA) has said Liberia continues to experience huge land conflicts in Montserrado, Margibi, Nimba, Bong, and Grand Bassa counties as these are the “red zones” of land conflicts in the country. This assertion comes against the current backdrop of a spate of land-related conflicts which appear to be on the increase.

Georgia’s Constitutional Court has suspended a moratorium on purchasing agricultural land by foreign citizens. While the court ruled the ban was unconstitutional, the suspension will only be temporary as constitutional amendments are set to kick in. Foreign citizens now have nine days left to register land they have bought or inherited.

The promise of instant cash meant developers were able to tempt Maasai to sell their ancestral land, often far below market value

KAJIADO, Kenya - Five years after Naponi Taiko's husband died, his relatives chased her and the couple's two children off their parcel of land in southern Kenya.

Back then, Taiko was in her late teens. Today, aged 44 and with a further three children, she works in a bar in one of the rugged entertainment joints that dot Kajiado, a town about 50 kilometres (31 miles) south of the capital Nairobi.

KOTA KINABALU: A Sabah opposition leader has accused the current Sabah government of misleading the people on the issue of communal titles which the state had claimed will be abolished soon.

Sook assemblyman Ellron Angin said in place of the state-planned communal titles, the Sabah government had promised to issue individual titles for the natives.

However, he noticed the individual titles promised by the new administration are almost identical to the communal titles issued by the previous government.

From South Africa to the Amazon, battles over land and who owns it are unleashing unprecedented conflict and labyrinthine legal cases

LONDON - Land laws mean nothing unless communities can prove their ownership, researchers said on Thursday, calling for better tools to map the land and stave off conflict over property.

Latest legal skirmish in a long battle between activists and the company building the pipeline, which is also behind Keystone XL

The planned prosecution of Supreme Court judges who acquitted 11 peasant farmers jailed over the death of police officers during a violent land eviction in 2012, known as the Curuguaty Massacre”, could undermine the rule of law, a UN expert said on Monday.

“These are fundamental elements in the full enjoyment of human rights,” UN Special Rapporteur on independence of judges and lawyers, Diego García-Sayán, said in a press release.

Reasons range from fear of property seizure by governments, owners turning tenants out and lack of money among others

A new study has revealed that 41 million people in 15 countries of four different world regions are living in constant fear of losing their property rights in the next five years.

They live in constant fear that either their owner/renter would ask them to leave or the government would seize their property or disagreement with family and lack of resources would potentially end their rights on the property.