News on Land

During his campaign, he pledged to take away their territory. His victory will embolden the brutal mining and logging gangs

For some low-income Jordanians the attention and funds directed towards refugees from Syria are a source of tension

DHLAIL, Jordan - Syrian refugee Umm Mohammed fidgeted in her chair in a breezy office in Dhlail city, northern Jordan, before joking: "We don't know how to sit still."

Along with others who fled conflict in neighbouring Syria, she works with low-income Jordanians in this industrial town famed for its dairy and textile factories.

But their work is different: retrofitting homes to make them green.

Nigel Scullion gave almost half a million dollars to groups to argue how they might be negatively impacted by land rights claims

Sri Lanka’s civil war ended nearly a decade ago, but Maithili Thamil Chilwen’s barren plot of land still resembles a battlefield.

There is only a mound of dirt where her home once stood in Keppapilavu village in the country’s northeast; the rest is just dirt, gravel, and broken shards of doors and windows from her demolished home.

On July 26, 2018, farmers in Xai-Xai, Mozambique, achieved a milestone. They met to formalize their new farmers’ association, elect leaders, and prepare a petition to the local government for land. The association, christened Tsakane, which means “happy” in the local Changana language, was the culmination of six years of resistance to a Chinese land grab that had sparked protest and outrage. The association now has a request pending for its own land.

BOVEN DIGOEL, Indonesia — It’s a hot and humid morning, and birds and insects are chirping deep in a lush rainforest in the eastern Indonesian province of Papua.

All of a sudden, the sounds are drowned out by tribal chanting and the thunder of dozens of people marching, echoing through the forest like a mild earthquake. Brandishing bows and arrows, they sing and dance their way toward the village of Uni in Boven Digoel district.

Communities made up of fugitive slave descendants have been forced from their lands and denied their rights, a situation that may only get worse under newly elected president Jair Bolsonaro.

The elders gather in the entrance room of the matriarch's home and search in the recesses of their memory for the traditional songs they and their forebears used to sing. A woman rocks her grandson on her lap. Her husband stands silent in the doorway, as an energetic granddaughter races about his calves.

As energy-hungry India seeks to fuel its continued economic growth, millions of people are being pushed out of their homes by companies, villagers say

By Megha Bahree

PIDARWAH, India - Siyaram Saket refuses to give up his one-and-a-half acres of farmland in central India - no matter how much the coal mining company offers him.

Whatever the amount, said the 55-year-old, it will not be enough to replace the value of the fertile land feeding his family of six in Pidarwah village, Singrauli district.

After the court victory, the community said they will remain vigilant and continue "fighting until we have legal title over our entire ancestral homeland."

The Indigenous Cofan people of Sinangoe in the Ecuadorean Amazon, have achieved a significant judicial victory after the provincial court of Sucumbios ordered a halt to all mining activities in their territories, and recognized their right to prior and informed consent to activities related to nature, water, and the environment in their territory.

Efforts to Improve Oversight of Mining Need to Benefit Affected Communities

Earlier this month, looking out over the vast swathes of barren red land that make up a fast-growing bauxite mine, I witnessed first-hand the rapid growth of Guinea’s bauxite mining boom. Bauxite from Guinea is used to produce aluminum used around the world in automobile and airplane parts and consumer products like beverage cans and tin foil.

KAMPALA. Former presidential candidate Dr Kizza Beisgye has vowed to continue the fight against land grabbers in the country until he wins the battle.

Dr Besigye was addressing residents of Lusanja in Wakiso District who were evicted by a tycoon known as Kiconco Medard on October 12.

“Land grabbing is a sign that people are powerless since they have no power over their wealth because land is part of someone’s wealth,” Dr Kizza said.

A Constitutional Court ruling on Thursday has fundamentally changed the power balance between mining companies and communities. The court upheld the Lesethleng community’s land tenure rights, meaning companies will no longer simply be able to evict occupants of the land they want to mine. 

Representatives of mining communities believe Thursday’s unanimous Constitutional Court ruling on mining in Lesethleng, North West will fundamentally shift the power dynamics between mining-affected communities and companies.