.png)
Opinion: Erased from Their Own Land: Why Indigenous Governance Must Be Restore
- Apr 7
- 5 min read
By Rithy Bun
Junior Research Fellow
Future Forum's junior research fellow Rithy Bun published in Cambodianess on April 7th, 2026. Check out the original article HERE, and read it below!
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________
Like other Indigenous groups across Southeast Asia, Cambodia’s indigenous communities have long relied on customary law, the unwritten rules rooted in land, culture and community stewardship. These systems, passed down for generations, shape how villages manage space, resolve disputes and maintain ties to ancestral territory.
More than 22 ethnic groups, collectively known as ‘Chun Cheat Derm Peak Tic’ or ‘Indigenous ethnicities,’ make up just over 1 percent of Cambodia’s population. Most live on generational land in remote provinces, where customary law guides daily life.
Yet decades of endemic land grabs and the dominance of state law have subjugated the authority of Indigenous leaders.
Indigenous peoples are those who self-identify as distinct and different from the majority. They have their own languages, customs, beliefs, political governance, and processes for decision-making inside their respective communities. Before the modern administration existed in their community, customary governance had been used widely for making decisions and solving any issues that happened in their communities.
The quintessential example of many groups' decision-making model is a comprehensive consultation, consensus, and listening to all voices for the final say. In addition, and ideally, community members can freely express their thoughts in their own language without fear of other members or leaders. All voices are reserved the right to be considered when making a collective decision.
To reintegrate customary law into Cambodia’s modern-day governance would require revisiting the evolution of the country’s decentralizing of sub-national legal frameworks less than two decades ago. Indigenous representatives can retrieve a political voice, be empowered, and create more inclusivity for decision-making on any policies or laws that directly and indirectly affect them.
Case study: The impact of Economic Land Concession on Bunong families in Bousra commune
Economic land concessions, or ELCs, in Cambodia began informally in the 1990s, following the end of civil conflict and the country’s transition toward a market-oriented economy under its new Constitution established during the administrative year of the United Nations in 1992-1993.
Land was increasingly treated as a commodity rather than a communal resource. Indigenous communities, mostly in the northeast and highland provinces, experienced early pressures as the government issued land titles, concessions and leases often without consulting customary tenure systems.
By the 2000s, the government formalized and accelerated the granting of ELCs to private companies for agro-industrial plantations, mining and logging. Indigenous lands, often rich in natural resources and with poorly formalized state-recognized titles, were particularly vulnerable to grabs. Reports from local and international rights groups documented widespread displacement of Indigenous and rural communities, often without compensation.
Communities have repeatedly protested, filed legal petitions and sought international attention, but systemic challenges persist.
One notable case was in 2008, when an ELC was granted to a multinational agro-industry company to turn swaths of intergenerational land home to Bunong peoples in Mondulkiri into a rubber plantation.
The total area of the concession was nearly 7,000 hectares for a 70 years contract, directly affecting 780 families and displacing most with tokenistic compensation packages.
In the same year, the company began to clear the forest without prior consultation with them, which had a negative impact on their livelihoods and culture. Furthermore, spiritual forests, rotational farming land, burial grounds, and traditional management of forests and natural resources were devastated, on which Indigenous Bunong were heavily dependent for their daily lives.
To demand justice and respect for Bunong communities rights to land and natural resources, many advocacy activities have been applied, such as ritual ceremony, tree ordination, protest, blocking roads, conducting dialogue with local authorities and concerned ministries – including filing a lawsuit with the provincial court of Mondulkiri. However, there was no remarkable response from local authorities, ministers, or provincial courts, or compensation as the clearance of forest moved forward.
What could be done?
The study above highlights that the Bunong peoples were unempowered, and their decision-making abilities over their forestland through their traditional governance system was not respected. The project devastated their spiritual forest, sacred sites and Indigenous way of life.
There was also no proper consultation or asking for their perspectives on what kind of development they want that aligns with customary practices and traditional livelihoods.
This demonstrates that when Indigenous peoples' representatives are not given a seat at the provincial level, less attention is paid to incorporating their traditional governance style into provincial-level decision-making.
Envisioning how management reform at the sub-national level can be more effective, the Royal Government of Cambodia adopted a strategic framework on decentralization and de-concentration in 2005. The so-called achievements of the framework included the adoption of Law on Administrative Management of the Capital, Provinces, Municipalities, Districts and Khans (Organic Law), the Law on Administrative Management of Communes/Sangkats and Decentralization and Deconcentration policy.
The organic law was promulgated in May 2008, aiming to define administrative management of these areas. Along with this, the committees of councils (in chapter 3) was also established. The selection of committees is held through a non-universal election format mandated to protect and serve the interest of citizens within their competency.
The hierarchy of the council is above the board of governors. The council must comply with the constitution, organic law and other relevant laws. The power of the council also extends to terminate the governor or deputy governor through a formal written request to the Ministry of Interior (article 152) if the governor or deputy governor are found to have performed poorly, abandoned his/her job, or abused the code of professional ethics.
In addition, article 114 of the law also enshrines that the council is obligated to establish: a Technical Facilitation Committee, Women and Children Affairs Committee and Procurement Committee. Additional committees can be established if determined necessary.
Therefore, the government should reform the decentralization power system at the sub-national level by adding a committee for Indigenous representatives. This committee itself should comprise only Indigenous members and shall be elected/selected by their respective communities.
The committee should have the exclusive role to promote and monitor development in Indigenous communities, and advise provincial committee councils, or the governor, as well as other relevant departments.
The National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) in the Philippines is a great example from which Cambodia can learn. It was established through Act No. 8371 in 1997, mandating the protection and promotion of the well-being of Indigenous peoples with regard to their beliefs, customs, traditions and institutions.
By doing so, the government has a new system of checks for respecting Indigenous peoples' rights and traditions. Such reform also abides by a fundamental creed in the Cambodian constitution which recognizes international human rights instruments.
Furthermore, Cambodia also ratified eight out of nine of the international covenants on human rights and voted to support the adoption of the United Nations Declaration on Indigenous Peoples' Rights. At the national level, Cambodia also adopted a land law in 2001, which explicitly recognizes Indigenous peoples rights to communal land and forests.
The proposed move would be a testament to Cambodia’s will to respect, protect and provide remedy for Indigenous peoples with meaningful steps like codifying mechanisms similar to Indigenous customary law.
Indigenous peoples have their own governance systems developed by their distinct customs, beliefs, traditions and politics. Thus, allocating representation in development decision making mechanisms through committee councils at sub-national levels would create more spaces for them to be able to express their concerns, advise on their needs for development in their community, and promote more effective and fair decision-making on the policies that affect them.
Comments