By Marianne Brown, Vietnam Right Now
In Vietnam, the state owns the land and leases it to the people for a limited time. As the country’s economy has grown, the issue of who owns the rights to farm or develop land remains a difficult problem, with occasional protests over illegal seizures of land, otherwise known as “land grabs.” In Hanoi, the latest trial of land rights protesters highlights lingering issues with the system.
Trinh Ba Phuong and Trinh Ba Tu (Vietnam Right Now)
This week, a group of people gathered near a court on the outskirts of Hanoi to show their support at the appeal trial of four land rights activists who were arrested while protesting an alleged land grab earlier this year. They were sentenced to between 12 and 20 months for disturbing public order.
Both of 31-year-old Trinh Ba Phuong’s parents were on trial. Although the court reduced his father Trinh Ba Khiem (Trịnh Bá Khiêm)’s sentence by three months, he said he was very disappointed with the result. He said he believes the trial was a “tool for oppression and land grabs.” Phuong’s mother Can Thi Theu (Cấn Thị Thêu) was sentenced to 15 months in prison.
He said local authorities first announced plans to take the land in 2008. The compensation offered was too low, and 356 families have refused the payment. He said officials did not attempt to negotiate with the residents.
Video footage allegedly showing attempts to take the land by force in April has been widely circulated on social media, with over 150,000 views on YouTube.
In one video, streams of people wearing conical hats cross a field pursued by men wearing green police uniforms and official red arm bands.
Phuong’s younger brother, 25-year-old Tu, said because many of the farmers now have no means to make a living from their land, they are facing great economic difficulties.
Protests of this kind are not new, and in many ways the case typifies the chronic issue of land rights in Vietnam, where the state retains ownership of the land but allows farmers to lease it for a limited period of time. Lessees do not negotiate directly with developers and although prices are supposed to be set according to the market value, that does not happen in practice.
According to a report to the National Assembly in October 2012, the number of complaints involving land acquisition and compensation made up 70 percent of all complaints to governmental agencies from 2004 to 2011.
Jonathan London, a Vietnam analyst at City University Hong Kong, predicted more protests in the future.
“The state so far has not addressed some of the root causes of these disputes and in the absence of more effective institutional solutions to this problem these kinds of street level or spontaneous uprisings are likely to persist because of course the supply of land is not increasing and when people are displaced or when they claim that they are the victims of injustice then the legal system is not frequently seen as a promising option,” said London.
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