A/HRC/15/47 40. The Law on Expropriation was adopted in February 2010, without sufficient consultation. The law offers some important protection to owners and “possessors” under the Land Law by limiting expropriation for public infrastructure that meets the definition of public interest. The Senate invited the Office to brief it on the human rights implications of the draft law and best practices elsewhere. The briefing was appreciated but the law was not amended. 41. The Office, together with civil society, supported and actively contributed to the development of the national “Circular on Temporary Settlements”. It advised development partners involved in the land sector on the Circular and closely cooperated with them to submit joint comments. The Circular was adopted in May 2010. It offers some solutions to support illegal settlers and ensure minimum standards for relocation, but remains unclear as to how to determine the legality or illegality of urban settlements subject to the Circular. The draft Housing Policy was released in early 2010. The Office welcomed its vision that all citizens have a right to adequate housing and its recommendation of a temporary moratorium on eviction for dwellers in informal settlements – a recommendation made by the United Nations and other experts referred to above. The Office submitted legal comments to improve the policy. 42. In addition, the Office continued to advocate for the adoption of a policy on resettlement to improve current practices and provide comprehensive solutions. This recommendation is in part based on a field study conducted by the Office in the last six months to assess the human cost of evictions at selected resettlement sites. OHCHR observed that – with notable exceptions – resettled families’ living conditions, especially regarding food security, housing, livelihoods, health and education were worse than prior to the eviction. The study will hopefully contribute to raising awareness and to policy discussions. 43. As part of its broader advocacy work to persuade the Government to integrate basic human rights standards into housing and resettlement policies and practices, the Office, together with NGOs, organized a public briefing by the former Special Rapporteur on adequate housing about the United Nations Guidelines on development-based Evictions and Displacement and facilitated the presentation of these guidelines to representatives of the Ministries of Land Management and Interior. 44. In rural areas, OHCHR has continued to monitor the granting of economic land concessions (ELCs) and their impact on the rights of indigenous communities and smallscale farmers. Generally the procedural safeguards prior to granting concessions are not adequately followed – most importantly, the requirements to consult with affected communities and conduct environment and social impact assessments. As of May 2009, according to the Ministry of Agriculture’s public information, ELCs had been granted to 85 companies over a total land area of 956,690 ha.3 The Office’s own monitoring and NGOs’ observations indicate that there might be up to 159 companies involved over a total area of 1,300,000 ha. 45. In this context, the Office’s assistance was requested in 31 land disputes between affected villagers and companies, 13 of which were due to ELCs (including five on indigenous land) while 18 others were due to land transactions (two on indigenous land). OHCHR provided assistance and legal advice to provincial and local authorities, affected communities and NGOs supporting them, in order to protect communities’ access to land and resources. Upon request, the Office also mediated or facilitated discussions or negotiations among stakeholders to solve disputes. 3 See: http://www.elc.maff.gov.kh/index.html. 11