Authorities Get Tough on Squatters
Authorities Get Tough on Squatters
Widespread corruption in the land rights department in Kyrgyzstan’s capital has allowed illegal land grabs to carry on, and the authorities are now adopting tougher measures. But NBCentralAsia analysts warn that too heavy-handed an approach to evicting squatters may spark confrontation.
Since the beginning of September, the authorities have demolished over 250 homes and building foundations that had been illegally erected on the outskirts of Bishkek.
The loss of farmland to squatters in these areas reduced this year’s harvest.
The tradition of grabbing a piece of land, building a house and hoping the state will eventually recognise squatting rights began in the early Nineties, when landless newcomers seized farmland and started building homes for themselves on the outskirts of Bishkek. Almost all such homes were subsequently registered as legal, and the authorities provided them with utilities.
A new wave of seizures began in Bishkek after March 2005, when the opposition came to power and President Askar Akaev was ousted by a popular uprising. By the beginning of April that year, several informal squatters’ associations had already taken over nine different areas of the city and its suburbs. As of April 14, 2005, over 21,000 people had applied for land ownership rights from the authorities.
The government agreed to allocate land to the most needy cases, and many people acquired a plot legally.
In February 2006, Bishkek’s deputy mayor Chynarbek Alymkulov announced that empty land in the capital could only be used for building multi-storey housing, which would be made available for people who had no land plot of their own.
Atay Namatbaev, an analyst from the Politics, Religion and Security Studies Centre, says that prior to the latest evictions, the majority of Bishkek’s residents were hoping the authorities would take a tougher stand.
“The authorities should have resorted to decisive measures from the start – that is their right,” he said. “If someone takes your property illegally and using coercive methods, then you have a right to resist. The state must protect the legal property owner.”
Political scientist Marat Kazakpaev agrees that the government cannot simply stand by and watch people take farmland, but he fears that strong-arm methods could lead to a head-on confrontation between squatters and the authorities.
“That could lead to upheaval,” he said. “Remember how the squatters were planning to hold public rallies at one point. There are those who would take advantage if they did.”
The chairman of the president’s Commission on Human Rights, Tursunbek Akun, agrees that action is necessary, but he says the land distribution system is completely corrupt, making it easy to grab land illegally.
“The corruption has to be stamped out - because many of the people that organise the land seizures have turned it into a money-making business,” said Akun, adding that better administrative systems are needed for issuing the paperwork needed by those applying for housing .
(NBCentralAsia draws comment and analysis from a broad range of political observers across the region)
Since the beginning of September, the authorities have demolished over 250 homes and building foundations that had been illegally erected on the outskirts of Bishkek.
The loss of farmland to squatters in these areas reduced this year’s harvest.
The tradition of grabbing a piece of land, building a house and hoping the state will eventually recognise squatting rights began in the early Nineties, when landless newcomers seized farmland and started building homes for themselves on the outskirts of Bishkek. Almost all such homes were subsequently registered as legal, and the authorities provided them with utilities.
A new wave of seizures began in Bishkek after March 2005, when the opposition came to power and President Askar Akaev was ousted by a popular uprising. By the beginning of April that year, several informal squatters’ associations had already taken over nine different areas of the city and its suburbs. As of April 14, 2005, over 21,000 people had applied for land ownership rights from the authorities.
The government agreed to allocate land to the most needy cases, and many people acquired a plot legally.
In February 2006, Bishkek’s deputy mayor Chynarbek Alymkulov announced that empty land in the capital could only be used for building multi-storey housing, which would be made available for people who had no land plot of their own.
Atay Namatbaev, an analyst from the Politics, Religion and Security Studies Centre, says that prior to the latest evictions, the majority of Bishkek’s residents were hoping the authorities would take a tougher stand.
“The authorities should have resorted to decisive measures from the start – that is their right,” he said. “If someone takes your property illegally and using coercive methods, then you have a right to resist. The state must protect the legal property owner.”
Political scientist Marat Kazakpaev agrees that the government cannot simply stand by and watch people take farmland, but he fears that strong-arm methods could lead to a head-on confrontation between squatters and the authorities.
“That could lead to upheaval,” he said. “Remember how the squatters were planning to hold public rallies at one point. There are those who would take advantage if they did.”
The chairman of the president’s Commission on Human Rights, Tursunbek Akun, agrees that action is necessary, but he says the land distribution system is completely corrupt, making it easy to grab land illegally.
“The corruption has to be stamped out - because many of the people that organise the land seizures have turned it into a money-making business,” said Akun, adding that better administrative systems are needed for issuing the paperwork needed by those applying for housing .
(NBCentralAsia draws comment and analysis from a broad range of political observers across the region)
