Land Grab Cheats North Dakota Tribes Out of $1 Billion, Suits Allege. But that last-resort land turns out to hold a wealth of oil, because it sits on the Bakken Shale, widely believed to be one of the world's largest deposits of crude. Until recently, that oil was difficult to extract, but hydraulic fracturing, combined with the ability to drill a well sideways underground, can tap it.
The result, according to several senior tribal members and lawsuits filed last November and early this year in federal and state courts, has been a land grab involving everyone from tribal leaders accused of enriching themselves at the expense of their people, to oil speculators, to a New York hedge fund, to the federal government's Bureau of Indian Affairs. The rush to get access to oil on tribal lands is part of the oil industry's larger push to secure drilling rights across the United States.
Recent estimates show that the U.S. contains vast quantities of oil and gas. Wilkinson declined to comment and Woodward could not be reached. "Mr. Policeman killed, 42 injured in Myanmar land grab clash - World. Twenty-seven police were among the injured on the sixth day of demonstrations in Maletto Village Tracts, around 40 miles (64 km) west of Yangon in the fertile Irrawaddy Delta, the rice bowl of Myanmar. A policeman died and 42 people were injured in Myanmar on Wednesday during a protest by farmers over what they said was a land grab by a private company, a growing source of tension as people assert their rights after the end of military rule.
The authorities had imposed a curfew in the area when the protesters become aggressive on Tuesday but it had been ignored, a police officer said. "They just kept demanding immediate handover of the land to them and started to attack the policemen with sticks, daggers and slingshots with darts," he said. According to the officer, police fired warning shots and rubber bullets.
"About 1,000 acres of land had been confiscated about 10 years ago without anything being done to it. Chinese Villagers Fight Land Grab by Officials Working With Developers | Democracy & Human Rights. By Gu Qing’er & John YangEpoch Times Staff Created: February 27, 2013 Last Updated: March 1, 2013 On Feb. 25, more than thousand Hui Muslims from Pingfeng Village, Shaoyang City, protested in front of the municipal government building. (Provided by the interviewees) A mass protest by villagers in the south-central province of Hunan is the latest of several similar incidents drawing attention to land acquisitions for development projects being exploited by communist officials. More than a thousand Hui Muslims from Pingfeng Village, Shaoyang City, protested in front of the municipal government building on Feb. 25, demanding that authorities hold the relevant officials accountable for a recent land acquisition during which villagers were attacked with batons. One of the villagers, Mrs.
The protestors stated that the land was forcibly taken, and more than a dozen people were injured. According to Mrs. Mrs. At that point the officials began hitting the villagers, including Mrs. Africa Land Grabs - Act now to stop it! Criticism against landgrabb in Africa:Land insecurity, Land rights and governance: Gov. owned land and poor land tenure lowers recognition of land rights, thus it increases a country’s attractiveness for land acquisition, implying that companies have actively sought out areas with low land recognition rights for investment.
Therefore, strengthening poor people’s rights to land and natural resources, especially women, through better land tenure governance is very important. Africa governments need to provide secure access to land for smallholder farmers, especially for women – who often do most of the work on the land, instead of selling to foreigners. Local consultation, consent and compensation: the consultation process between investors and local populations have not adequately informed communities in advance of their rights, negotiating powers, and entitlements within land transactions and if they can agree or refuse projects. Utah's land grab attempt contains national parks. Editor, After reading the letter on the website Oct. 24, "Herbert will wrestle control of lands from feds," it is necessary to correct a few of the letter writer's claims. I am an Ogden native and work for the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance.
One must understand that Governor Herbert's land grab is a two-pronged assault on public lands. The first is H.B. 148, the ludicrous bill Herbert signed, demanding the United States give to the state 30 million acres of public land, including Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument and Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. The bill was deemed unlikely to stand up in court by Utah's own legal team, and is an egregious attempt to steal from all Americans the national backyard they love and a pitiable waste of time and taxpayer dollars.
Many of Utah's claims are within national parks, monuments--even in designated wilderness. Finally, Utah's potential is not, as the letter claimed, "at a screeching halt" due to federal lands. Jen Beasley Ujifusa. Report urges govt to address land grabbing issue. The Irrawaddy | 26 October 2012 Farmers rally in Rangoon on Oct. 27, 2012, to protest against the confiscation of their land. (Photo: The Irrawaddy) By SEAMUS MARTOV / THE IRRAWADDY| A report released today by the international NGO Displacement Solutions calls on Burma’s government to immediately take steps to address the serious lack of housing, land and property (HLP) rights across the county. The report specifically urges the government to take measures to curb “land grabbing, speculation and displacement with a range of new policies and legislation, including a moratorium on arbitrary forced displacement.” The current rush of foreign investment into Burma’s agricultural and natural resource sectors, which are expected to grow significantly over the next few years, combined with what the report calls an “almost universal tenure insecurity in both rural and urban areas,” will lead to an increasing number of Burma’s overwhelmingly rural population becoming landless, the report warns.
J&K: Congress MP nailed in major land grab case - Politics. Srinagar: The Jammu and Kashmir vigilance commission has nailed Congress MP Chowdhary Lal Singh in a major land grab case, and the Omar Abdullah government in the state is slated to find it difficult to ignore the charges against him. In a confidential letter to the Chief Minister's secretariat, accessed by CNN-IBN, the Vigilance Commissioner has said the powerful Congress MP illegally occupied over 92 kanals of government land in Hiranagar tehsil in Kathua district. These confidential vigilance documents sent to CM's secretariat establish what has been a common knowledge in Karandi village where MP and former minister has encroached land of poor villagers and the state. So far the cries of victims have not been heard, and even the strong memo by the anti-corruption body has not made any difference.
Speaking to CNN-IBN, Lal Singh denied the allegations. He instead blamed RTI activists for defaming him. Land Grab for Agribusiness in Mozambique: UNAC statement on the ProSavana Programme. Land Grab for Agribusiness in Mozambique: UNAC statement on the ProSavana Programme We, peasants of the Provincial Nucleus of Peasants in Nampula, the Provincial Nucleus of Peasants in Zambezia, the Provincial Peasants Union of Niassa and the Provincial Union of Peasants of Cabo Delgado, and who are all members of the National Peasants’ Union (UNAC), met on the 11th of October 2012, in the town of Nampula with the aim of discussing and analyzing the ProSavana Programme. The ProSavana Programme is a triangular project between the Republic of Mozambique, the Federal Republic of Brazil and Japan, for the development of large-scale agriculture in the Nacala Development Corridor, affecting 14 districts in the provinces of Niassa, Nampula and Zambezia, covering an area of approximately 14 million hectares.
Following a comprehensive analysis of ProSavana, we peasant farmers have concluded that: · Frequent social upheaval along the Nacala Corridor, and beyond; Nampula, October 11th 2012. Land deals in Africa have led to a wild west – bring on the sheriff, says FAO | Global development. True grit … FAO director general José Graziano da Silva wants major land acquisitions curbed to protect the poor. Photograph: Giorgio Cosulich/Getty Images Amid warnings that land deals are undermining food security, the head of the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has compared "land grabs" in Africa to the "wild west", saying a "sheriff" is needed to restore the rule of law. José Graziano da Silva, the FAO's director general, conceded it was not possible to stop large investors buying land, but said deals in poor countries needed to be brought under control.
"I don't see that it's possible to stop it. Large land deals have accelerated since the surge in food prices in 2007-08, prompting companies and sovereign wealth funds to take steps to guarantee food supplies. Oxfam said the global land rush is out of control and urged the World Bank to freeze its investments in large-scale land acquisitions to send a strong signal to global investors to stop. Article - The Great Africa Land Grab. Land grabbing has fast become a major threat to poor communities in Africa, Asia and South America. Poverty-stricken women and men are being driven from their homes and the land they rely on to grow food to eat and make a living, usually without compensation. In many cases this is often in violation of national laws and international standards for investment. Many end up destitute, living under plastic at the sides of roads, or migrating to urban slums to eke out a living.
The shift from thriving rural communities to landless labourers brings untold misery and suffering to these displaced families. This scandal has worsened in the last decade. There is now a steady dawning amongst politicians, investors, business leaders and the public that we are at, or have now passed, a number of critical planetary boundaries – land use, freshwater use and climate change being amongst the most critical. To achieve this they need investment in their productivity, not the theft of their lands.
Land grabbing: from understanding to global action. Policy Brief: Reframing the New Alliance Agenda: A Critical Assessment based on Insights from Tanzania by Emmanuel Sulle and Ruth Hall, 2013 The initial signs of New Alliance implementation, instead of reversing a chronic under-investment in smallholder agriculture, suggest the adoption of corporate agriculture, turning smallholder farmers into wage workers or expelling them to search for alternative livelihoods in the growing cities. The authors argue that African countries engaging with the New Alliance should focus instead on securing citizens’ access to land, water and improved governance.
Working Paper: Plantations, Contract Farming and Commercial Farming Areas in Africa: A Comparative Review by Rebecca Smalley, 2013 This working paper assesses the historical experience of three farming models that have figured in recent investments in sub-Saharan Africa: plantations, contract farming and commercial farming areas. Laos land grab clears way for EU summit villa resort - Asia-Pacific, World News.
David Blair London – Updated 03 December 2012 02:11 AM The "Asia-Europe Meeting" will bring together representatives of 48 EU and Asian countries on Don Chan island in the centre of Laos's capital, Vientiane. To allow the construction of 50 villas and two conference centres, the authorities moved 102 families who once lived on the island and worked its green paddy fields. The showcase facilities will be used for this and future summits. The former inhabitants of Don Chan Island, who have been relocated 15 miles away, say their new homes lack enough fertile land to replace their old livelihoods.
The island's people did receive compensation, but the amounts paid differed from family to family. The country's foreign ministry described the "Asia-Europe Meeting" as the "biggest event ever to be held in Laos". But by staying in villas built on seized land, campaigners say that EU foreign ministers are complicit in a system that can impoverish ordinary people. Irish Independent. The global and local land-grab. The Express Tribune | 30 October 2012 By Najma Sadeque Colonialism is alive and well in most former colonies — with one major difference. Previously, the colonials barged in armed to the teeth, compelling locals to produce selected crops to make fortunes and fuel their Industrial Revolution.
Today, the neocolonials are no longer content monopolising the output of those same lands; they want the source of the produce, too — the land itself and the accompanying water supply. Last week, activist members from South Asia and Southeast Asia joined the International Land Coalition and global development group Oxfam in Cambodia at the Asian Land Forum to find ways of stalling the global land-grab.
Ironically, Cambodia itself has leased half of its arable land to foreign investors. The entire debt-burdened world has become easy prey. Oxfam put it very succinctly: “… very few if any of these land investments benefit local people or help to fight hunger. Swamy does a Kejriwal, targets Sonia & Rahul for landgrab. If Arvind Kejriwal had breached the unwritten political protocol by targeting Robert Vadra and brought the corruption issue to the doorsteps of 10 Janpath, Janata Party president and NDA member Subramanian Swamy has gatecrashed Sonia Gandhi's fortress.
At a press conference today, Swamy accused Sonia Gandhi and her about-to-be-anointed deputy and son Rahul Gandhi of land grab and fraud. Rahul has termed the allegations "utterly false'' and "motivated''. In a letter, he has also threatened to pursue the legal course. On his part, Swamy has said he welcomes Rahul to pursue the legal option.
Swamy accused Sonia Gandhi and her about-to-be-anointed deputy and son Rahul Gandhi of land grab and fraud. The Congress was initially dismissive of the allegations. Party general secretary and chairman of the media department Janardhan Dwivedi made a limited sarcastic comment against Swamy: “The world has many wonders, the gentleman (Swamy) concerned is one of them. List of Shareholders of AJL 2008. NEW ISRAELI LAND GRAB IN EAST JERUSALEM ~~ ARABS NEED NOT APPLY « Desertpeace. November 1, 2012 at 07:40 (Apartheid, Hasbara, Israel, Occupation, Palestine, Status of Jerusalem) Remember this ( No Jews Allowed) Now we have this I think it is a shame that in a city where over 1/3 of the population are Palestinians, the authorities are planning only for Israelis, even near Palestinian areas in East Jerusalem, where such construction is desperately needed.
This policy is not only taking us away from the possibility to get to Two States, but is also discriminatory and adds to the instability in Jerusalem. 180 new units in East Jeruslam The Israeli Land Administration announced last week the allocation of 180 new housing units in East Jerusalem for families of people from the Israeli security forces (the army and police). The decision was made in accordance with the Israeli Government’s decision from 20.5.12 to allocate units for security people in Jerusalem in “places with special characteristics that can justify such allocations, according to the ILA considerations”. Energy and Food demands, drivers of land grab: A case of Rufiji River Basin in Tanzania « Let's talk land Tanzania.
07.11.12 Tamils vote with Muslims in EPC against SLA land grab of Muslim village. Land grab protest. Kashmir Life » Taj Land Grab: Malhotra Withdraws Probing House Penal. "MLA Kanna Babu involved in land grab" - Sakshi Post. The Frontier Post,Pakistan,Lahore. Protestors want district officials involved in abductions, land grab and torture, fired.
Land-grabbing turns India’s nuclear fight into a struggle for democracy. Farm Radio Weekly » Farm Radio Weekly Archive » The Global Land Grab: A Primer. Land grab charges against Taj. ENOUGH is ENOUGH: Attacks on IPs escalate, another Indigenous leader killed in Misamis Oriental! The global land grab, the next human rights challenge for business. Las Vegas bets big on rural water. Pesticide Drift, Sick Rural Residents Force Face-Off With Big Agriculture. How African governments allow farmers to be pushed off their land. New interactive website shows villages affected by the SABL land grab. Government mulls private purchase of farm land abroad. New land rush: Indiscriminate land acquisition to have adverse impact on sustainable development. Stolen land stolen future. Sri Lanka seeks investment in agriculture.
Brazil groups say farmland rules choke investment. Hungry for land: When the super-wealthy scoop up huge plots of land worldwide, what’s left behind? Farmers to battle water scarcity as food demand grows, UN says. The hydra head of land grabbing in Sierra Leone. Governments agree on voluntary rules to control land grabs. Selling fertile land to foreign firms to create food insecurity. India: 900m hectares of arable land wasted in Africa. Corporate investors send Australia’s land prices up. Cameroun: Les Américains s'accaparent de 73000 hectares de terre pour produire des palmiers à huile. Trigon lifts landbank near to 200,000 hectares. Stop devoting our lands for food security of other nations. Romania and Bulgaria will begin a joint initiative to delay the liberalization of their agricultural land markets. Macquarie goes grain farming. Agriculture: a challenging investment with great potential. Concerns over land use in Salone. The search for food security gains momentum.
Madagascar: Small steps towards land reform. Fonterra plans two more farms in China. Agricultural land acquisition: A lens on Southeast Asia. Over 250 actions worldwide for the International Day of Peasant's Struggle. UN debate on excessive food and commodity price volatility; call for regulating price speculation in the futures market. Wilmar acquires land in Nigeria. Thai food giant investing big in Australia. China to buy New Zealand farmland. African land grab: Ethiopians in NY to join other activists. Overseas ownership of farmland far above PM’s claim. American land grabs mirror Africa's colonial past. Massive theft of developing world's farmland. Global economy squeezed between capacity and demand. Cargill cuts pink slime output, sees hamburger price rise. UN approves guidelines against land grabbing. Farmers support foreign investment register. Global U.N.-backed land use guidelines approved. Dreyfus to take stake in palm oil group Felda. TIAA-CREF forms global farmland investing company.
Foreign investors to put €50m into Irish dairying. Lawmakers push bill to regulate large scale foreign investments on land. Action against land grabs in Berlin. Roumanie : Des terres fertiles en opportunités. Fondos de inversión y gobiernos ya han comprado el 4,8% de la superficie agrícola de África. En América Latina si hay acaparamiento de tierras! Un informe destapa las graves consecuencias de inversiones agrícolas en población local de Uganda. Declaração Conjunta - Banco Mundial: Fora da terra! Land Grabs in Africa: Economic Growth or Re-Colonization? | oaklandinstitute.org.
Global Land Grabbing Colloquium. Equality' is not enough. Malawi: Without land reform, small farmers become "trespassers" International land deals: who is investing and where - get the data. An agribusiness attack in West Papua: Unravelling MIFEE. Activists challenge African 'land grab' Land rush continues, deals target poor, group says. Official: Gunmen kill 5 farmworkers in Ethiopia. Investors eager to expand into agricultural assets. Ethiopia: Three-day campaign on human rights and land-grabbing a success.
Saudi Star Pakistani foreign workers and Ethiopians killed in raid on Saudi farm compound—believed related to land grabs. Tehan calls for foreign investor review. Apologise or face closure, Government tells Uganda Land Alliance. Zombie" Chinese land grabs in Africa rise again in new database! Middle Eastern investors “grab” Sudan farmland. Food fears feed global scramble for land. China land grab claims 'exaggerated' - StanChart. Surge in US farmland prices could ease - Fed.