Focus on land seizures

The period of political instability in Kyrgyzstan that immediately followed the revolution of March 2005 saw a wave of land seizures in the capital, Bishkek. Now political leaders and activists fear the situation may well repeat itself in coming weeks as the weather improves. "We should expect massive land seizures in the spring. We have information which confirms that claim,” Tursunbek Akun, Chairman of the Presidential Commission on Human Rights, said recently at a press conference in the capital. Grabbing land and putting up a house on it during times of rapid change in Kyrgyzstan goes back to the early 1990s, when the Soviet empire was crumbling. The breakdown in authority meant there were fewer restrictions on where people could live; it led to rapid migration to larger cities as people took the opportunity to forge a better life. Between 200,000 and 300,000 people made it to the outskirts of the capital and quickly built improvised houses. Some 15 years on, many of these huts stand without fences, with plastic bags for windows, garbage flying around freely – most do not have basic conveniences such as electricity, water or rubbish collection. The unemployment rate among the internal economic migrants who live in these informal communities is higher than the national average. Many of them do not have proper registration documents and have problems accessing medical services and education. NEW ARRIVALS These shanty areas became swollen after the fall of Askar Akayev's regime in March 2005, as a new wave of massive land seizures took place. The new squatters chose their moment well. The government of President Kurmanbek Bakiev did little to oppose them – many had arrived in the capital from the impoverished south to be part of Akayev’s ouster and to support the new order that replaced it. A large proportion of those who risked much to take on the state and topple it, feel they are entitled to some kind of recompense from the new government - in money or land. Hoping to manage the hunger for land around the capital, the state decided to give out free plots in nearby Chui Valley. Since April 2005, the new dispensation has approved 11,000 applications for free land and has designated 1,000 ha of land to be settled on. LAND FOR ALL But the land scheme has left around 70,000 applicants without land. Many who received a plot say it is too far from the capital or in a poor location. Zhypar Zheksheev, is leader of the Democratic Movement of Kyrgyzstan and a parliamentarian. He’s involved in the governmental commission on land distribution, and says that the state should have stopped the recent land grabs when they occurred. He’s also critical of the policy of dishing out free land. "Distribution of land will not help to solve the problem. It will just encourage more and more people to demand land. New children are being born, new migrants are arriving…we are establishing the worst precedent,” he told IRIN in Bishkek. ONGOING PROTESTS The land distribution process has also been marred by allegations of corruption and fraud among officials. The discontent has given rise to a series of well-organised demonstrations at key locations in the capital. "I need land not for myself, but for my son who is an invalid. I was waiting and waiting last year, but did not get anything. But the wealthy ones got land, those with proper connections,” said Aizada Zakirova, attending one of the recent protests outside parliament. "We are not asking for much, just for a small plot of land. We want to solve this issue legally before spring comes. If the problem is not worked out by that time, more people will join us,” Nazira Orozbekova, another protester told IRIN at the main Ala-Too square in Bishkek. The protesters are not going away and are forming a powerful lobby that could challenge the government in these politically unstable times, observers say. LOCAL REACTION In March 2005 a group of people from the southern town of Batken occupied land near Dordoi market in Bishkek, one of the biggest wholesale bazaars in Central Asia. They rapidly consolidated their gains by building new houses. But the move has led to resentment from existing residents who blame the squatters for a downturn in local services. The conflicts often end in fist fights. "The lights started to go off all the time. The electricity networks are overloaded since they came. They built their houses right under the cable and they steal electricity... . According to the city's construction plan we should have had trees planted here, but instead we have a nameless street of 17 houses," complains Sapash, a Dordoi resident of 20 years. But the new settlers say they need to live somewhere and do what they can to improve the neighbourhood. Kadyrbekova Elmira, who arrived in Bishkek from the southern Jalal-abad province in order to get rid of Akayev last March, liked what she saw and decided to stay. "I am trying to talk to the neighbours but I am not planning to go back home to my village either. It is not profitable to farm there,” Elmira said. SOLUTIONS? Despite the political risks, Bakiev has condemned illegal land grabs and has threatened to bring criminal charges the perpetrators. But he hasn’t pushed the issue too hard, perhaps aware it would cost him support. Not a single case of illegal land occupation has been brought to court so far. Also, none of the illegal settlers have been removed by force from their newfound property. City authorities in the capital are aware action is needed to address the housing shortage. Bishkek's mayor Arstanbek Nogoev has called a halt to the free land scheme. "The remaining land in Bishkek is designated for the construction of multi-storied apartment buildings. We will introduce mortgages [loans for house purchase] and that is how the housing problem should be solved,” he said on local radio recently. But sceptics say that a mortgage plan would be out of reach for most citizens in Kyrgyzstan who would not be able to afford market-rate deposits and repayments for houses. Zheksheev believes the key to the pressure on land in urban Kyrgyzstan is rural development – to head off economic migrants. "We need favourable development conditions in rural areas, higher wages, social programmes, credits, better employment - that would stop migration." But until such comprehensive solutions can be found the likelihood of more land grabs in and around the capital increases with the rise in temperature. "The consequences? [of more land grabs] I am afraid to talk about them. Those people who've been waiting for land this whole winter are very angry,” Zheksheev warned.