The Stolen Lands of Afghanistan and its People: Part 2 in a Series of 3

The State Land Distribution SystemUnited Nations Assistance Mission to Afghanistan (UNAMA)

Background

Land Grabbing: Usurpation

Shirpur’s (‘poppy palaces/narcotecture’) have been built on land usurped in 2003 – condemned by the UN Special Rapporteur on Housing Mr. Miloon Kothari (corroborated by an AIHRC report which listed 29 powerful individuals - six cabinet ministers, the AAA, the BBB, and two former militia commanders) powerful individuals - six cabinet ministers.

According to the High Office of Oversight and Anti-Corruption (HOOAC) land obtained in Nangarhar Province “by only four or five individuals “ amounts to 25,000 acres (more than 10,000 hectares). The state lands near the Nangarhar canals have been usurped and have not been recovered.

Deh Sabz/Kabul New City grabbing of land by Kuchis was supported by a prominent MP -- a former mujahedin commander in the ranks of Hezb-e Islami-- and by a Wolesi Jirga member from Kabul province (and his brother ); distribution of plots to MPs and other political figures by senior officials in distribution process

In Ghazni Province prominent officials, former Ghazni senators and members of the Provincial Council have obtained 150,000 acres of state-owned land over the last eight years. There are fears that the land mafia are now poised to get their hands on the remaining 650,000 acres of state land.

Political elites connected to the current government have obtained areas of Kandahar Province, and the lands of Dahana-e Ghori in Baghlan. In Baghlan, warlords have used threats to pressure municipal officials to fraudulently prepare ownership documents for the state land that they have usurped.

State Land Distribution System

Policy Framework

Legal Framework

Practices

Challenges

Impact

Way Forward