Madagascar: Increasing conflicts over access to land ownership, whistleblowers in the crosshairs

2023-12-16T18:09:13.994Z

Highlights: Madagascar: Increasing conflicts over access to land ownership, whistleblowers in the crosshairs. In Madagascar, a whistleblower is in police custody for the second time in less than a month in Sambava in the north of the country. Nathassa Razafiarisoa is currently on bail, but many human rights defenders are being targeted on the Big Island. The problem, according to Mamy Rakotondrainibe, president of the Collective for the Defense of Malagasy Lands, is the difficulty of obtaining a legal title to property.

In Madagascar, a whistleblower is in police custody for the second time in less than a month in Sambava in the north of the country. Nathassa Razafiarisoa is currently on bail, but many...

Madagascar: Increasing conflicts over access to land ownership, whistleblowers in the crosshairs

In Madagascar, a whistleblower is in police custody for the second time in less than a month in Sambava in the north of the country. Nathassa Razafiarisoa is currently on bail, but many whistleblowers and human rights defenders are currently being targeted on the Big Island. Explanations.

Location of Sambava, Madagascar. © RFI

By: RFI Follow

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Nathassa Razafiarisoa was brought before the Antalaha court at the end of November and provisionally released. She is the president of a human rights association in the Sava region. She advises residents of a neighborhood in Sambava, who filed a complaint after the destruction of their house, which they claim to own.

This is an emblematic case of the land conflicts that are multiplying on the Big Island: a very modest neighborhood near an arm of the sea, in Sambava. The residents of Marotsiazo bought their lot in 2010 and even paid property taxes. But in 2017, a private individual claimed the entire land, i.e. 23 hectares. And the courts ruled in favour of the businessman, at first instance, on appeal and finally in cassation last year.

In recent weeks, houses have been destroyed without warning, and the young people of the neighborhood have been accused of criminal offences, as well as their neighbor, the whistleblower Nathassa Razafiarisoa who is trying to defend them.

The problem, according to Mamy Rakotondrainibe, president of the Collective for the Defense of Malagasy Lands, is the difficulty of obtaining a legal title to property. "To get a land title, there are twenty steps, there is a lot of corruption so you have to pay a lot more than what is (due) so a lot of people don't have a land title." The authorities must act, insists Mamy Rakotondrainibe to Claire Fages of the Africa newsroom, to resolve this type of conflict, "they are not going to arrest everyone!"

Read alsoMadagascar: civil society denounces human rights violations in a land dispute

A new land law was passed in June 2021 and is the subject of criticism from farmers' organizations. Many other land conflicts are believed to be brewing in Sambava and UN representatives on the ground note that many whistleblowers and human rights defenders are currently being targeted on the Big Island.

Madagascar: Increasing conflicts over access to land ownership, whistleblowers in the crosshairs

Madagascar: Increasing conflicts over access to land ownership, whistleblowers in the crosshairs

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