Land Clearance and Resettlement Policies of Some Countries in the World

in the compensation, support and resettlement plan. Appraisal of the project's compensation, support and resettlement plan:

- Appraisal of compensation, support and resettlement plans for land acquisition projects involving 2 or more districts, towns, and cities in the province and project plans approved by the provincial People's Committee.

- Appraisal content: Application of compensation and support policies of the project; Application of land and property prices to calculate compensation; resettlement arrangement plan.

- The appraisal of the plan is chaired by the Department of Finance, in coordination with relevant agencies to suit the characteristics of each project. If necessary, the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee decides to establish an Appraisal Council chaired by the Director of the Department of Finance.

- The maximum appraisal time is 15 working days from the date of receipt of the proposed plan; After the above deadline, if the appraisal agency has no comments, the Chairman of the People's Committee at the competent level shall approve.

- Compensation, support and resettlement plans of projects not covered by the above regulations do not need to be appraised.

- After receiving comments from the appraisal agency, the investor will help the Compensation, Support and Resettlement Council complete the plan and submit it to the competent state agency for approval. Responsibilities of People's Committees at all levels:

- Provincial People's Committee:

+ Direct, organize, mobilize and propagate all organizations and individuals about compensation, support and resettlement policies and implement land acquisition and clearance in accordance with land acquisition decisions of competent state agencies.

+ Directing departments, branches and district-level People's Committees to: Establish resettlement projects and resettlement areas to serve land acquisition; Establish compensation and resettlement plans according to authority; approve or delegate to district-level People's Committees to approve plans; Approve land prices; issue property price lists for compensation calculation, prescribe support levels and support measures according to authority; resettlement arrangement plans, vocational conversion training plans according to assigned authority.

+ Direct relevant agencies to handle citizens' complaints and denunciations about compensation and resettlement according to legal authority.

+ Ensure objectivity and fairness when considering and deciding on compensation, support and resettlement when the State acquires land according to prescribed authority.

+ Decide or delegate authority to the District People's Committee to enforce cases of intentional non-compliance with the State's land recovery decisions according to authority.

+ Directing inspection and handling of violations in the field of compensation and support.

- District People's Committee where land is recovered: Directs, organizes, propagates, and mobilizes all organizations.

- The People's Committee of the district where the land is recovered is responsible for:

+ Direct, organize, propagate and mobilize all organizations and individuals about compensation, support and resettlement policies and implement land acquisition and clearance in accordance with land acquisition decisions of competent state agencies.

+ Direct the Compensation, Support and Resettlement Council at the same level to establish and organize the implementation of compensation, support and resettlement plans; approve compensation, support and resettlement plans according to the decentralization of the provincial People's Committee.

+ Coordinate with departments, branches, organizations and investors to implement construction investment projects and plans to establish resettlement areas in localities according to the decentralization of the provincial People's Committee.

+ Resolve citizens' complaints and denunciations about compensation, support and resettlement according to assigned authority; issue enforcement decisions and organize enforcement in cases under authority; coordinate with competent authorities to organize enforcement according to decisions of competent authorities.

- The People's Committee at the commune level is responsible for:

+ Organize propaganda about the purpose of land acquisition, compensation, support and resettlement policies of the project.

+ Coordinate with the Compensation, Support and Resettlement Council to confirm the land and assets of the person whose land is recovered.

+ Coordinate and facilitate the payment of compensation, support and resettlement arrangements for people whose land is recovered and facilitate site clearance.[8]

1.2.4. Industrialization and urbanization with the issue of land clearance and resettlement in Hanoi City

To achieve the goal of industrialization and urbanization, every year, dozens of large projects and works of the Central and the city are implemented in Hanoi. Meanwhile, the population density in the capital is very high, especially in the inner city, which creates great pressure on site clearance work.

- From 2010 to June 2016, there were 3,073 projects in the city that had to carry out land acquisition. However, up to now, the city has only completed land acquisition for 1,711 projects with a total land area of over 8,462 hectares; paid over VND54,829 billion in compensation and support to 213,554 organizations, households and individuals and arranged resettlement for 9,924 households and individuals who had to relocate. In the coming period, Hanoi sets a goal of striving to complete site clearance for about 2,700 projects, including 52 key projects and works, with a land acquisition area of nearly 6,000 hectares, related to over

80,000 households, compensation and support amount of about 60,000 billion VND, need to arrange resettlement for about 19,000 households.

- The population density in the inner city area is very high, each project implemented, whether large or small, often requires the relocation of hundreds or thousands of households to make room for construction. For example, the project to expand Ring Road 2, from Nga Tu So - Nga Tu Vong, requires the relocation of 620 households in Thanh Xuan and Dong Da districts; the section from Nhat Tan to Cau Giay requires the relocation of 1,555 households. The drainage project phase II, implemented in 8 districts, affects the residence of 8,500 households... Currently, in the inner city area of Hanoi, there are dozens of large works, key projects of the Central and the city being implemented such as the urban railway lines Cat Linh - Ha Dong, Nhon - Hanoi Railway Station, Ring Road 1, Ring Road 2, Tran Phu - Kim Ma Street... showing the huge volume of site clearance work.

However, according to the assessment, site clearance work is still a very difficult and complicated task and also reveals some limitations and weaknesses, such as: site clearance progress

Site clearance of most projects, including some key projects, is still slow, the settlement of resettlement requests is not synchronous, and there are still shortcomings. In addition, the situation of complaints related to site clearance is still complicated, the publicity and transparency in mechanisms, policies and implementation organization are still limited. Propaganda and mobilization work has not been carried out extensively at times and for some projects, there is a lack of breakthrough solutions in terms of procedures, processes and organization of site clearance implementation.[6]

1.3. Overview of land clearance policies in the world and experiences for Vietnam

1.3.1. Land clearance policies of international organizations including the World Bank (WB) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB)

- Land clearance objective: to minimize resettlement and ensure that displaced households are compensated and supported so that their economic and social future is as favorable as in the absence of the project. The WB and ADB policies cover the entire process of compensation, relocation, restoration of living conditions and income generation for affected households at least at the same level as in the absence of the project.

- Scope of determining affected people: affected people are those who lose all or part of their material or immaterial assets, including land and resources of their families or communities such as forests, fishing grounds, etc. Therefore, the scope of the project's impact that must be considered is very wide.

- Concept of compensation and support for site clearance: according to these organizations, land users lacking legal land certificates will not be an obstacle to compensation, but only those who "parachute" after the end date of listing affected households are illegal and will not receive compensation.

- Compensation for land and property: land and property must be compensated at replacement value and must ensure that the property can be reconstructed as if there were no project, that is, the compensation for land must ensure the purchase of a similar piece of land, and the compensation for property must be equal to 100% of the new construction value of the house and building.

In resettlement work, the organization requires project owners to pay more attention and help affected people during the resettlement process: find new suitable accommodation for them when they have to move elsewhere, arrange and organize resettlement areas; support transportation costs, vocational training, loans for production development, provide services... in the resettlement area.

- Time for site clearance and resettlement: Compensation and resettlement must always be completed before site clearance.

- How to perform GPMB:

+ Not only must we fully inform families whose land is recovered of project information as well as compensation and resettlement policies, but we must also consult and find ways to satisfy the legitimate demands of land users throughout the process of implementing compensation and resettlement.

+ Planning for resettlement in all resettlement projects is not voluntary but mandatory throughout the project appraisal process. The level of detail of the resettlement plan depends on the number and level of impact of the project on people whose land is recovered.

+ In addition to internal monitoring, the project implementing agency must hire an external organization to conduct independent monitoring to ensure objective information. The task of the independent monitoring agency is to check whether resettlement activities are being implemented properly or not, thereby making recommendations on solutions so that resettlement work achieves the ultimate goal of resolving arising problems.

Table 1.1. Differences between Vietnamese law and World Bank policy

WB and ADB policies

Vietnam policy
People affected	People whose land is recovered by the State must meet all prescribed conditions.
enjoy without compensation	prescribed by law, then compensation shall be paid; in case of insufficient
usually by law	compensation conditions, the Provincial People's Committee,
domestic will be supported	Central city (Provincial/City People's Committee)
aid to restore	Consider supporting.

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WB and ADB policies

Vietnam policy
standard of living as before the project.	(Comment: No specific support level is specified. People's Committee) Each province decides the level of support of the Project within its province.)
Land compensation price will be equivalent to replacement cost.	The land price for compensation calculation is the land price according to the current purpose of use at the time of the land recovery decision announced by the Provincial People's Committee according to Government regulations; compensation is not based on the land price that will be converted to another purpose of use. (Note: Land prices announced by provincial People's Committees are often lower than actual land use rights transfer prices).
All houses and structures, regardless of legal status, should be compensated at replacement cost.	- Houses and structures attached to recovered land (which are not subject to compensation), built without violating announced land use planning or safety corridors, will be supported equivalent to 80% of replacement cost. - Houses and constructions on recovered land are land that is not compensated, and when built in violation of announced land use plans or within the safety corridor, will not be compensated. In special cases, the Provincial People's Committee will consider supporting according to each specific case
All affected business households are entitled to receive support.	Only registered businesses are compensated.
Severely affected households, including those who lost more than 20% of their productive land, will be supported. recovery aid	Affected households losing more than 30% of their agricultural land will receive stabilization support, training and career conversion support.
There is a need for independent monitoring of resettlement implementation.	This is not required.

1.3.2. Land clearance and resettlement policies of some countries in the world

1.3.2.1. China

The overarching goal of the compensation, support and resettlement policy is to minimize land acquisition, site clearance, and the number of people affected by land acquisition to implement investment projects. If land acquisition is

If it is unavoidable, there must be careful preparation of compensation plans, based on full calculation of the interests of the state, collectives and individuals, to ensure that those whose land is recovered can restore or improve their living standards compared to before the land was recovered.

According to Chinese law, when the State reclaims land, whoever uses the land afterwards will be responsible for compensation. People whose land is reclaimed will be paid three types of money: land compensation, resettlement subsidies, and compensation for crops on the land. The calculation of land compensation and resettlement subsidies is based on the total value of the total output of the land in previous years and then multiplied by a coefficient. Compensation for crops and assets on the land is calculated at current prices.

Compensation for site clearance is carried out according to the principle of ensuring that people have a life equal to or better than their old place of residence. The management of site clearance is assigned to local land resource management departments. Organizations and individuals who are entitled to use a plot of land will pay a fee to hire a construction unit to clear the site.

Compensation for housing for urban residents is different from compensation for rural residents, because there are differences in land ownership in urban and rural areas. For housing for urban residents, the state mainly compensates in cash, with prices determined by the real estate market through intermediary organizations to evaluate and determine prices. For rural residents, the state implements in very flexible ways, accordingly, each different subject will have a different way of compensation: compensation for land use; compensation for crops; compensation for collective property.

Regarding the method of compensation, the State notifies land users in advance that their land will be recovered within a period of one year. People have the right to choose compensation in cash or in housing in the new residential area. In the capital Beijing and Shanghai, people often choose to compensate for damages in cash and find new housing suitable for their workplace. Regarding the price of compensation

Usually, the standard is the market price. This price is also regulated by the State for each area and house quality, and is adjusted very flexibly to suit the reality, and is considered as the State's adjustment in that market. For agricultural land, compensation is based on the nature of the land and the type of land.

Regarding resettlement, resettlement areas and housing areas are built synchronously and promptly, regularly meeting the needs of many types of apartments with different usage needs. The authorities pay attention to creating favorable conditions for employment for users who have to move, and the State has its own policies for social policy beneficiaries. When relocating, the principle of new housing is implemented that is better than the old housing. The resettlement area is planned in a comprehensive manner (housing, schools, markets), balancing dynamic and static traffic. During the compensation process for land acquisition and clearance, it is necessary to establish handling measures based on the method of first relying on arbitration, then filing complaints.

1.3.2.2. Thailand

The Thai Constitution stipulates that land requisition for the purposes of infrastructure construction, national defense, development of national resources, urban development, land improvement and other public purposes must be at market prices for those who meet the conditions prescribed by law for all damages caused by requisition and stipulates that compensation must be objective for the land owner and the person who has the right to inherit that property. However, for projects managed by the Government, compensation is carried out in the following order: organizing to listen to people's opinions to determine the compensation price. The compensation price depends on each area and each project. If a project is of national strategic nature, the State will compensate at a price very high compared to the market price.

In 1987, Thailand enacted the Law on Real Estate Requisition, which applies to land requisition for the purposes of building public facilities, national defense, resource development or other benefits for the country, urban development, agriculture, industry, and land reclamation for public purposes. The law stipulates principles of land requisition and principles for calculating compensation for damaged assets. Based on that, each sector issues specific regulations and procedures.

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