Maravi

(NEWZIMBABWE, RADIO NETHERLANDS) Dutch farmers demand US$23m compensation

COMMENT - Let them ask the British government for compensation. Under the Lancaster House Agreement, it was the British government that was to compensate farmers for the value of the land.

Dutch farmers demand US$23m compensation
02/10/2012 00:00:00
by Radio Netherlands

A GROUP of Dutch farmers who were forced off their land in Zimbabwe has launched a campaign to force the government to pay them compensation.

The group lost their land between 2000 and 2002 when Zimbabwe embarked on controversial land reforms. They did not receive any compensation which the group claimed was a violation of the Investment Protection Agreement (IBO) which the Netherlands had made with Zimbabwe.

They took their case to the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), a Washington-based court which operates under the aegis of the World Bank. The ICSID ruled in their favour in 2009 and ordered Zimbabwe to pay them 8.8 million euros compensation, to be increased by 10 percent for each year since the land grab.

The group are now entitled to a sum of more 23 million euros and the Dutch government has has been pressuring Zimbabwe over the past two years to fulfil its international obligations with a special envoy appointed in 2010 who having travelled regularly to Zimbabwe to negotiate with local officials.

Earlier this year, Finance Minister Tendai Biti promised to put forward a payment proposal. So far he has not honoured this promise despite being asked to do so in a letter from the Dutch Foreign Minister in August.

“We wanted to take action earlier, but decided to wait for Biti’s proposal,” the group’s chairman Lion Benjamins told a Dutch daily. “But now we’re sick of waiting, so have decided to take steps to show Zimbabwe we’re serious.”

The group is lobbying European parliamentarians to ensure that the EU refuse to lift its sanctions on Zimbabwe until the compensation is paid. They also hope to persuade the Dutch government to use its right of veto if Zimbabwe asks the Paris Club for debt relief.

The Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs says it supports the farmers but is “not in a position to take over the payment”.

The group is also active in the UK, lobbying the government to release frozen Mugabe assets in order to pay the compensation.

Labels: LAND REFORM

posted by MrK @ 10:51 PM