30 families had to witness the demolition of their homes (Photo: Jerome Becquet, Cambodge Soir Hebdo)On Thursday 15 October morning, an area of Russei Keo district along the Tonle Sap River, 30 families were evicted from their homes which were later destroyed.
Once you cross the Japanese bridge at the exit of Phnom Penh in the direction of Kampong Cham, a troubling scene is attracting a large crowd of onlookers. In fact, the cops were directing a demolition gang busy at work. Distinguishable by their bright green T-shirts, the demo workers went on from one house to another, tearing out the tin roof, emptying the houses of all the furniture before loading them into moving trailer trucks.
70-year-old Phalhiot live here for the past 15 years. His family is respected by the authority, nevertheless, he couldn’t believe what he saw: “We negotiated with the city hall twice. They proposed to give us a 32-square-meter plot located next to the purification station in Meanchey district, in exchange for the plot of land that my family is living on right now. Our plot here is about 3 times larger than the one proposed to us,” he said with indignation.
Nevertheless, Phalhiot is one of the privileged residents because he was able to take down his house to rebuild it elsewhere. Meanwhile, several others did not have this opportunity. Phirom is among the unlucky ones: “They destroyed my wooden house with a bulldozer. Everything went by very quickly. Nobody listened to my complaints about my rights for relocation. I no longer have a roof to live under.”
According to a representative of the authority, 10 families out of the total of 30 families involved accepted the relocation proposal. “There were 5 warnings, and the eviction ultimatum was set on 7 October, it has been extended by one week,” he claimed. According to the latter, the cops intervened today because the road widening project must start as soon as possible to make way for a round-about.
Naroth, an investigator for Licadho, stressed that these new evictions – which are taking place after the recent evictions in Oddar Meanchey and Ratanakiri – are adding more fuels to the current land dispute chapter that is highly criticized by the civil society.
Once you cross the Japanese bridge at the exit of Phnom Penh in the direction of Kampong Cham, a troubling scene is attracting a large crowd of onlookers. In fact, the cops were directing a demolition gang busy at work. Distinguishable by their bright green T-shirts, the demo workers went on from one house to another, tearing out the tin roof, emptying the houses of all the furniture before loading them into moving trailer trucks.
70-year-old Phalhiot live here for the past 15 years. His family is respected by the authority, nevertheless, he couldn’t believe what he saw: “We negotiated with the city hall twice. They proposed to give us a 32-square-meter plot located next to the purification station in Meanchey district, in exchange for the plot of land that my family is living on right now. Our plot here is about 3 times larger than the one proposed to us,” he said with indignation.
Nevertheless, Phalhiot is one of the privileged residents because he was able to take down his house to rebuild it elsewhere. Meanwhile, several others did not have this opportunity. Phirom is among the unlucky ones: “They destroyed my wooden house with a bulldozer. Everything went by very quickly. Nobody listened to my complaints about my rights for relocation. I no longer have a roof to live under.”
According to a representative of the authority, 10 families out of the total of 30 families involved accepted the relocation proposal. “There were 5 warnings, and the eviction ultimatum was set on 7 October, it has been extended by one week,” he claimed. According to the latter, the cops intervened today because the road widening project must start as soon as possible to make way for a round-about.
Naroth, an investigator for Licadho, stressed that these new evictions – which are taking place after the recent evictions in Oddar Meanchey and Ratanakiri – are adding more fuels to the current land dispute chapter that is highly criticized by the civil society.
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