Buried alive by land-grabbers

Two women villagers were buried alive in Sihanoukville

10 Feb 2007
By Mayarith
Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by Heng Soy

Two women villagers were buried alive in Thmei village, Sangkat Bey, Sihanoukville, on Friday morning during a land dispute involving a 52-hectare plot of land.

Villagers claim that they have lived on the disputed land since 1985, and the authority also recognized this fact. However, a representative of the alleged land owner claimed that payment has been distributed to some of the villagers, however, some are encroaching on the land. Land filling operation has been pursued since December 2006.

So Kim, one of the victims who was rescued on time by her neighbors, said in tears that this action is a blatant violation of human rights and an unjust act:

“They did not tell us anything. They started dumping dirt since 18 Dec, they filled in the sanitation ditches, they filled in water wells. When their dirt dumping operation reaches a house, they would first fill the land on half the property, then they would offer people 1 or 2 million riels ($250 to $500), they told them to either take the money, if not they will simply start clearing the entire property [anyway]. The villagers are poor, they have no choice but to take the money, collect their belongings, and try to find a place to rent, [the people who came to take over the land] they have guns all of them. When they reach my property, I told them: ‘Fill your side of the property, don’t touch my land’. They did not say anything, their chief ordered to have me buried alive, there were two of us standing on my property, their chief told them to bury me alive. Had they have a lot of dirt with them, they could have buried both of us and no one would know anything. It was our luck that they did not have enough dirt and when they dumped it on us, it only reached our waist. We were then able to yell and call for help, I had a mobile phone with me and called other villagers to come and rescue me.”