AFP, PHNOM PENH
Amid the rotting trash, shards of bricks and floor tiles are the only evidence of the homes that once packed into the Cambodian capital's Dey Krahom neighborhood, which is slated for demolition.
But a few dozen families are refusing to leave this slum, located on a wedge of once worthless property that is now part of a multi-million-dollar development scheme.
Their standoff with authorities has put them on the front line of an increasingly violent conflict over land in Cambodia that has seen dozens killed and tens of thousands evicted from their homes over the past few years.
Impoverished Cambodia is in the midst of a building boom that has caused land prices to skyrocket across the country.
Realtors estimate that the cost of prime pieces of property in Phnom Penh can top US$3,000 per square meter, a six-fold increase from eight years ago.
Even the vast swathes of wasteland, where the city's poorest have lived for years in squalid camps, are up for grabs.
It is here, rights groups say, that the human cost of this development is being counted in the loss of homes and jobs.
"There is this unprecedented development boom in Phnom Penh, but on the other hand there's more lawlessness, more landlessness," said an activist with a legal aid organization that has worked extensively with the victims of landgrabbing.
"The people who are losing out are the poor people, despite the fact that they have certain rights," he said, not wanting to be named.
After years of complete breakdown, Cambodia's land titling system is in disarray and doubts over ownership -- in Dey Krahom and elsewhere -- are often at the heart of evictions.
While villagers often claim to have some legal title to their properties, developers and the government insist that most of these families are nothing more than squatters and say their removal is necessary as Cambodia lurches out of the chaos of the post-war years.
In their place, Cambodia's leaders -- trying to propel their battered country towards prosperity -- have envisioned vast complexes of modern office towers and luxury shopping, condominiums and public parks.
"There are absolutely no unlawful and forcible evictions in Cambodia," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement earlier this month, responding to accusations by the rights group Amnesty International that the government was pushing people from their land illegally.
"Cambodia in some cases has to re-establish public and social order, such as in the case of turning the streets into market places, living on the sidewalks and in the parks, and illegally occupying state land," the ministry said.
Although many families in Dey Krahom have voluntarily left, taking a payout of several thousand dollars each from developers, others are holding out for more money and refusing to abandon their homes.
"We just want to get a fair price," said Keo Navann, an articulate woman in her early 40s who has emerged as a de facto spokesperson for those threatened with eviction.
Around her Dey Krahom is gradually disappearing -- large, litter-filled gaps fill the spaces in between the remaining shacks, which stand like lonely sentinels against the developer's construction equipment parked nearby.
"Developers are offering some people US$4,300 for their land, but this amount is not acceptable when they can sell it for US$3,000 a square meter," Keo Navann said.
The standoff turned dangerous last year when villagers in Dey Krahom clashed several times with police and security guards working for developers.
The violence escalated last month as security guards, escorting a bulldozer to Dey Krahom, began hurling rocks at residents trying to block their path to the village.
This strip of land fronting the Bassac River has been the scene of conflict in the past. Two years ago, authorities pushed thousands from slumland across the road from Dey Krahom.
The pre-dawn eviction to a remote resettlement site 22km away was one of the largest single forced moves from Phnom Penh since the communist Khmer Rouge evacuated the capital's population to the countryside after seizing power in 1975.
But a few dozen families are refusing to leave this slum, located on a wedge of once worthless property that is now part of a multi-million-dollar development scheme.
Their standoff with authorities has put them on the front line of an increasingly violent conflict over land in Cambodia that has seen dozens killed and tens of thousands evicted from their homes over the past few years.
Impoverished Cambodia is in the midst of a building boom that has caused land prices to skyrocket across the country.
Realtors estimate that the cost of prime pieces of property in Phnom Penh can top US$3,000 per square meter, a six-fold increase from eight years ago.
Even the vast swathes of wasteland, where the city's poorest have lived for years in squalid camps, are up for grabs.
It is here, rights groups say, that the human cost of this development is being counted in the loss of homes and jobs.
"There is this unprecedented development boom in Phnom Penh, but on the other hand there's more lawlessness, more landlessness," said an activist with a legal aid organization that has worked extensively with the victims of landgrabbing.
"The people who are losing out are the poor people, despite the fact that they have certain rights," he said, not wanting to be named.
After years of complete breakdown, Cambodia's land titling system is in disarray and doubts over ownership -- in Dey Krahom and elsewhere -- are often at the heart of evictions.
While villagers often claim to have some legal title to their properties, developers and the government insist that most of these families are nothing more than squatters and say their removal is necessary as Cambodia lurches out of the chaos of the post-war years.
In their place, Cambodia's leaders -- trying to propel their battered country towards prosperity -- have envisioned vast complexes of modern office towers and luxury shopping, condominiums and public parks.
"There are absolutely no unlawful and forcible evictions in Cambodia," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement earlier this month, responding to accusations by the rights group Amnesty International that the government was pushing people from their land illegally.
"Cambodia in some cases has to re-establish public and social order, such as in the case of turning the streets into market places, living on the sidewalks and in the parks, and illegally occupying state land," the ministry said.
Although many families in Dey Krahom have voluntarily left, taking a payout of several thousand dollars each from developers, others are holding out for more money and refusing to abandon their homes.
"We just want to get a fair price," said Keo Navann, an articulate woman in her early 40s who has emerged as a de facto spokesperson for those threatened with eviction.
Around her Dey Krahom is gradually disappearing -- large, litter-filled gaps fill the spaces in between the remaining shacks, which stand like lonely sentinels against the developer's construction equipment parked nearby.
"Developers are offering some people US$4,300 for their land, but this amount is not acceptable when they can sell it for US$3,000 a square meter," Keo Navann said.
The standoff turned dangerous last year when villagers in Dey Krahom clashed several times with police and security guards working for developers.
The violence escalated last month as security guards, escorting a bulldozer to Dey Krahom, began hurling rocks at residents trying to block their path to the village.
This strip of land fronting the Bassac River has been the scene of conflict in the past. Two years ago, authorities pushed thousands from slumland across the road from Dey Krahom.
The pre-dawn eviction to a remote resettlement site 22km away was one of the largest single forced moves from Phnom Penh since the communist Khmer Rouge evacuated the capital's population to the countryside after seizing power in 1975.
5 comments:
Please tell me when is the next landgrabbing, what location? I'll buy a guns for the poor cambodia to protect their lands. we have to start war with this people. Hun sen dont see it until we do something bigggg. thank you. please let me know 3 week in advance. just post on ki.
hun sen is a prisoner of vietcong. look around him. his wife, his kids, his man sok an, hok lundy, his in-laws. Hun is a donkey puppet pulling by vietcong slim to cause khmer all kind of suffering.
khmer have mercy on khmer.
who will ? vietcong, thaicong don't!
Guys, these area are all slums of Cambodia. Let me ask you a question, do you want to dirty old shacks or nice townhouses? I would rather see the nice townhouses.
These developments not only creates jobs, but it also create dreams for the poor and will motivate that to better themselves and hopefully one day will live in homes or these type of developments. Aleast these families are getting some type of compensations for their lands so it's not really a lose-lose situation. They can start over once again.
I believe in developments and job creation; however, the people who are occupying these areas ought to obtain a fair compensation.
dey krahorm can be good and bad, depends on how one looks at it. let me tell you, it could be good because it goes to show how the current is not doing enough for the poors of phnom penh; while on the other hand, it is bad because cambodia can not allow an area like dey krahorm to exist due to health concern for lack of sanitation and is a huge eye for phnom penh city. so, it is gov't responsibility to relocate people but must provide for them in the meantime and can't just abandon these people. it is a problem for the gov't to deal with and gov't can't conceal it and thinking this problem would magically go away. gov't have many options to do this, e.g. compensate the people to get a decent place to live, or relocate them to a fair and just location with adequate school, water, and other necessity so people can live fairly, or build a public housing project for them . i think it is wrong for gov't to ignore this problem or abandon the people like nothing is wrong. perhaps, if the gov't make some effort to help these people, maybe people weren't so against gov't and even learn to love their gov't more. who knows!!
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