Robbing the poor to give to the rich: Cambodia's upside down world under the rule of Samdach Robber Hood Hun Sen

Oknha Srey Sothea received honours from Mr. Hun Sen.

Dey Krohorm and the Robber Hood of Cambodia

31st January, 2009
Opinion by Khmerization

“These less fortunate slum-dwellers are paying the price for the developments, the lifestyle and the prosperity of the privileged few urban elites. Mr. Hun Sen’s policies of condoning, and in certain cases, abetting, forced and inhuman evictions, is a case of the “Robber Hood of Cambodia” robbing from the poor to give to the rich.”

It’s heartbreaking to see the hapless residents of the Dey Krohorm neighbourhood being evicted in an inhuman way by 7NG company in collusion with corrupt Phnom Penh officials.

More than 150 families were forcibly evicted at gunpoint in the early morning of last week, when residents, including the young, the sick and the old, are still sound asleep. Their houses were razed to the ground while their belongings are still full. They have barely the time to escape the pounding of the demolition bulldozers. They lost everything. The pictures and the images of the evictions that splashed around the world are disheartening and heartbreaking.

Now many of them are homeless - most sleep on the streets or camped in the parks. They lost their livelihood and now they are starving.

The land at Dey Krohorm is worth about $3,500 per square metre. A few day before the evictions, 7NG promised the residents of between $15,000-$20,000 in compensation but now that the evictions have been successfully carried out, the compensation promises have now been reneged. The company now say they will only provide a home a few kilometres outside of Phnom Penh - a worthless real estate.

Prime Minister Hun Sen has, in the past, promised that the government will strive hard to alleviate, and possibly eliminate, poverty in Cambodia. While Mr. Hun Sen had, to a certain degree, managed to raise the standards of living of some urban people, he has been seen as neglecting the less fortunate slum-dwellers and the people of rural Cambodia.

These less fortunate slum-dwellers are paying the price for the developments, the lifestyle and the prosperity of the privileged few urban elites. Mr. Hun Sen’s policies of condoning, and in certain cases, abetting, forced and inhuman evictions, is a case of the “Robber Hood of Cambodia” robbing from the poor to give to the rich.

Sombok Chap neighbourhood has been forcibly evicted a few years ago and most of the residents who had been resettled in the place provided by the company are still living in hardship. The evicted dwellers of Dey Krohorm will certainly face with the same fate or even worse, considering that all their belongings are demolished along with their houses. Next will be the “Building Neighbourhood” and the Bassac Theatre neighbourhood.

The forced evictions of Dey Krohorm dwellers have been carried out by 7NG ruthlessly and with impunity without any fears of any legal ramifications. And after the evictions, Oknha Srey Sothea, the owner of 7NG, has been quoted as arrogantly saying that, any monetary compensations are out of the question. As such, the evictions seemed to have the backing and the blessing of Mr. Hun Sen because the owner of 7NG is Oknha Srey Sothea who is very close to Mr. Hun Sen. In Cambodia, there is a saying that nothing can be done without the approval, or the blessing, of Mr. Hun Sen.

Mr. Hun Sen, and the court in particular, must condemn these forced evictions in the strongest term and force 7NG to make a reasonable compensation package to these rightful owners of Dey Krohorm neighbourhood. Anything less than the amount they are entitled to would be tantamount to a collusion of crimes punishable by Cambodian laws.