ABC Radio Australia
In Cambodia, six embassies and five major international organisations have jointly called for a stop to forced evictions, as hundreds of riot police gather around a disputed community in central Phnom Penh.
The statement calls on the Cambodian government to set up a "fair and transparent mechanism for resolving disputes" and develop a policy for resettlement of families who are evicted. The latest case involves a community known as 'Group 78' - whose homes are situated next to the Australian Embassy in the capital. Local authorities have given various reasons for wanting them out and have issued a final eviction notice.
Presenter: Sen Lam
Speakers: Daniel King, legal advisor to the Community Legal Education Center
KING: The latest news is that approximately 100 military police and 150 community breakers, people who are employed with axes and various other implements to break down the houses of the community have come to evict the final seven families. These are the final families standing out of a community that once stood at 146 families five years ago. And we're now down to the last seven, who have sat through the night, knowing that this force was going to meet them in the morning.
LAM: Tell us more about these seven families? Are they quite distressed?
KING: It's not the Cambodian way to show distress externally. Life has continued almost normally, despite this threat of basically the apparatus of the state being used against them. And last night, they cooked us dinner, and they have shown us great hospitality in the face of the fact that they are going to lose their homes in the morning.
LAM: And give us a bit more about their socio-economic backgrounds, are they battlers, or are they reasonably well off?
KING: This community in the Cambodian context, they are professionals. They work for the Cambodian government, they're teachers, they are market vendors and they have been peacefully living on their land for almost 20 years now. Under Khmer law, they have very strong legal rights, which simply have not been recognised by any Cambodian authority and that fact was finally recognised by the international community late last night, albeit to late to save the community.
LAM: Daniel, I understand that they are given 8,0000 US dollars in compensation. To your mind, is that fair, for the land?
KING: The approach that the municipality has taken is not equitable. The $8,000 does not take into account the fact that each family has many different family member sizes. It also doesn't take into account the fact that each family has different land entitlements. It is also in complete contravention with Cambodian law, which basically (says) the community is entitled to apply for land titles and this would entitle them to market value of their land. It should be noted that an independent land appraisal in March of this year, valued this site at just over 15 million dollars, so someone is making a lot of money somewhere along the line.
LAM: So who is driving these forced evictions, are they local authorities or are being driven behind the scenes by a huge foreign developers?
KING: This particular development and many of the urban developments are private developers, who have the assistance of the Phnom Penh municipality and those higher in the government, to effectively force these communities out, using state resources.
LAM: And just briefly, Daniel, how hard will it be for these families to relocate?
KING: Well, these families were either given an option to accept the $8,000 which will not enable them to buy a house in Phnom Penh. They will have to move very far away from their employment opportunities or they were given a plot of land which is lacking in basic services. One of the other relocation sites was said to not even meet the basic humanitarian standards of a refugee camp.
The statement calls on the Cambodian government to set up a "fair and transparent mechanism for resolving disputes" and develop a policy for resettlement of families who are evicted. The latest case involves a community known as 'Group 78' - whose homes are situated next to the Australian Embassy in the capital. Local authorities have given various reasons for wanting them out and have issued a final eviction notice.
Presenter: Sen Lam
Speakers: Daniel King, legal advisor to the Community Legal Education Center
KING: The latest news is that approximately 100 military police and 150 community breakers, people who are employed with axes and various other implements to break down the houses of the community have come to evict the final seven families. These are the final families standing out of a community that once stood at 146 families five years ago. And we're now down to the last seven, who have sat through the night, knowing that this force was going to meet them in the morning.
LAM: Tell us more about these seven families? Are they quite distressed?
KING: It's not the Cambodian way to show distress externally. Life has continued almost normally, despite this threat of basically the apparatus of the state being used against them. And last night, they cooked us dinner, and they have shown us great hospitality in the face of the fact that they are going to lose their homes in the morning.
LAM: And give us a bit more about their socio-economic backgrounds, are they battlers, or are they reasonably well off?
KING: This community in the Cambodian context, they are professionals. They work for the Cambodian government, they're teachers, they are market vendors and they have been peacefully living on their land for almost 20 years now. Under Khmer law, they have very strong legal rights, which simply have not been recognised by any Cambodian authority and that fact was finally recognised by the international community late last night, albeit to late to save the community.
LAM: Daniel, I understand that they are given 8,0000 US dollars in compensation. To your mind, is that fair, for the land?
KING: The approach that the municipality has taken is not equitable. The $8,000 does not take into account the fact that each family has many different family member sizes. It also doesn't take into account the fact that each family has different land entitlements. It is also in complete contravention with Cambodian law, which basically (says) the community is entitled to apply for land titles and this would entitle them to market value of their land. It should be noted that an independent land appraisal in March of this year, valued this site at just over 15 million dollars, so someone is making a lot of money somewhere along the line.
LAM: So who is driving these forced evictions, are they local authorities or are being driven behind the scenes by a huge foreign developers?
KING: This particular development and many of the urban developments are private developers, who have the assistance of the Phnom Penh municipality and those higher in the government, to effectively force these communities out, using state resources.
LAM: And just briefly, Daniel, how hard will it be for these families to relocate?
KING: Well, these families were either given an option to accept the $8,000 which will not enable them to buy a house in Phnom Penh. They will have to move very far away from their employment opportunities or they were given a plot of land which is lacking in basic services. One of the other relocation sites was said to not even meet the basic humanitarian standards of a refugee camp.
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