17 January 2012
By Tin Zakariya
Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by Soch
Uy Sam Ath, the director of disaster management of the Cambodian Red Cross said that the Red Cross has no plan to help evictees. He said that the Red Cross’ goal is only to help flood victims, the poor, orphans, elderly people and those with AIDS, etc…
The Phan Imex company evicted Borei Keila residents from their houses in Phnom Penh. They were sent to live about 30 km from the city.
Human rights organizations have expressed deep concerns about the new locations for Borei Keila residents because they are facing food shortage and they need immediate help from humanitarian organizations.
A Cambodian saying goes like this: “It’s better that your boat sinks in the middle of the river rather than having your house destroyed by fire.” How does this apply to Borei Keila residents?
The residents saw their houses smashed and bulldozed by the Phan Imex company and by the local cops. All that is left is empty lots, belonging of the residents were destroyed in a blink.
Sia Phearom, the director of the Housing Rights Task Force, said that residents from Borei Keila community are no different from house fire victims because they lost all their belongings after Phan Imex destroyed their houses in the middle of Phnom Penh city, houses that they used to live in peace.
Sia Phearum: “The problem faced by the evictees is that they are cut off completely, all their rights were obliterated: their rights to decent housing, their rights to live in the city, their working rights, and their rights to receive education.”
On 03 January, more than 300 homes were smashed by the joint police force that came to dismantle the houses belonging to about 300 families in Borei Keila, Veal Vong commune, Phnom Penh city. While machinery was used to smash the homes, a clash took place between the residents and the cops. Eight residents was arrested by the cops and immediately sent to Prey Sar jail. Up to now, these residents have not been released yet.
After the demolition of the houses, a number of residents were shoved into trucks and deported to Phnom Bat, located in Ponhea Loeu district, Kandal province. Others were dumped in Tuol Sambo, located in Dangkor district.
“When I think about how they shoved us into trucks, I feel so sad. My grandchildren were somewhere else, I am at another location, we don’t know where our new place will be!” some of the residents were heard saying.
Since arriving at their new places, the residents face food shortage and disease due to lack to clean water and shelters and due to hot weather. All these elements combine to make them sick.
“It’s extremely difficult nowadays! We have no rice to eat, water is dirty and when we drink it, our throats hurt, our stomachs hurt, we have diarrhea. I say that the situation right now is like under the Khmer Rouge regime where people were killed, where government officials were killed. Now we suffer hardship from government officials, are we not?”
Chea Pech, a woman who was deported to Tuol Sambo, Dangkor district, complained that she has a newborn baby and she has no money to buy milk for her infant. Furthermore, her seven younger siblings do not have sufficient rice to eat at all.
Chea Pech asked that the Cambodian Red Cross provide food to the evictees: “At dinner time, among my younger siblings, the older ones have to part some of their rice to the younger ones. They don’t have enough to eat. I don’t have milk to feed my baby, I have to feed him with rice water only.”
Am Sam Ath, an investigation official for the Licadho human rights organization, said that Borei Keila residents face dire challenges after their evictions, they are poor and they lost everything when their houses and belongings were destroyed. Therefore the Cambodian Red Cross should help these villagers also.
Am Sam Ath: “However, I do not believe that these evictees have sent their request to the Red Cross yet, or could it be that the Red Cross did not know yet that these evictees are short on food?”
Uy Sam Ath, the director of disaster management of the Cambodian Red Cross said that the Red Cross has no plan to help evictees. He said that the Red Cross’ goal is only to help flood victims, the poor, orphans, elderly people and those with AIDS, etc…
Uy Sam Ath said that aid for Borei Keila residents depend on the welfare department: “We are working as an independent institution that is neutral, humanitarian, without any preferential treatment, we provide volunteer service that shares unity and that is universal, we are not demanding for winning or losing. The Borei Keila case is a dispute, the Cambodian Red Cross will not put it hands there, it’s for the city to resolve, for the welfare [department] to resolve, and after all these resolutions, if there are still difficulties then the Cambodian Red Cross will put its hands into it.”
Even though Sia Phearum claimed that the situation faced by Borei Keila residents is much worse than that faced by flood victims because, at least, flood victims still have their belongings, their rice fields and farms to come back to after a short while. However, Borei Keila victims have nothing left after the Phan Imex company smashed and destroyed their houses.
Touch Khorn, a representative of 9 Borei Keila families affected by AIDS who now lives in Phnom Bat, said that families affected by AIDS have urgent need for food because they have no jobs there: “I’m asking the Red Cross and the [Phan Imex] company to provide plots to the 9 AIDS families. Three of the families do not own a plot yet, I want them to have a plot of land before they die. I want them to have some land. Please help us with food also, our situation is turning to the worst.”
About 200 families from Borei Keila were deported to Phnom Bat in Ponhea Loeu district. 57 families were deported Tuol Sambo village in Dangkor district. Furthermore, about 100 families are spread around Borei Keila after their homes were smashed, 30 of them are now being detained by the Phnom Penh authority at the Prey Speu center in Chom Chao commune. These 30 residents were arrested during their protest in front of the city hall on 11 January 2012.
Report from the Housing Rights Task Force indicated that in 2010, more than 1,000 families were evicted from Phnom Penh city. In 2011, more than 2,000 families were evicted. Evictees came from the Reek Reay community, the Dey Kahorm community, Group 78 community, Boeung Kak Lake community and Borei Keila community.
Sia Phearum claimed that evictees from Phnom Penh all face food shortage, diseases and poverty. He indicated that the Red Cross should provide help for these evictees.
Sia Phearum stressed that the evictions from Phnom Penh by city hall officials in order to turn the land to private companies for development will not help the government achieve its goal of lowering poverty rate to 7% by 2015.
2 comments:
red cross is for victims of natural disasters and other unforeseen disasters, etc, not political victims like borei keila, boeungkak lake, etc, ok! know the difference, ok! so don't expect others to be complicit with evil, political group like this, ok!
Borei keila's families are evicted without proper compensations. They are being displaces by the government because it got paid by that private company. The "Red Cross" not suppose to choose and pick whether it's a natural disaster or not but they are to act on humane way to save people because they are losing their land/properties, facing hardship, and relocating to harsh environment by the authority. To me, this is not a real Red Cross... It should be a Rip Off Red Cross". Dumb Khmer Red Cross should be abolish and have Porky pig Bun Rany to work at Svay Pak.
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