អ្នក​រងគ្រោះ​ដោយ​ការ​បណ្តេញ​ចេញ​រំឭក​ពី​ការ​ឈឺចាប់ [បងប្អូនស្គាល់ក្រយ៉ៅហុន សែនកាន់តែច្បាស់ ចាប់ពីពេលនេះតទៅបងប្អូន ដាក់ស្បែកជើង ជំនួសមុខ ហុន សែន និង ប្រពន្ធ]

 ស្បែក​ជើង​របស់​អ្នក​ភូមិ​ត្រូវ​បាន​តម្រៀប​ជា​អក្ស​រ«អភិវឌ្ឍន៍»​​។ រូបថត មិនា

អ្នក​ភូមិ​ហែក​សា​រុង ដែល​ជា​អំណោយ​របស់​លោក​កែប​ ជុតិមា។ រូបថត មិនា

ស្ត្រី​អ្នក​ភូមិ​ថ្លែង​ពី​ការ​ឈឺ​ចាប់​ដោយ​សារ​អំណោយ​លោក​កែប​ ជុតិមា។ មិនា

ស្ត្រី​អ្នក​ភូមិ​កាន់​បដា​បង្ហាញ​ពី​រូប​ភាព​នៃ​ការ​បណ្តេញ​ចេញ​។ រូបថត ហុង មិនា

 អ្នក​ភូមិ​កាន់​បដា ដើរ​សំដៅ​ទៅ​​ស្រែក​តវ៉ា​នៅ​មុខ​រដ្ឋ​សភា។ រូបថត ហុង មិនា

អ្នកភូមិ​ស្រែក​ទាម​ទារ​ឲ្យ​រដ្ឋាភិបាល​បញ្ឈប់​ការ​បណ្តេញ​ចេញ​​​។ រូបថត មិនា​

Wednesday, 25 January 2012 12:03
ម៉ៃ ទិត្យថារ៉ា និង Shane Worrell
The Phnom Penh Post


ភ្នំពេញៈ សម្រែក​អំពាវនាវ​រក​យុត្តិធម៌ នៅ​មុខ​រដ្ឋ​សភា​ជាតិ និង​ក្បែរ​របង​ក្រុមហ៊ុន 7NG ពី​សំណាក់​ប្រជា​ពលរដ្ឋ​ប្រមាណ ៣០០ នាក់ ​មក​ពី​សហគមន៍​ចំនួន ៧ ដែល​បាន​ទទួល​រង​គ្រោះ​យ៉ាង​ធ្ងន់ធ្ងរ ដោយ​សារ​ការ​បណ្តេញ​ចេញ​ដោយ​បង្ខំ​បាន​ធ្វើ​ឡើង​កាល​ពី​ម្សិលមិញ ដោយ​មាន​ការ​ដង្ហែ​ក្បួន​ យក​​ញត្តិ ទៅ​ដាក់​ជូន​រដ្ឋ​សភា​ផង​ដែរ​។

កាល​ពី​ម្សិលមិញ គឺជា​ឆ្នាំ​ខួប​ទី​ ៣ ដែល​ប្រជា​ពលរដ្ឋ​ នៅ​សហគមន៍​ដី​ក្រហម ក្នុង​សង្កាត់​ទន្លេ​បាសាក់ ខណ្ឌ​ចំការ​មន​រាប់​រយ​គ្រួសារ ត្រូវ​បាន​ក្រុម​ហ៊ុន 7NG និង​អាជ្ញាធរ​រាជ​ធានី​ភ្នំពេញ ប្រើ​កម្លាំង​បណ្តេញ​ចេញ​ដ៏​ហិង្សា។

ប្រជា​ពល​រដ្ឋ​មក​ពី​សហគមន៍​រង​គ្រោះ ​ដោយ​សារ​ការ​បណ្តេញ​ចេញ​បាន​កាន់​បដា​ប្រវែង​៥០ ម៉ែត្រ ​ជា​មួយ​រូប​ភាព​ក្រុមហ៊ុន បាន​ប្រើ​កម្លាំង រុះរើ​បំផ្លាញ​ផ្ទះ​សម្បែង​របស់​ពួក​គេ និង​អាជ្ញាធរ​ប្រើ​អំពើ​ហិង្សា​នៅ​ក្នុង​ប្រតិបត្តិ​ការ បណ្តេញ​ពួក​គេ​ពី​កណ្តាល​រាជ​ធានី​ ឲ្យ​ទៅ​រស់​នៅ​កណ្តាល​វាល នៅ​ឯ​តំបន់​ជាយ​ក្រុង ព្រម​ទាំង​មាន​សរសេរ​ពាក្យ​ស្លោក​ថា​ «បញ្ឈប់​ការ​បណ្តេញ» និង​ «​ទីក្រុង​សម្រាប់​យើង​ទាំង​អស់​គ្នា» ហើយ​បន្ទាប់​មក ពួក​គេ​បាន​យក​ស្បែក​ជើង​ជា​ច្រើន​គូ​ដាក់​តម្រៀប​ចេញ​ជា​អក្សរ «អភិវឌ្ឍន៍​» ដែល​ពាក្យ​នេះ បាន​ធ្វើ​ឲ្យ​ពួក​គេ​ទឹក​ភ្នែក បាត់បង់​ទាំង​មុខ​របរ​ទាំង​ផ្ទះ​សម្បែង ហើយ​ធ្វើ​ឲ្យ​កូន​ៗ​របស់​ពួក​គេ​ភាគ​ច្រើន បាន​បោះបង់​ចោល​ការ​សិក្សា​។​

Victims of Evictions Mark Dey Krahorm Anniversary - ពលរដ្ឋ​ក្រីក្រ​ប្រារព្ធ​ខួប​​ទីបី​នៃ​ការ​បណ្តេញ​ចេញ​ពី​លំនៅ​ដ្ឋាន​ដោយ​បង្ខំ

The Dey Krahorm event was a harbinger of evictions to come, with residents from the the neighborhoods of Boeung Kak lake and Borei Keila the most prominent among scores of forced moves. (Photo: by Heng Reaksmey)

អ្នក​តវ៉ាហែកសារុង​​ក្នុង​ការប្រារព្ធ​ខួប​​ទីបី​នៃ​ការ​បណ្តេញ​ចេញ​ពី​លំនៅ​ដ្ឋាន​ដោយ​បង្ខំ។ (រូបថត៖ ហេង រស្មី វីអូអេ ខ្មែរ)
Protesters tear up a piece of sarong that  was given by Kep Chuytermay to evictees to soften the eviction process (Photo: Heng Reaksmey, VOA Khmer)

Tuesday, 24 January 2012
Heng Reaksmey, VOA Khmer | Phnom Penh

“These shoes are a message to the government to think about villagers before development.”

«អានេះ​គេ​ហៅ​ថា​សារុង​ថោកទាប​ មក​បោក​បញ្ឆោត​ប្រជាពលរដ្ឋ។​ យក​ផ្ទះ​ប្រជាពលរដ្ឋ​មក​ដូរ​សារុង​មួយ​ថោកទាប​ជា​ទី​បំផុត។​ សារុង​មួយ​លុយ​មួយម៉ឺន​ ប៊ីចេង​មួយ​កញ្ចប់។​ ឥឡូវ​ប្រជាពលរដ្ឋ​ទាំង​អស់​ដឹង​ហើយ ​គឺ​ចាញ់​បោក​ហើយ»។

 Representatives from at least seven different neighborhoods convened in a demonstration in Phnom Penh on Tuesday, marking the three-year anniversary of a violent forced eviction that pushed out hundreds of families.

Protesters tore their shirts and removed their shoes, some claiming the ruling Cambodian People’s Party had given them T-shirts and $2.50 for favorable votes in the last election.

“These shoes are a message to the government to think about villagers before development,” said Chan Vichet, a representative of former residents of Dey Krahorm, which three years ago saw hundreds of families violently pushed from their homes.

Dey Krahorm Press conference

Dey Krahorm eviction (Photo: John Vink/Magnum)

Dear All Reporters and Editors,

Dey Krahorm community was illegally evicted by the 7NG company on January 24, 2009. All the residents did not received adequate compensation for their land and property. They often celebrated the ceremony to remind for what happened in their homes every year, and they are all waiting for their justice, but they get nothing even thought they try to do every thing to get their land back.

Tomorrow June 3 2011 at 9:00AM, Dey Krahorm representatives will hold a press conference opposite the former DK land (near wall of Russian Embassy) to respond with the Bayon football tournament organize by the 7NG company soon on their former land.

So we would like to invite all of you to join with the press conference.

Please contact: Mr. Chan Vichet, the former of Dey Krahorm.

His phone number: 011 62 55 58

Please find more information in the below:

Best regards,

Long Kimheang

CO-HRTF

068 470 480

--- On Thu, 6/2/11, vichet chan wrote:
 

Hello Dey Krahorm friends,

I am Chan Vichet, representative from former Dey Krahorm community.

Dey Krahorm was illegally evicted from our homes on January 24, 2009. This weekend, 7NG company want to host the Bayon football tournament on our former land.

Tomorrow June 3 2011 at 9:00AM, Dey Krahorm representatives will hold a press conference opposite the former DK land (near wall of Russian Embassy) to respond and explain our feelings about the Bayon football tournament being held on our stolen land.

The three point of the press conference is as follows:

1) Dey Krahorm families do not support and are not happy about football tournament on their land. We feel that if the tournament occurs on our stolen land, the tournament and all supporters look down on Dey Krahorm families and ignores their ongoing suffering resulting from the forced eviction.

2) Dey Krahorm families and friend appeal to donors/investors and general public to stop any support or participation in any activities on former land of Dey Krahorm, as this land now covers the tears and blood of the people who previously owned the land.

3) Dey Krahorm families appeal to government to return the land to Dey Krahorm as we are the legal and rightful owners. 7NG made football field to hide their inability to develop on the land in any meaningful way that would justify removal of legal owners of land.

We ask that all DK friends will join in us in Solidarity at this important press conference tomorrow.

Thank you,
Chan Vichet

Dey Krahorm Land Eviction Victim: Down with Hun Xen

The result of Hun Xen's development: Extreme POVERTY

Former Dey Krahorm resident called on removal of Hun Xen from power

"I am bringing my complaint to the International community, to all human rights organizations, please issue your report to take Samdach Hun Xen out of power. I am very mad. I don't want to live any more. If somebody calls me a traitor of the nation, or accuses me of talking illegally, arrest me! Do whatever you want with me! I don't want to live anymore" - Dul Chantha, evicted Dey Krahorm resident

Former residents of Phnom Penh's Dey Krahorm community gathered at the site where they were evicted two years ago Monday. Residents say they continue to live in inadequate relocation sites far from the city and its services. (Photo: by Heng Reaksmey)

Ousted Residents of Dey Krahorm Rally at Old Site

Heng Reaksmey, VOA Khmer
Phnom Penh Monday, 24 January 2011

“Right now I’m living in the new location site worse than an animal."

About 300 former residents of a Phnom Penh squatter community who were evicted two years ago Monday, gathered at their former neighborhood to call for a change in government.

The residents of the neighborhood, known as Dey Krahorm, called for Prime Minister Hun Sen to step down from power, claiming they had been forcefully evicted and moved to inadequate relocation sites.

The demonstrators said in a statement that on Jan. 24, 2009, 144 house owners and their families had been “violently and cruelly” evicted by Phnom Penh security forces and 500 paid employees of the 7NG developer, which laid claim to the site.

Those families were “forced to accept” housing in Damnak Troyeung village, Choam Chao commune, Dangkor district, but many have had to come back to Phnom Penh to seek work, the statement said.

“This is because the relocation site is far away from employment, they cannot afford to connect to electricity, there is no access to public services, [the site is] far away from school for their children, [has] no clean water system, no drainage system and no safety and security,” the statement said.

Another 400 families are now living “under ragged tarpaulins” near Udong mountain, where “many children are infected with viruses,” due to a lack of clean water, health center, food and sanitation, the statement said.

Prolonged dissatisfaction with the conditions have angered many residents.

“Stop allowing him to have power,” former resident Dul Chantha, 53, said of Hun Sen on Monday. “Because when he’s in this position, the poor people are going toward death. I’m not afraid to say that, because I’m fed up the Cambodian government, which became a nightmare on Jan. 24, 2009.”

“Right now I’m living in the new location site worse than an animal,” he said.

Government spokesman Phay Siphan said only an election can change the prime minister.

“What the people are calling for is an abuse of democracy in Cambodia,” he said. “People may have received this idea from others, calling for the step down in power. They should rethink what the government does and continue their work right now.”

Dey Krahorm residents mourn the 2nd-year anniversary of their forced eviction

Eviction anniversary brings tears [-Tunisia in the making?]

Srey Sothea, chairman of the evil 7NG company, received decorations from Hun Xen

Srey Chanthou (L), 7NG managing director, holding hands with Hing Bun Hean, Hun Xen's bodyguard unit's commander

Monday, 24 January 2011
Kim Yuthana and Rebecca Puddy
The Phnom Penh Post

Around 200 former residents of the city’s Dey Krahorm community gathered at the site today to mark the two year anniversary of their violent eviction from their homes.

Framed by fragrant incense smoke, monks prayed and despondent villagers cried as they remembered the destruction of their homes on January 24, 2009.

On that day, dozens of families were forced from the site by police and construction workers employed by local firm 7NG.

Many of the residents were taken to the Damnak Trayeung relocation site on the outskirts of Phnom Penh, with little access economic opportunity and few basic services.

Wonder where the people relocated from Dey Krahorm are right now? ... Listen and learn about hell on earth

Eviction at Dey Krahorm (Photo: The Phnom Penh Post)

Living condition for the Dey Krahorm evictees: Hell on earth! (Photo: Ly Meng Huor, RFI)

Srey Sothea, the owner of the 7NG involved in the eviction of Dey Krahorm, is seen being decorated by Hun Xen 

(Photo: 7NG Group website)

Srey Chanthou (most likely Srey Sothea's son) standing hand in hand with General Hing Bun Heang, the commander of Hun Xen's bodyguards unit (Photo: 7NG Group website)

Evicted people wail for help

16 October 2010
By Ly Meng Huor
Radio France Internationale
Translated from Khmer by Sess Minkhmen

A group of several dozens of families who were forced out of their houses in the Dey Krahorm community, located in the heart of Phnom Penh city, and brought over to Srah Po village, Phnom Bat commune, neat Oudong hills, Kandal province, are now facing hardship. At their new place, these poor villagers have no jobs to provide them with a living. Almost all of them had to pawn their land titles to get money to live, to run their small businesses, or just to find a cure for their sick children.

Click here to listen to the audio program in Khmer (MP3)

Landless - A SBS Dateline program by David O'Shea

Part 1 of 2

Part 2 of 2

Still in a temporary home, years after eviction

Former residents of Dey Krahorm sit beneath the sun-baked metal roof of a temporary structure in Dangkor district’s Damnak Trayeung village, where 58 families have been forced to live in squalid conditions since their eviction in July 2007. A representative of the families said they were hoping for better housing from developer 7NG. Meanwhile, a hearing at Phnom Penh Municipal Court in a case involving 13 other families evicted from Dey Krahorm was postponed Monday. (Photo by: Heng Chivoan)
Sun Ny, 60, says evictees in Dangkor district often sleep four people to a bed, and that illness is common due to poor sanitation. (Photo by: Will Baxter)

Tuesday, 25 May 2010
Mom Kunthear and May Titthara
The Phnom Penh Post

Frustration builds amid court delays as Dey Krahorm families seek relocation

THE lawyer for 13 families seeking relocation housing from the developer 7NG after being violently evicted from the Dey Krahorm community in January 2009 was summoned to Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Monday, only to learn that a hearing in the case had been postponed because company representatives had failed to appear.

Meanwhile, hundreds of villagers who were evicted from the same central Phnom Penh community in 2007 – and who have been living in unsanitary conditions in Dangkor district ever since – said Monday that they plan next week to seek intervention from Prime Minister Hun Sen in their separate row with the company, which they say has left them homeless for nearly three years.

Te Channan, the lawyer, said he had intended to present evidence in support of his clients’ compensation requests, and that he was growing increasingly frustrated with the lack of progress in the case.

“7NG’s lawyer repeatedly asked me to deliver evidence on May 24 related to the 13 families who have not received homes, and the company was supposed to provide their evidence to me in return. But they did not show up, so we did not get any result,” he said, and added that he did not know when a new court date would be set.

David Pred, executive director of the rights group Bridges Across Borders Cambodia, said the fact that the families still have not received relocation housing is unacceptable.

“It is a crime that 7NG has left these ... families homeless for the last 16 months after it grabbed their land and demolished their homes,” he said.

“The court should hold 7NG accountable for this crime to the fullest extent of the law and order the company to pay the families the fair market value of their property, as well as damages for their lost income and other troubles since the eviction,” he added.

Chheang Bona, 7NG’s general manager, could not be reached for comment.

Pred said there were at least 22 families evicted from Dey Krahorm in 2009 that still need to be provided with relocation housing or compensation.

Members of families that were evicted from the site before then, however, say they too have been left high and dry by the company.

Oeuk Bun, 65, who moved with her family and 57 others to Dangkor’s Damnak Trayeung village after being forced to leave Dey Krahorm in July 2007, on Monday bemoaned the fact that, as the group waits to receive new housing, she has had no option but live in a shabby temporary structure built by 7NG that lacks access to water or toilets – conditions that often lead to illnesses such as diarrhoea.

She added that employment opportunities are lacking at the new site.

“Before I moved here, I earned about US$60 per month as a maid, but here I can earn only $15 per month cleaning vegetables and washing dishes at other people’s homes,” she said.

“I want the government to notice us and help us … to give us comfortable housing,” she said.

Sun Ny, 60, also said that illnesses were common. “Most of us get sick from diarrheoa, stomach aches, rashes and fever because we live in an unclean environment with a big pile of rubbish nearby,” she said.

“We want to meet Prime Minister Hun Sen to tell him about us, but it would not be easy because the police would stop us like they have in the past,” she said.

Mao Sothea, a representative of the 58 families, said she plans to send a petition to Hun Sen’s cabinet next week, asking him to intervene.

“We will file a complaint to Prime Minister Hun Sen’s cabinet next week, and we will all go to the prime minister’s house in Phnom Penh the same day to ask for help,” she said.

Reached on Monday, Phnom Penh Deputy Governor Mann Chhoeun declined to comment about the plight of the families, saying he believed that their cases had been settled.

ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY WILL BAXTER

Announcement of World Habitat Day

Hi again KI Khmer,

Comment: Those evicted families in Cambodia are severely affected and unfairly treated by the development policies of Cambodian government. The United Nations' World Habitat Day will mark this mockery evicting policy.

There is less than one week left before the first Monday in October which the United Nations has chosen to be World Habitat Day. I hadn't heard back from you and I was really hoping you could help by posting about it on KI-Media. I've put together a blogger friendly press release with all sorts of goodies you can use:

http://worldhabitatdaynews.com

World Habitat Day is a day for everyone to stand up and let it be known that affordable, adequate housing should be a priority everywhere. Please let me know if you have any questions and if you are able to help by posting. Thanks so much.

--
Liza Peiffer,
On behalf of Habitat for Humanity
http://www.habitat.org

Trip to Cambodia opens eyes of Chicago native

Dey Krahorm forced eviction (Photo: Sarah Grime)

September 7, 2009
Sara Lugardo
Los Angeles Examiner (California, USA)

Christine Robinson grew up in the Chicago area and attended the University of Iowa with a Bachelors’ in International Studies. Her recent visit to Cambodia opened her eyes to their economic situation.

While staying at a hotel in Phnom Penh Christine witnessed the forced evacuation of the slum, Dey Krahorm, by the Cambodian military. Trucks hauled out the few possessions people were allowed to take from their homes.

The evacuation of the slum was in collaboration with the Cambodian Peoples’ Party and a development company named 7NG. The 150 families living in the slum had been offered compensation by 7NG to relocate to Cham Chao before the evictions.

However, by relocating, the families would lose their income and so they refused. Once negotiations failed, the police and the Cambodian military forcefully evacuated the families.

Christine wrote on WIP that according to the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Cambodia, “The eviction was carried out in the middle of the night, with bulldozers, tear gas, rubber bullets, batons, and workers equipped with sticks and axes contracted to demolish the houses… The residents were thrown onto the street to watch their homes being destroyed.”

Cambodia has a long history of battling with property rights and this situation is very common to its’ people. Check out Christine’s full story on Property Rights for the Urban Poor in Cambodia.

Property Rights for the Urban Poor in Cambodia

The Dey Krahorn eviction underway in Phnom Penh. Photograph by Sarah Grime

July 27, 2009
by Christine Robinson
The WIP

It was two in the morning when we first heard the loudspeakers. My friend was annoyed thinking the noise was coming from people partying late, but we later learned something very different was happening. I got up early that morning to eat breakfast before a long day at the Killing Fields and Tuol Sleng. Walking downstairs, I saw about a hundred people outside our hotel in Phnom Penh including press, local police, and the Cambodian military.

I rushed outside and found a member of my group. He explained that the slum down the street, Dey Krahorn, was being forcefully evacuated by the military and police. A barrier kept us from getting too close, and a green fence had been put up along the perimeter. We saw trucks coming out of the slum carrying what I thought was junk, but later realized were whatever possessions the people could salvage from their houses.

We stopped to talk to Kevin Knight, who works in a different slum with an NGO. He told us that the development company 7NG, along with the ruling party in Cambodia, the Cambodian Peoples’ Party (CPP), were responsible for the evictions. Dey Krahorn was located in a prime location in downtown Phnom Penh and worth an estimated US$44 million.

Kevin explained that the 150 families living in the slum had been negotiating with 7NG in the weeks prior to the evictions. The company offered each family US$20,000 or an apartment in a resettlement site named Cham Chao, located at least 16 kilometers from the center of Phnom Penh.

At first this seemed like a reasonable offer, but what I failed to realize is that the residents of the slum had livelihoods, access to water and education, and other things that the city center offered. The majority of people living in Dey Krahorn made a living as street vendors, so if forced into a location with a reduced population they would lose their incomes.

The truth of what was happening just a few hundred yards away was finally settling in. Why was all of this happening here, I wondered, and why now? I learned that because of all of the foreign investment in the area (including our hotel), land prices had dramatically increased. According to the Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights (LICADHO), slum evictions are not a new phenomenon in Cambodia. The country is suffering from a classic case of the rich getting richer while the poor get poorer.

According to the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Cambodia, “The eviction was carried out in the middle of the night, with bulldozers, tear gas, rubber bullets, batons, and workers equipped with sticks and axes contracted to demolish the houses… The residents were thrown onto the street to watch their homes being destroyed.” A friend of Kevin’s who had been inside the slum when the eviction started described a woman collapsing in front of her house and bulldozers that continued to plow into her, sending her to the hospital with injuries.

After speaking with Kevin and other foreigners in the area, I realized how much the past really does influence the present. In order to understand what is happening in present day Cambodia, it is necessary to look to history, especially the period immediately following the Khmer Rouge.

When the Khmer Rouge came into power they wanted to make everyone in the society equal, which meant destroying money, books, private possessions, and land titles. During the period from 1975-1979, the cities of Cambodia were cleared out as the people were made to live and work in rural areas. After the fall of the Khmer Rouge in 1979, the people came flooding back into the cities. Since all of the land titles had been destroyed, people grabbed whatever they could, and the cities, especially Phnom Penh, became home to thousands of “squatters”.

Not everyone I spoke with explained the situation in the same manner. Some were sympathetic to the residents of Dey Krahorm, while others believed the government and 7NG were taking the required actions for the city to further “develop”. I was told by several people that the majority of the residents in Dey Krahorn had legal rights to their land. Some families were “squatting” illegally, but according to the Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE), around 140 families living in Dey Krahorn had been there since the 1980s and were given rights to the land under the Cambodian Land Law (2001). Not only do the residents meet all of the preceding requirements, they have documentation to prove it.

According to Amnesty International, Cambodia is a state party to the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) and “has an obligation to protect the population against forced evictions… [the evictions at Dey Krahorn] show all too clearly how little respect Cambodian authorities have for these requirements”. Another person added that while the residents had been living in Dey Krahorn for years, the land was owned by the government so it was free to be taken at any time.

Regardless of the exact legal situation of the slums in Phnom Penh, it’s clear that Cambodia’s land title situation is in peril. A quick search for the land laws of Cambodia reveals relentless confusion in the period following the Khmer Rouge. We are only just starting to see the severe affects of the land laws today, as foreign investment and rapid growth in Phnom Penh cause once worthless land to become a precious commodity.

Christine's blog entry is part of a two-part series written by WIP Contributor Pushpa Iyer's students. In the coming weeks, more entries will follow. Part I, "Legacy, Responsibility, Justice and Spirituality" will contemplate how Cambodia is coping with its painful past. Part II, "Identity, Sex Trafficking, HIV/AIDS and Property Rights" will explore some of the challenges modern-day Cambodia faces. – Ed.

Christine Robinson grew up in the Chicago area and completed her undergraduate work at the University of Iowa with a BA in International Studies and Spanish. She is currently studying at the Monterey Institute of International Studies where she is pursuing a MPA in International Management. In her spare time, Christine enjoys sports, travel and studying languages.