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Sign a petition to stop the illegal filling of Boeung Kak Lake in central Phnom Penh.
Amidst an increase in competition over land, land disputes are also on the increase across Cambodia, in both urban and rural areas. In their wake, forced evictions have become increasingly widespread; tens of thousands of poor people are losing their homes and personal possessions, most often as a result of opaque land deals and/or collusion of corrupt officials, including members of the judiciary. In many cases, victims have also lost access to their livelihood and their right to live with dignity. Protection provided to residents and/or traditional users of land under the Land Law and Forestry Law fails to be enforced. Instead concerned authorities are often implicated in land alienation. A full Amnesty International report "Cambodia: Rights razed: Forced evictions in Cambodia" is available here. Further information on this alarming issue is available from the Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions.
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation has produced a very interesting documentary on forced evictions in Phnom Penh, which is available in three parts on youtube. Part 1 Part 2 Part 3
For the time being we will be concentrating our efforts on two specific cases known as "Mittapheap 4 village" and "Group 78".
They burnt my house. Now I am staying under a tarpaulin on the roadside. Forcibly evicted villager
On 20 April 2007, 105 families of fishermen and beach vendors were forcibly evicted from Mittapheap 4 village, on the outskirts of the coastal town of Sihanoukville. They were made homeless.
Some 150 members of the security forces, including military, shot in the air and on the ground, while demolishing and burning down houses and beating people with electric batons. Eighteen villagers, 13 men and five women, and two policemen were injured.
The case file is available here.
Almost a year after being evicted, the villagers still live on the roadside, at risk of being evicted again.
All we want is a solution according to the law. […] We're not saying that we would never leave. We will, if we know that [the development] will be for the public good. Group 78 representative
Nearly 150 families living on land known as Group 78 near the Bassac River in Phnom Penh are facing eviction to a site lacking basic infrastructure such as sewage, sanitation, and drinking water. The families, many poor street vendors, but also some public servants, including teachers and officials, started moving into the area in 1983. Since then the number of families has grown and the area has become prime land in an exploding property market.
The case file is available here.