There has been a steady rise in the number of land disputes, land confiscations and evictions, including forced evictions in Cambodia in the last 10 years.
Most victims are marginalized people living in poverty who are unable to obtain effective remedies. In 2008 approximately 23,000 people were forcibly evicted from their homes in Cambodia and a further 150,000 are currently living at risk of forced eviction.
What is a forced eviction and why is it unlawful?
A forced eviction is the removal of people against their will from the homes or land they occupy, when that removal takes place without legal protections, other safeguards and without assurances of adequate alternative accommodation. Not every eviction that is carried out by force constitutes a forced eviction – if appropriate safeguards are followed, a lawful eviction that involves the use of force does not violate the prohibition on forced evictions.
What sort of obligations does the Cambodian state have to its nationals with regards to forced evictions and adequate housing?
Cambodia is party to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) and other international human rights treaties that prohibit forced eviction and related human rights violations, Cambodia therefore has a duty to respect, protect and fulfil the human rights provided for in these treaties, including the right to an adequate standard of living, and specifically the right to adequate housing (Article 11 of the ICESCR). As part of the right to housing, Cambodia is obliged not only to stop forced evictions but also to protect people from forced evictions.
Case – forced eviction from Sambok Chab
One thousand, five hundred families were forcibly evicted from Sambok Chab in mid-2006 to make way for urban development. It was an informal settlement on the bank of the Bassac River in central Phnom Penh established in the early 1990s.
Events leading up to the forced eviction at Sambok Chab
o The Cambodian authorise announced that a real estate company had obtained legal title to the land where the families in Sambok Chab were living and that they wanted to redevelop the area;
o Neither the Cambodian authorities nor the real estate company made the alleged legal title available to the public;
o The real estate’s ownership claim was not validated by a court as is required under Cambodian law;
o The redevelopment plan was not made public;
o The families living in Sambok Chab were excluded from the processes and decisions that impacted on their lives. No one meaningfully consulted them about possible measures to upgrade their community or about their needs at a resettlement site.
The forced eviction at Sambok Chab
o The authorities cordoned off Sambok Chab in June 2006;
o Hundreds of members of the security forces and demolition workers forcibly evicted 1500 families from the settlement and bulldozers flattened their homes;
o A small number of home owners were given alternative accommodation on the outskirts of Phnom Penh;
o 1500 families including many who had been renting homes at Sambok Chab were relocated 20 kilometres outside Phnom Penh to New Andong in trucks provided by the authorities and the real estate company.
What was the New Andong relocation like?
When the 1500 families arrived at New Andong in June 2006 they found an empty muddy field with:
o no houses or shelters
o no sewage system
o no clean water supply
o no electricity
o no access to the road
o no schools
o no clinics
o no markets
A young mother forcibly evicted from Sambok Chab to New Andong made the following statement to Amnesty International:
“The situation at that time was out of control so I just followed what they told me to do. They told me they would find a job for me and give me land. They would build factories, hospitals, schools and more. But when I arrived, everything was empty. The land was flooded, and I felt hopeless.”
How did the families manage at New Andong?
Shelter
Most families erected temporary shelters using materials they had salvaged from Sambok Chab and tarpaulins provided by civil society organisations
Earning a living
Most of the families had worked as day labourers or street vendors in Phnom Penh. The relocation to New Andong meant that most lost their livelihoods. The cost of commuting to Phnom Penh is greater than most can earn in a day. Members of some families have moved back to Phnom Penh so that they can earn money and send it back to their family in New Andong. Other New Andong residents now work as labourers for farmers or on local construction sites.
Health
NGOs and doctors who work with the community in New Andong have reported widespread health problems especially amongst
children including: skin disease, diarrhoea, Dengue Fever and malnutrition. Those living with HIV/AIDS had to leave New Andong to live nearer a medical centre which could provide the healthcare they needed.
After three years in New Andong:
o Most in the community remain severely deprived three years after the forced eviction;
o Many New Andong residents have still not received official documentation guaranteeing them security of tenure which they say they were promised before they were relocated to New Andong. With land prices rising in Phnom Penh they fear that they maybe forcibly evicted again in the future;
o Three years after the forced eviction most of the land in Sambok Chab where the families used to live remains unused.
Other communities at risk of forcible eviction in May 2009 include:
Borei Keila http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/ASA23/008/2009/en
Group 78 http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/ASA23/007/2009/en
ACTION NEEDED!
The Asia Pacific Youth Network is calling on the Cambodian authorities to:
o End all forced evictions;
o Ensure that all past victims of forced evictions receive an effective remedy, including access to justice and adequate compensation;
o Ensure that people living in deprived areas and informal settlements have equal access to public services and can participate in developing and implementing solutions to ensure adequate housing;
o Ensure that all people who may be affected by land development are accorded the legal protections to which they are entitled under international standards, including adequate notice, consultation, due process and assurance of adequate alternative accommodation.
What You can do: