UPDATE: On 16 September 2011, several families of Boeung Kak Lake were forcefully evicted and now, at least another 90 families might be kicked out of their homes too! 

Remember in March 2011, young people in Asia Pacific took action to stop forced evictions in Boeung Kak Lake in Phnom Penh, Cambodia? Well – guess what? Homes & businesses were destroyed and families were evicted on 16 September 2011 – and when Suong Sophorn, a land activist in Cambodia, peacefully asked the residents to join hands to stop the destruction of houses, he was beaten by police officials and was left lying unconscious and bleeding.

Right now, there are only 779 out of around 4,000 families still living in the Boeung Kak Lake area. The others have either accepted inadequate compensate or resettled elsewhere after being threatened and intimidated to leave.

Although the Prime Minister authorized 12.44 hectares of land in the development area (scroll down to What’s the story? for more information) for the remaining families but excluded villages that were located outside of the specific area (the homes and businesses that were destroyed on 16 September were outside the specific area)!

Why should YOU(th) take action?

Forced eviction is a serious human rights violation because families are often kicked out of their homes to make way for corporate land and commercial projects and end up living in slums or informal settlements because they were not compensated AND no one should be stopped from peacefully opposing  forced evictions.

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Add your name to the letter below and we will mail it to both the Governor of Phnom Penh Municipality and the Deputy Prime Minister of Interior! Copies will also be mailed to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.

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Add your name to the letter AND ask share this link - http://bit.ly/hmeptI – with at least 5 friends and ask them to take action too!

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What’s the story?

According to the Municipality of Phnom Penh, the 133 hectares leased to a private company are to be turned into “pleasant, trade, and service places for domestic and international tourists”, but beyond that few details have been disclosed. The agreement between the company and municipality was reached without any consultation with the affected population. In early 2008 representatives of the people affected told Amnesty International that they had learnt about the agreement and the plans through the television news.

Since filling of the lake began, police and company workers have threatened and harassed the residents, and attempted to prevent them from holding meetings and from peacefully protesting against the forced eviction. In October 2010, police used unnecessary force, including electric batons, to break up a peaceful protest by Boeung Kak Lake villagers during the visit of the UN Secretary-General. One resident, Suong Sophorn, was beaten unconscious and detained by police until the departure of the Secretary-General. He had previously been arrested and fined in 2009 for painting “Stop Eviction” on his house.

The forced eviction of residents living around Boeung Kak Lake is under further scrutiny because of a case brought to the World Bank by the community and three NGOs.  This case alleges that the residents were denied the opportunity to register their claims to land ownership under the World Bank administered Land Management and Administration Project (LMAP) which was designed to provide land titles throughout Cambodia.

Thousands of people around Cambodia are adversely affected by forced evictions, land grabs and land disputes, some in connection with economic land concessions granted to powerful companies and individuals. Increasing numbers of communities and individuals are protesting and petitioning the authorities in defense of their right to housing.

Cambodia is a state party to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural rights (ICESCR) and other international human rights treaties which prohibit forced eviction and related human rights violations, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political rights (ICCPR). The government therefore has an obligation to stop forced evictions and to protect the population from forced evictions.

Want to know more? Check out these links!

Take action for Union Leaders and Activists under threat in Cambodia

160 families have one week to dismantle homes

Help stop the eviction of 160 families in Cambodia

Group 78 Evicted as UN, Governments Demand Halt

Forced eviction should never happen again

STOP PRESS: We’ve updated the action…having just heard:

On 23 April 2009, the Phnom Penh Municipality distributed a final eviction notification to a community of around 80 families known as Group 78 living on the riverfront in central Phnom Penh. The notification, which was issued on 20 April, gave the community members 15 days from the date of issuance to move out of the area. It is the sixth eviction notice issued to the community since 2006, none of which has been based on a court order, as required by domestic law. Group 78 residents fear they may soon lose their homes, but have not given up hope that the authorities will respect the law and let them stay or provide fair and just compensation.

In the final eviction notification, Group 78 residents are requested to dismantle their homes by the deadline, or else the authorities state they will take “administrative measures”. If residents refuse to pack up and leave, the authorities state they will not take responsibility for any damage to or loss of housing or other property. According to the notification, the Phnom Penh Military Police is to coordinate its “implementation”.

BACKGROUND ON GROUP 78

In April 2009 the municipality offered all households that currently own their housing USD 5,000 and a small plot of land in Trapeang Anchanh resettlement site, some 20 kms from where they now live. Basic services at Trapeang Anchanh, where hundreds of other forcibly evicted people live, are inadequate, including water, sanitation and sewerage. The authorities have not built any shelters on the land. The cost for transport to and from Trapeang Anchanh to the city where Group 78 residents work far exceeds their expected daily earnings. Up to 20 families who are renting at Group 78, have not had any offers of relocation.

There has been no attempt at a genuine consultation with the community, which has been living under the threat of forced eviction for three years, or to explore feasible alternatives to the proposed eviction.

The families, which include street vendors, and some teachers and government employees, started moving into the area on the riverfront in 1983. Since then the value of the land has increased enormously. The Municipality of Phnom Penh has provided different reasons for the eviction, ranging from beautification of the city to claims that the community are illegal squatters. The Group 78 families have applied for formal land titles several times, but the authorities have rejected their applications, despite the families having official documentation proving strong ownership claims under the 2001 Land Law.

In 2007 more than 20 families left Group 78 for Andong, another resettlement site, after threats and harassment from local authorities. However, they found they could not make a living at the resettlement site, and returned to the city as squatters, living in tents or under tarpaulins around the area.

In January 2009, about 400 poor urban families were forcibly evicted from Dey Kraham, which is located near to Group 78. Their homes were destroyed by an estimated 250 security forces and demolition workers, and many people lost their possessions. The vast majority were made homeless, and subsequently had no option but to move to resettle at a site also distant from Phnom Penh, with no clean water, electricity, sewage and basic services, and with shelters still under construction. Officials from the Phnom Penh Municipality have said to Group 78 residents that if they do not accept the compensation package, they will be seeing a resolution similar to that of Dey Kraham.

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Take action to prevent a forced eviction taking place in Phnom Penh, Cambodia:

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 living at risk of forced eviction. Amnesty International has attributed the rise in the number of forced evictions to the lack of rule of law, a seriously delayed process of legal and judicial reform and endemic corruption.

What is a forced eviction and why is it unlawful?
Forced evictions are evictions that are carried out without adequate notice, consultation with those affected, without legal safeguards and without assurances of adequate alternative accommodation. These rights apply to all including owners, those who rent and illegal settlers.

As a party to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) and other international human rights treaties which prohibit forced eviction and related human rights violations, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), Cambodia has an obligation to stop forced evictions and to protect the population from forced evictions.

APYN Urgent Action!
More than thirty families are facing forced eviction from Borei Keila in central Phnom Penh, They have objected to being evicted because the local authorities have failed to offer them adequate alternative housing in a suitable area where basic services are available. These families have a strong case to oppose the eviction, but because they are vulnerable and living in poverty it is likely that their Voices will be ignored by the authorities and their human rights will be violated. The reasons that the families oppose the eviction are listed below:

a) The families will be deprived of their livelihoods
Most of the families earn a living in central Phnom Penh as scavengers or porters in a local market or as day labourers, earning daily wages of between 6,000 and 10,000 riels. A one-way bus trip from the proposed relocation site to Borei Keila costs 15,000 riels, so the forced eviction would effectively deprive them of their livelihoods.

b) The families will lose access to essential medical services
At least one member of each of the families is suffering from HIV/AIDS and requires access to anti-retroviral treatment and treatment for AIDS-related illnesses. There are no adequate health services near the proposed resettlement site, and transport costs to continue anti-retroviral treatment and access to medical services would cost more money than the families will be able to afford.

Cambodia has an obligation to ensure adequate provision of health care to all its citizens, including access to treatment for people living with HIV/AIDS. The International Guidelines on HIV/AIDS and Human Rights also urge states to ensure universal access to HIV-related goods, services and information, and that they “not only be available, acceptable and of good quality, but within physical reach and affordable for all”.

c) Many basic essential services are not available at the proposed relocation site
Not only is there no access to essential medical care, but there is no access to basic services such as clean water, electricity and sanitation.

d) The housing on the proposed relocation site is inadequate
The proposed resettlement site at Tuol Sambo is based on top of a landfill site. The houses are made of green metal sheets and look different from the other houses in the area which could contribute to these families feeling stigmatized. The houses do not have sufficient space for the average sized family and they are too close together for safety and ventilation.

e) Discrimination
The families, most of whom are living in severe poverty believe they are being discriminated against in two ways:
• Many of the families have lived for at least the minimum amount of time in Borei Keila in Phnom Penh to make them eligible to be considered for flats in the buildings which are currently being constructed in that area. The families believe that because of their HIV status, the authorities are forcibly evicting them to an unsuitable relocation site instead of assessing them to determine if they are eligible for the flats in the new buildings in Borei Keila.
• The families fear they will face further stigmatization and discrimination at Tuol Sambo resettlement site because of their HIV status. Villagers in the vicinity are already calling it the “AIDS Village”.

Let’s join together to stop these families being forcibly evicted!Group 78 community representative Khen Sok Roath talks to Amnesty