Families in Cambodia at risk of forced eviction
30 April 2009, 03:12PM
Amnesty International is calling on the Australian Government to urge Cambodian authorities to prevent the forced eviction of a community of around 80 families living near the new Australian embassy on the riverfront in central Phnom Penh.
The Phnom Penh Municipality has distributed a sixth and final eviction notification to the community, known as Group 78, which requests residents dismantle their homes. Issued on 20 April, the notification gives the community until 5 May to move out of the area.
"If residents refuse to pack up and leave, the authorities say they will not take responsibility for any damage to or loss of housing or other property," said Brittis Edman, Amnesty International's Cambodia Researcher, currently in Phnom Penh. "According to the notification, which has been issued in breach of Cambodian law, the Phnom Penh Military Police will coordinate the eviction."
Forced evictions are carried out without adequate notice and consultation with those affected, without legal safeguards and without assurances of adequate alternative accommodation.
The last decade has seen a steady rise in the number of reported land disputes, confiscations and evictions, including forced evictions, in Cambodia. This rise is a result of the lack of the rule of law, a seriously delayed process of legal and judicial reform and endemic corruption.
About 150,000 Cambodians are known to be living at risk of forced eviction in the wake of land disputes, land grabbing, agro-industrial and urban development projects.
"Victims of forced evictions are almost exclusively people living in poverty, and it is clearly visible in Cambodia that these forced evictions lead to further marginalisation while sending affected communities deeper into poverty," said Brittis Edman.
Earlier this month, the municipality offered all households that currently own their housing USD 5,000 and a small plot of land at a resettlement site with inadequate water, sanitation and sewerage services and no built shelters. Up to 20 families who are renting at Group 78, have not had any offers of relocation.
"Since the families, which include street vendors, teachers and government employees, began moving into the area in 1983, the value of the land has increased enormously," said Brittis Edman. "The Municipality of Phnom Penh has provided different reasons for the eviction, ranging from beautification of the city to claims that the community consists of illegal squatters."
As 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, Cambodia has an obligation to stop forced evictions.
"Cambodia's compliance with ICESCR will be reviewed by the UN Committee for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in May, providing a timely opportunity for the Australian government to highlight the situation this community faces," said Brittis Edman.
"Whether people are owners, renters or illegal settlers, everyone should possess a degree of security of tenure which guarantees legal protection against forced eviction, harassment and other threats. In this particular case, most Group 78 residents possess documentation to show that they are the rightful owners of the land under the law, yet the authorities have ignored every effort of the community to secure their tenure," said Brittis Edman.
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Beti Farrell
1 May 2009, 06:45PM
I am so embarrased as an Australian that this is happening on the doorstep ( literally) on the new embassy but Australia chooses to remain silent on this. Australia voted to allow Pol Pot to be welcomed into the United Nations and we stood by while the Khmer Rouge slaughtered their own people, BUT now we are allowing the locals to become homeless on our own lawn!! we must assist the locals in finding a voice.
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