Cambodia evictions continue unchecked
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| Near Boeung Kak Lake homes built near the railroad track were bulldozed, Jan. 22, 2010. (Jodi Hilton/GlobalPost) |
In the most recent manifestation of an old injustice, 300 families were forced from their homes in a central slum.
January 22, 2012
Faine Greenwood
GlobalPost
"Only the poor help the poor. The rich and powerful would never dare to come here to help us."
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — In fast-developing Phnom Penh, land is at a premium, and it's the poor who pay the price for high-end development.
It is not a new story. Around 250,000 Cambodians were evicted from their homes between 2005 and 2009, according to local human-rights groups.
And the trend continues to gather steam, despite a high-profile case last year in which the international community got involved, if only for a moment. In 2011, the World Bank froze loans to Cambodia after 20,000 families were faced with forced eviction.
But even the freeze, which stands today, hasn't stemmed the tide of evictions. The government continues to favor major development firms over the poor Cambodian majority.
In the most recent case, a major development company, Phan Imex, bulldozed the modest slum homes of 300 families in a neighborhood called Borei Keila in the capital Phnom Penh.
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