Programs & Events
Different Fates of Squatters Evicted from Phnom Penh
By Miss Ung Chan Sophea, Cambodge Soir
3rd place in CCJ/US Embassy 2008 Investigative Reporting Competition
(Prize: trophy and $600)
On June 06, 2006, about 1,000 families in Sombok Chap "squatter settlement" were evicted to Andoung village, 20 km from Phnom Penh. In December, 42 families in Borey Keyla area and 133 families in Chroy Changwa area were also evicted from their settlements.
Situation is still complicated in Trapaing Anchanh area
In a treeless area 20 km from Phnom Penh, one sees rows of wooden houses. There, one saw 4-5 sad looking elderly women talking near a heap of wood for making cottages. They are among the people evicted from Chong Kos fishing village. They had been evicted from Chong Kos and sent to live on 5 m by 12 m plot of land per family.
Tear rolled down her cheeks when Mrs. Tres Neang, a Cambodian Islamic woman, told of the eviction from a place in Chroy Changwa where she had lived since 1980 and where she had her mosque. Now she cannot afford a 10,000 Riels moto taxi fee to go to the mosque. She worries about the anger of her ancestors. In this new place, she does not know what to do to make a living.
She complaint in tear, "We don't know what to do to fill our stomach. My husband decided to run moto taxi in Phnom Penh. He can earn 10 000 Riels per day which would leave him a little after paying for gasoline for motorbike. Farm laborers in the area are not much in demand, as there are many people already."
Near the area, 42 house tenant families, who had been evicted from Borey Keyla area on December 26, 2007, had similar complaints. Mrs. Sokhon, 43, from Battambang province, said, "For a long time now, I have a dream of having a house of my own. I am a bit relieved that I have my own plot of land now in the new place, but I am worried that someday I will be evicted again, from this place, since I do not have certificate for this plot and I have no stable job."
Some people from Sombok Cham area, who had volunteered to move from Sombok Chap area to the place near the house of Mrs. Sokhon, have similar situations as her. One elderly woman, namely Sen, said, while playing cards with 4 other women, "What business can I do in this quiet area?" Her family relies on her husband, who is a construction worker in Phnom Penh and earns about $50 a month. Ms. Sen continued to say, "Now everything is privatized and more expensive. I feel abandoned."
Many cottages in the village of Mrs. Sen have closed doors. Their owners have sold them to Phnom Penh people. Some were seized because of debts. Nearby, one could hear an argument between a creditor in a car and his woman debtor over $24. The woman accused him of swindling her of the $24 on the debt paper. Mrs. Sen said, "Some couples have many children and borrow money just to buy food. They cannot pay debt and end up selling houses."
Mr. Hang Saroen, deputy chief of Anchanh 4 village acknowledged, "Because of debts many certificates of the lands of those poor people are in the hands of rich creditors. These poor people will eventually have to move back to rent houses near their old settlements, such as Dey Kraham and Doem Kor areas. 50% of the plots in this area have been sold by these poor people. The municipal office does not permit the sale, but I have to sign my approval of the sales, since these people are desperate for money. The price of one plot is $2,000 - $3,000."
More and more new people who had bought houses in the area built new concrete houses and turned them into tailor shops, groceries shops, replacing old cottages of the original occupiers. An area nearby is reserved for 78 settlers who will be evicted from Sombok Cham area in Phnom Penh. The deputy village chief said, "Factories should be built here to let people here have jobs and not move out." This is the only solution that he saw.
In Andoung village, there are many concrete buildings but nearly 1 000 families still have not certificates for the lands they have received.
4m by 6 m concrete houses have been built in the area for three months now and will replace cottages. Those poor people can move in those concrete houses but they have to pay $1,000 to the municipality over 5 years, or from 3,000 to 3 400 Riels per day. Ten families have moved in. If this process goes well, the municipality will build more houses on 776 plots of land in the area for people recognized as house tenants evicted from Sombok Chap area. Mr. Man Chhoen, Phnom Penh deputy Mayor, said, "We build concrete houses for them so that they trust that they would not be evicted again." One woman said, "In this new place, I have concrete house and better sanitation than in the old place of living. I can pay for house installments. I sell rice and my husband is a moto taxi driver. Now my children are healthier."
People in this new settlement are more fortunate than people in other areas since NGOs pay attention to them because they, 1,000 families, were evicted from their old settlement in Phnom Penh in a very bad way on June 6th, 2006. Latter, 20 NGOs and municipal office have provided relieves to them. Some NGOs have dug wells, and built water tanks, latrines and even schools for them. The municipal office, said Mr. Man Chhoen, has used fund for poverty reduction from UPDF of 90 million Riels to provide loans to them for housing repair and opening small businesses. One NGO is building a vocational training center for them.
Housing conditions have improved in the area along with daily business, but public utilities are still privately operated like in Anchanh village. Mr. Man Chhoen acknowledged this problem. He said Phnom Penh municipality had recently received
20 000 Euro grant from French speaking countries association and would use the money for connecting public water pipe to this poor community, Andaung village.
In front of her thatch roofed cottage where she sells groceries and run mobile phone service, Mr. Kim Oun said that she was relieved now that she no longer had to live under torn tarpaulin. "Without assistance from NGOs, I would not be this far. My business is not bad now since there are more people."
But the 1 000 families in this Andoung still do not have land certificates since this 3.2 ha are divided into 776 plots for people evicted from Sombok Chap settlement in Phnom Penh, who are recognized by the municipality. But not all Sombok Chap people are recognized by the municipality. Mrs. Chantha, a widow with six children, said that she had rent a cottage is Sombok Chap settlement for a long time, but she was not recognized as a person from Sombok Chap since, as she said, she had no money to bribe officials.
Mr. Man Chhoen said, "Those people would be sent to Trapaing Anchanh village where there are unoccupied lands. They can no longer live on canal in Andoung village since we need to develop this area. We have to find out who are really homeless." He said that he had heard that some people had registered themselves as people in Borey Keyla settlment, Trapaing Anchanh village and Andaung village at the same time. This is unacceptable, he said.
Do Ex-Dey Kraham Settlers Live in Industrial Area?
500 families moved from Dey Kraham village to Domnak Trayoeng village, 20 km from Phnom Penh. They volunteered to move in exchange for a 4m by 15 m concrete house. In Dommnak Trayoeng village, 1, 472 concrete houses have been built for 1, 465 families from Dey Kraham village. Now, that housing area in Domnak Trayoeng villae is called Santepheap residential area. But not all families agree to move out for a house. Some families accept cash instead of a house, while others are still demanding better compensation. So some houses built have been sold to people who want to buy. Many other houses are being built near a huge factory of 7NG Company. Business in the area is growing. Some people from Dey Kraham village have sold the house to other people. Electricity and water utilities are available there at the same price as in Phnom Penh. Mrs. Chan, who had lived in Dey Kraham village since 1992 and was given a house in exchange for moving out, said that she was not satisfied with the house compensation but she accepted the deal to avoid confrontation.
Now one house in Santeapheap residential area costs from $7,000 to $9,000. Mrs. Te Sreymom, laundry operator, and her husband, barber, are happy with their new place of living. They said security and air in the new place were better than in the old place. She said proudly, "In the old place, we lived in fear of fire, robbery, burglary...bad smell. We lived near rowdy people. Here in the new place, I have a new house and can make about 30 000 Riels per day which is enough for me. Those who continue protesting are those who want better compensation for moving out. In the new place, however, there are two main problems of lack of job opportunities and the selling of houses by the people who received them as compensation and then moved to the old place."
Bad Strategy in Resettling People
Mr. Chan Savet, investigator from ADHOC (NGO), said that what the Municipality had done was not right. He called those poor people "Deported People" since they were still in bad situation. In the new place, there are no job opportunities and utilities are privately provided at very high price. He questioned why the municipality did not develop infrastructure in the new place before moving people in.
Mr. Am Som At, investigator from LICHADO (NGO), criticized, "Because of poor infrastructure and lack of food to buy, many of the people have sold the residential plots provided and moved back to the inner city. Is this the good way for developing the city?"
Mr. Man Chhoen, deputy Phnom Penh mayor, raised example of Sombok Chap village. He said, "Opportunists kept moving in; after one night the number of families increased by 800, the next night, 1 000 and the next, 1 600. We could not allow this to continue and had to take firm action before it turned into a battle. The Municipality did not want to confront these residents. The opposite is true. They even burnt the village office. Even if it is a bit late, but we are trying hard to restore order and have made roads, put waste culverts...etc."
Mr. Som At is not convinced by this argument. He believed that the Municipality should have had enough time to develop the place, attract factory investment.... for people to move in and not let them move back to their old place. Mr. Man Chhoen responded by saying, "The Municipality cannot do everything for the people; the latter should try hard themselves. Even in the USA, there are beggars eating wastes. Development is a step by step process. It is difficult to make those gamblers, drunkards and those good -for- nothing people who are among those people change way. What countries have turned house tenants into house owners like in Cambodia? Because of this generosity, some bad people try to take advantage of our generosity. In the future, that new site is no longer in the outskirt of city since the Phnom Penh area will be enlarged from the present 376 square kilometers to 700 square kilometers. Another purpose doing so is to reduce overcrowding. Now in O'Russey quarter, people density is 20 000 per square kilometer while in Dangkor the number is 500 only."
In response, Mr. Sam At asked, "How many more years will these hungry people have to wait for city area enlargement. At least 2-3 years wait"