People living near the airport "s.o.s" President Obama of their rooftop.
PHNOM PENH
(Reuters) - Police in Cambodia arrested
at least eight people on Thursday for painting messages on their homes
near the capital's airport asking for help from U.S. President Barack Obama because they face eviction before he visits the country next week.
The villages involved around the perimeter of the airport in Phnom Penh are home to 182 families.
The villages involved around the perimeter of the airport in Phnom Penh are home to 182 families.
Residents
said they were told in July they had to move out because of security
concerns when world leaders, including Obama, fly in to attend summit
meetings in coming days. They have not been offered compensation for the
loss of their homes.
Armed police
moved into the villages on Wedneday night and residents were told to
remove the messages they had painted beside pictures of Obama or face
the consequences, a worker for the Licadho human rights group said.
At
least six women and two men had been taken into custody, Licadho and
the Cambodian Centre for Human Rights (CCHR) said. Cambodian police
declined comment.
"I put up the
picture of Obama because I want him to help us get fair compensation
from the government," said resident Chuong Socheata, 33. "And that's
because the government has no plans to solve this peacefully."
Forced
evictions have been rife in Cambodia in recent years and are frequently
criticized by rights groups, even if the authorities may have
legitimate security concerns in this case about buildings so close to
the airport.
Only about 20 percent
of Cambodians have land titles -- a hangover from the Khmer Rouge's
abolition of private property during its 1975-1979 reign of terror --
leaving many defenseless when the authorities hand their land over to
big companies for development.
The
World Bank, which had been helping the government rebuild a land
registry, froze fresh aid to Cambodia last year because of the eviction
of families in Phnom Penh.
International
rights groups met U.S. officials last week to try to get Obama to bring
up rights issues with Cambodian premier Hun Sen during his trip. They
did not come away with high hopes of any public statement.
Hun
Sen has brought stability to the Southeast Asian country, which has
attracted development aid and industrial investment, but he tolerates no
dissent and rights group call his government authoritarian.
In
a report this week, Human Rights Watch said more than 300 people had
been killed in politically motivated attacks since an agreement in 1991
that ended a civil war, but not one person had been convicted.
It pointed the finger at Cambodian security forces and called on Obama to demand an end to impunity for abusive officials.
(Reporting by Prak Chan Thul; Editing by Alan Raybould and Ron Popeski)
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