January 22nd, 2013
As Cambodia’s capital Phnom Penh joins Asia’s development frenzy, its
poorest people are shunted from slum to slum to make space for
development land. We reveal the profound human cost of the country’s
march to modernity.
“Why have they done this to us? It would be better if they killed
me!” Chan Meng yells. That was six years ago, when he was first evicted
from his home. Now he lives in a motley shack the size of a garden shed,
with half the roof missing and mosquito larvae writhing in the shower
recess. Like many evictees Chan Meng has found himself in temporary
accommodation and could be moved on again at any time. “They want to
move us around like cats and dogs!” These days the parlous,
unpredictable reality for thousands of Cambodia’s poor is that of being
forcibly evicted from their houses in the name of progress. Cambodia’s
land ownership was thrown into chaos when Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge
extinguished private title. Now money and corruption are playing havoc
with the country’s attempts to bring back private property. There is one
brave group known as the BK13 – 13 women – that are not prepared to let
greedy developers take the very, very little they have. But with half a
million residents forcibly evicted in recent years, it’s an enormous
fight they have on their hands. “Every time we leave we face arrest and
they beat us. We don’t know if they will use violence against us or if
we will lose our lives.”
We will not be moved : Cambodia
http://youtu.be/zG60-hzLFF0
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