Forced Illegal Eviction in Sihanoukville

The development of Sihanoukville should bring hope and prosperity to the poor people of the area, but instead it brings even more hardship and suffering to the very people who have virtually nothing in the first place.

Sihanoukville can pride itself of having the most glorious sandy beaches in the whole of Cambodia, but unfortunately this has attracted rich, hungry property developers from around the globe, all eager to purchase land in prime locations. You may ask, what is wrong with that? And in principle nothing! But with big money in a country like Cambodia, sadly comes large scale corruption!

It’s now becoming common practice in parts of Cambodia where development is taking place, for poor people to be evicted from their homes and land by rich developers who have gained the help and support of corrupt officials. Many of these evictions are illegal and if the villager’s try to resist, their homes and possessions are torched, bulldozed and they are physically beaten and thrown in to jail, or left on the street with nothing but the clothes they are wearing. This includes, men, women and children.

In April 2007, yet another village was set on fire. The village was situated by the Otres beach (prime beach land). The illegal eviction of these villager’s was carried out by a 150 personnel from the Cambodian Armed Forces, Military Police and Civilian Police who were armed with guns, electric batons, shields and tear gas. They forcibly evicted 105 families from their village, burning their homes and destroying all of their possessions. Several of the villager’s were injured in the raid, including young children and others were dragged off and thrown into cells.

Help the Cambodian Children, along with other local charitable organisations, have been trying to help and support the Otres villager’s in their desperate plight as they are now living like refugees. We have provided them with makeshift shelters and continue to provide them with food, water, water purifiers and other basic necessities. The problem is that although this case may actually make it to a court of law, it could take years for an outcome.