My first GlobalPost front page story – and it’s on Borei Keila. I hope this helps the evictees get some of the attention they deserve.
Tag: land grabbing
Weird Wednesday in Phnom Penh: 4 Villagers Shot, 22 Escape Detention Center
The news cycle got weirder yesterday, as 22 Borei Keila evictees made an escape from an Orwellian “social affairs” center after a visit from Mu Sochua, and 4 protesting villagers near Snoul were shot in cold blood by hired security hands. The common theme in these examples of extreme government force? A total lack of […]
Phnom Penh Municipality Claims Evictees Aren’t Being “Detained” at “Social Affairs Center”
The Phnom Penh Municipality issued another poor explanation for its detention of 30 women and children at the Prey Speu Social Detention Center Friday. I’m here once again to break it down for you. Claiming to have “investigated” the 22 families detained at the center, the City found….. “14 families illegally bought the house on […]
Borei Keila Evictees Shunted Aside to Inhumane Refugee Camp
I visited the Borei Keila relocation sites yesterday, and was truly disturbed by what I saw. The term “relocation site” evokes neutral images, perhaps more akin to FEMA trailers or temporary housing, somewhere not-like-home but at least adequate for basic human needs. The Borei Keila evictees relocation site at Phnom Bath is not adequate for […]
Borei Keila: Phan Imex Chief Calls Evictees “Greedy Cheaters”
What was left of Borei Keila as of last Friday. According to Phnom Penh’s English-language papers, 100 Borei Keila families have been denied land at the Ponhea Leu relocation site, after they made the 45-km trek outside the city to the desolate “housing” area. Why were these families denied? According to Phan Imex development company […]
Phnom Penh Municipality Defends Beating Up Own Citizens, Could Hire Better Copy-Writer
The Phnom Penh Municipality put up a post Sunday defending last Tuesday’s violent evictions of residents of the Borei Keila slum neighborhood – evictions where 30 villagers and 34 officers were injured in the ensuing fray. The Municipality claims that “many homes were provided to majority of them, and the small remaining has not accepted those homes […]
UN Dispatch Latest: Why Victims of Borei Keila Land Grabs are Protesting at US Embassy
Violent clashes and protests over a land-grabbing disputed have taken place in the heart of the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh this week, after a development company began to bulldoze the slum homes of 300 poor families. The destruction has prompted a wave of evictee protests at Western embassies, as victims hope to draw world […]
Protesters Sit-In Outside US Embassy for 2nd Day Over Borei Keila Land Grab
Remains of Borei Keila. Police have been posted at all entrances to keep out both journalists and NGO workers. Cambodian protesters sat-in outside the US Embassy for a 2nd day today, in a last-ditch attempt to draw international attention to their sudden and whole-sale eviction from their home in the Borei Keila slum. Mostly poor […]
Borei Keila Evictees Protest Egregious Land Grab Outside US Embassy
Edited to add: My excellent Cambodian source says protesters were arrested late tonight (the 4th) after returning to the remains of Borei Keila. No word yet on how many were arrested. Waiting until protesters were out of range of the US Embassy and after most press activity had knocked off for the night seems to […]