Forced eviction and resettlement in Cambodia: case studies from Phnom Penh.

• Published date: 01 January 2010
• Author: Mgbako, Chi,Gao, Rijie Ernie,Joynes, Elizabeth,Cave, Anna,Mikhailevich, Jessica,Mgbako, Chi^Gao, Rijie Ernie^Joynes, Elizabeth^Cave, Anna^Mikhailevich, Jessica
• Date: 01 January 2010

INTRODUCTION
                 I. LEGAL BACKGROUND
                 A. Cambodian Law on Forced Eviction and Resettlement
                 B. Land Title: Five- Year Possession Law in Cambodia
                 1. Documentation: "Family Record Book" and
                 Government-Issued "Receipts
                 2. Owners' Rights vs. Renters' Rights
                 II. FROM BOEUNG KAK TO DAMNAK TRAYOENG
                 A. Background
                 B. Pre-eviction Challenges Faced by Boeung Kak Residents
                 C. Post-eviction Challenges Faced by Boeung Kak Residents
                 in Damnak Trayoeng
                 1. Income
                 2. Education
                 3. Health Care
                 4. Infrastructure
                 5. Land Title
                 6. Lack of Information
                III. THE EFFECTS OF RESETTLEMENT ON HIV-AFFECTED FAMILIES
                 BOREI KEILA AND AN DONG
                 A. Background
                 B. Post-eviction Challenges Faced by PLWHA
                 1. Income
                 2. Cost and Access to Health Care
                 3. Cost and Access to Food and Nutrition
                 4. Infrastructure
                 5. Land Title
                 6. Stigma and Discrimination
                CONCLUSION: RIGHTS EDUCATION FOR FAMILIES IN RESETTLEMENT
                SITES
                

INTRODUCTION

The rise of urbanization and development in Cambodia in recent years has led to a dramatic increase in land prices, with particularly high values for land in the capital city of Phnom Penh. (1) Some government officials have benefited from the high price of land by unlawfully granting land title to private developers in exchange for compensation. Once these officials have granted land title to developers, they forcibly evict from the property existing residents, who mostly come from poor and marginalized communities. (2) There is rampant corruption at every stage of the "development" process. (3) Forced evictions as a result of development projects, land disputes, and land grabbing are now among the most widespread human rights violations in Cambodia. (4) More than one hundred fifty thousand Cambodians are currently at risk of being forcibly evicted. (5)

The Cambodian Constitution incorporates international law, which requires that the government provide adequate alternative housing and compensation for all those affected by forcible eviction, regardless of whether they rent, own, or occupy their homes on the land at issue. (6) The Cambodian government's resettlement practices following forced evictions have not conformed with its obligations under international law; after forced eviction, the government resettles residents in relocation sites located on the periphery of Phnom Penh, far from resources and jobs in the capital. (7) While the conditions of resettlement sites vary, the sites are frequently an inadequate substitute for prior homes and are sometimes uninhabitable. Most lack basic infrastructure and services, such as running water, sanitation systems, and access to education and healthcare. (8) Due to the long distances between resettlement sites and Phnom Penh, most resettled residents are unable to keep their old jobs in the city, resulting in drastic reductions in income. (9) With no opportunities to earn a living in resettlement sites, it is not uncommon for many families to abandon resettlement sites and return to Phnom Penh and live in precarious conditions. (10)

This Article culminates a project undertaken by the Walter Leitner International Human Rights Clinic (hereinafter "Leitner Clinic") at Fordham Law School to examine the effects of land resettlement on communities that were forcibly evicted or are at risk of forced eviction from their homes, and, in particular, the effects of forced evictions on the Boeung Kak Lake community in central Phnom Penn and on people living with HIV/AIDS ("PLWHA"). This Article is based on field research the Leitner Clinic conducted in Cambodia in the fall of 2008. While in

Cambodia, the Leitner Clinic interviewed families from four different communities: resettlement camps in Dam Nak Trayoeng and An Dong; Boeung Kak Lake, where residents are facing forced eviction; and the Green Shelters at Borei Keila where forcibly evicted PLWHA and their families await resettlement. The Leitner Clinic also met with local human rights and land rights organizations and organizations working with PLWHA.

This Article presents the findings of this research effort. The Article begins in Part I with background information on forced eviction and resettlement in Cambodia, highlighting the human rights violations implicated in this traumatic process. It then surveys the legal framework of land rights in Cambodia as it relates to communities at risk of forced eviction, and the government's failure to uphold legal guarantees related to land rights. Part II discusses the Boeung Kak Lake resettlement scheme and how the lack of government accountability and the poor bargaining position of marginalized communities converge to produce grave human rights abuses. A case study focuses on the effects of resettlement in Boeung Kak Lake and Damnak Trayoeng. Interviews of people living in these communities reveal that the effects of resettlement are most strongly felt in five main areas: income, education, healthcare, infrastructure, and land tenure.

In Part III, a second case study analyzes how resettlement impacts families affected by HIV/AIDS. This analysis is based on interviews in two communities with families that have HIV-positive members, one awaiting resettlement in the Green Shelters at Borei Keila, and the other already relocated to An Dong. The Leitner Clinic found that the challenges of resettlement are amplified for families living with HIV/AIDS due to their special needs and vulnerabilities. The conclusion suggests how organizations can assist affected communities that either will be evicted or have already been resettled, through rights education.

I. LEGAL BACKGROUND

Between 1998 and 2003, the Phnom Penh municipality forcibly evicted eleven thousand families, most of whom were poor families living in the center of the capital. (11) In the last five years, an additional thirty thousand individuals have been displaced by forced evictions in Phnom Penh. (12) A 2007 map by Sahmakum Teang Tnaut ("STT"), a Cambodian nongovernmental organization, documents forty-one resettlement sites in and around Phnom Penh alone, which account for almost sixteen thousand affected families. (13)

The Cambodian government is actively involved in the process of forced evictions. The government uses threats, intimidation, violent force, and police detention to suppress community resistance. (14) To frighten protestors and to suppress criticism, the government has arrested community leaders on fabricated and exaggerated charges. (15) The government has also harassed residents and non-governmental organization ("NGO") workers, and has detained journalists. (16) Consistent with a larger pattern of widespread corruption and impunity, Amnesty International found that "It]he Cambodian authorities are not only failing to protect--in law and practice--the population against forced evictions, but are also actively involved in such acts, which contravene international law." (17)

These human rights violations are not isolated instances. Rather, they are part of a widespread and coordinated effort between the government and private companies to capitalize on quickly rising land prices in Phnom Penh by taking advantage of the most marginalized members of society. (18) After forced evictions, the government sometimes designates the newly vacated lands as State public land for government infrastructure projects. (19) Other times, the government designates the land for exchanges with private entities, or grants land concessions to private developers who have ties to the ruling Cambodian People's Party. (20)

A. Cambodian Law on Forced Eviction and Resettlement

Under the Cambodian Constitution and the 2001 Land Law, Cambodians have the right to own land. (21) Individuals may only be deprived of ownership when removal is in the public interest and only with appropriate and just compensation, as decided by a court with due process of law. (22) Yet, violent, forced evictions that occur without proper consultation or compensation have become the norm in Cambodia, revealing a land rights scheme existing in a "legislative vacuum." (23) Relevant authorities too often ignore legal provisions related to eviction and resettlement in the Constitution and Land Law, and the courts show little interest in enforcing such guarantees. (24)

Forced evictions in Cambodia typically occur when the government grants land concessions to third parties by swapping plots of land that have drastically increased in value, usually occupied by poor communities, in exchange for isolated plots on the outskirts of Phnom Penh. (25) According to the Land Law, all land concessions must be for social or economic purposes (26) and are limited to a maximum duration of ninety-nine years. (27) Despite the requirement that exchanges be in the public interest, (28) the government often leases or sells land to private companies for private gain. (29) The government does not conduct open or transparent bidding processes, and frequently signs contracts with private developers without consulting the affected communities. (30)

According to Cambodian law, families that lose their property to land exchanges have a right to fair and just compensation. (31) In practice, however, private companies have offered rates of compensation far below fair market value that are grossly inadequate. (32) In some cases, threats, intimidation, and outright trickery have been used to coerce families to accept inequitable deals, making it virtually impossible for them to subsequently contest the amount of compensation offered. (33) Land exchanges have in many, if not most, cases led to the relocation of families to areas lacking basic infrastructure, where they are cut off from their jobs or other sources of income to which they have been accustomed. (34)

To meet the public interest requirement for land concessions, the municipal government (e.g., the public prosecutor) and private companies involved in land concessions often...