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Eviction and resistance in Cambodia
Five women tell their stories
Tens of thousands of people across Cambodia are being unlawfully evicted from their land and their homes destroyed often due to the money-driven demands of big business. In Phnom Penh alone, an estimated 10% of the city’s population were evicted between 1990 and 2011.
Women are at the forefront of the fight against these unlawful forced evictions, and many have put themselves at risk to defend their communities and struggle for justice. But the Cambodian authorities are continuing to fail to protect people’s right to a safe home.
Watch the stories of these five brave women who have either faced or are fighting against the destruction of their homes and communities.
Mai
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"My house, possessions, identity cards, clothes, photos all went up in smoke. Nothing was left."
Mai was five months pregnant when she watched her home and all her possessions go up in flames. A few days later she was thrown into prison for eight months for trying to defend her housing rights.
Sophal
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"I begged them not to destroy my house and let me move my stuff outside. But they did not agree. All I could salvage was one sewing machine."
Sophal’s vibrant inner-city community resisted eviction for over three years, until the night it was surrounded and stormed by hundreds of police and company workers who decimated the village in just a few hours.
Hong
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"Prey Land is the shelter of Indigenous People, like a house we live in, a house that is full of freedom. If Prey Lang is gone it’s impossible for us to live."
Hong is Kuy, one of Cambodia’s Indigenous People who've lived in Prey Lang forest for generations. For Hong and her community, the forest provides their home and livelihood. Now as the forest is being destroyed, Hong leads her community in a battle to protect their land and natural resources.
Heap
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"When I have 1 or 2 kg of rice I share some with others. What else can we do if we face the same situation? We face the difficulties together."
Heap’s husband was arrested and detained on spurious charges the same day the authorities and a businessman took all her village’s farming land. With no land and an imprisoned husband, she was suddenly left alone to make ends meet for herself and four young children.
Vanny
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"In the end, winning or losing, I will still feel happy that I resisted with the others. I will struggle to live in my old nest, struggle until the last round."
Vanny is one of the leading figures in the high profile struggle against the largest forced eviction since the Khmer Rouge era. Her home on the banks of what remains of Boeung Kak lake in central Phnom Penh is under threat. She’s doing everything she can to protect her nest, and her resistance has paid dividends.
As you've read from the stories above, forced removal from one’s home and community is an incredibly traumatic experience that impacts on entire communities. But it has specific impacts on women.
The women whose stories are above have faced forced eviction with a mix of fear and bravery, anger and calm resolve.
Read more
► Cambodia: Women hit hard by wave of forced evictions, News release, 24 November 2011.
