Cambodia's displaced

The International Herald Tribune

18 July 2008

Robert James Elliott for the International Herald Tribune
Today, the scourge is prosperity, not war. As land prices rise, high-end developments like this guesthouse and restaurant grow dangerously close to the slums. Many fear that Phnom Penh's displaced will be forced to move again.

Robert James Elliott for the International Herald Tribune
Eviction and displacement are all too familiar to older Cambodians, who survived the mass evacuation of Phnom Penh in 1975, and a decade of civil war.

Robert James Elliott for the International Herald Tribune
In this village on the outskirts of Phnom Penh, there is no clean water or electricity, nor paved roads or permanent buildings.

Robert James Elliott for the International Herald Tribune
Many people are evicted from slums only to find themselves trapped in worse conditions. Men Leak (left), 18, and his aunt, Seng Loak (right), 36, use tubs of water for dish washing and bathing at their makeshift home outside the city.

Robert James Elliott for the International Herald Tribune
Amnesty International estimates that forced evictions have displaced at least 30,000 families in Phnom Penh since 2003. "Expropriation of the land of Cambodia's poor is reaching a disastrous level," said Basil Fernando, executive director of the Hong Kong-based Asian Human Rights Commission, in February.

Robert James Elliott for the International Herald Tribune

Cambodia' capital, Phnom Penh, is booming. But growth has sparked a frenzy of land grabs, pushing tens of thousands of people to squatter communities like this one on Boeung Kak Lake.