Forced eviction: Cambodian workers pulling down structures at a slum during the eviction of families in the capital Phnom Penh yesterday. Around 250 police, many armed and in riot gear, and more than 200 workers moved early in the morning to evict hundreds of families refusing to leave the shantytown.Picture: AFP
THE BRUNEI TIMES
PHNOM PENH
Sunday, January 25, 2009
CAMBODIAN police fired teargas and eight people were injured yesterday during the forced eviction of 80 families from a Phnom Penh slum, rights activists and police said.
At least two of the eight slum dwellers were seriously hurt in clashes with clean-up crews hired to tear down the dwellings on government land recently sold to a private company.
Police cordoned off roads around the area near the Russian embassy, as the 300 workers backed by bulldozers and cranes cleared away the decade-old community.
Rights activist Am Sam Ath and witnesses said eight people were injured during the forced eviction, including two seriously hurt and sent to hospital.
Witnesses said an old woman and a boy were hit by a bulldozer, while others were hurt in clashes with the workers armed with clubs and stones.
Police denied using excessive force to evict the group, who had waged a 3-year battle against their eviction.
"We did not use violence against them, but tear gas to disperse the people who resisted," Phnom Penh police chief G Touch Naruth said.
The eviction came after the squatters rejected the company's offer of $20,000 ($30,000) per family in compensation for the prime 2-hectare (4.9 acres) plot of land facing the Mekong River.
Land disputes are a hot issue in Cambodia, where garment factories and hotels have sprung up to expand the major textile and tourist industries.
Last week, police opened fire on farmers protesting against a land grab south of Phnom Penh, wounding two of them, rights activists said.
Reuters
PHNOM PENH
Sunday, January 25, 2009
CAMBODIAN police fired teargas and eight people were injured yesterday during the forced eviction of 80 families from a Phnom Penh slum, rights activists and police said.
At least two of the eight slum dwellers were seriously hurt in clashes with clean-up crews hired to tear down the dwellings on government land recently sold to a private company.
Police cordoned off roads around the area near the Russian embassy, as the 300 workers backed by bulldozers and cranes cleared away the decade-old community.
Rights activist Am Sam Ath and witnesses said eight people were injured during the forced eviction, including two seriously hurt and sent to hospital.
Witnesses said an old woman and a boy were hit by a bulldozer, while others were hurt in clashes with the workers armed with clubs and stones.
Police denied using excessive force to evict the group, who had waged a 3-year battle against their eviction.
"We did not use violence against them, but tear gas to disperse the people who resisted," Phnom Penh police chief G Touch Naruth said.
The eviction came after the squatters rejected the company's offer of $20,000 ($30,000) per family in compensation for the prime 2-hectare (4.9 acres) plot of land facing the Mekong River.
Land disputes are a hot issue in Cambodia, where garment factories and hotels have sprung up to expand the major textile and tourist industries.
Last week, police opened fire on farmers protesting against a land grab south of Phnom Penh, wounding two of them, rights activists said.
Reuters
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