Phnom Penh land dispute unresolved

Australia Network News
http://australianetworknews.com

The latest deadline for the removal of a group of 70 families resisting eviction in central Phnom Penh appears to have passed without incident.

The city government had offered the residents $US5,000 cash and a plot of land on the outskirts of the city in exchange for their moving out.

But so far, fewer than 10 of the families are reported to have taken up the offer.

Sebastian Strangio, from the Phnom Penh Post, says those that remain appear to be holding out for a better deal.

"They have occupied this land, some of them since the early 1980s. And according to the land laws that Cambodia has, they have a right to claim possession of this land," he said.

The disputed land is adjacent to Australia's new embassy compound.

The Post quotes an embassy spokeswoman as saying that while it's "not appropriate" to comment on specific land disputes, the embassy does encourage local authorities and citizens "to work together to find mutually acceptable, equitable" solutions to such issues.