VZCZCXRO5091
OO RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM
DE RUEHPF #0869/01 1250950
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 050950Z MAY 06
FM AMEMBASSY PHNOM PENH
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 6598
INFO RUEHZS/ASEAN COLLECTIVE
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 1423

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PHNOM PENH 000869 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/MLS; GENEVA FOR RMA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM KJUS CB
SUBJECT: LAND DISPUTE IN THE SHADOW OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY 
 
 
¶1. (U) Summary.  On May 2, local authorities began the 
eviction of a 1,367-family community of squatters living 
near the Tonle Bassac River near the new National Assembly 
building in Phnom Penh.  The community is due to be 
relocated to a new site that is 22 kilometers from Phnom 
Penh and inadequate for the needs of those being relocated. 
The majority losing their homes are renters who are being 
left homeless.  NGO leader Kem Sokha is trying to contact 
the Prime Minister regarding the situation.  End Summary. 
 
------------------------- 
BASSAC COMMUNE LAND ISSUE 
------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (U)  Some of the poorest of Phnom Penh's inhabitants 
live in small houses in the Tonle Bassac community of Sambok 
Chab, which has been in existence since 2001.  The 
inhabitants are from Prey Veng, Svay Rieng, and Kampot 
provinces, as well as from other parts of Phnom Penh.  Among 
its inhabitants are people selling sugar cane cubes on the 
streets of Phnom Penh and construction workers.  Some of its 
inhabitants can best be described as indentured servants. 
 
¶3.  (U)  With regards to the relocation, the community is 
divided.  The minority favoring relocation are those who own 
land at the present site and have been promised land at the 
new site.  The majority who oppose relocation are renting 
houses at the present site.  The company that purchased the 
land has told these renters that they are not eligible to 
receive land at the new site.  Even those in favor of 
relocating have qualms about the new site. Facilities are 
woefully inadequate.  The promised new market, clinic and 
school do not exist.  No electricity supply is ready.  The 
area is already flooded even though the rainy season has yet 
to start in earnest.  No sewage system is planned.  Only 30 
latrines have been built to service the nearly 1,400 
families that are due to live there.  Each family will 
receive only a 5 meter by 12 meter dirt plot. 
 
¶4.  (U)  The morning of May 4, people affected by this 
relocation began to block trucks coming into and out of the 
Tonle Bassac site to remove people.  Thirty civilian police 
were then deployed.  When they proved ineffective, thirty 
riot police wielding shields, and armed with electric batons 
came to the site.  The situation then diffused as the riot 
police used their shields to push through the blockade.  No 
violence occurred. 
 
¶5.  (U)  On May 5, the relocations continued slowly as 
workers continue to demolish houses once owners give 
permission.  However, the renters of these houses are now 
homeless as they are not eligible to receive plots of land 
at the resettlement site.  In some cases, they are refusing 
to leave to the plot of land where their former home was 
situated.  The NGO LICADHO offered to provide tents for them 
but the local authorities denied permission.  NGO workers 
from Community Legal Education Center (CLEC), Friends 
International, and People Interest Legal Advocacy Program 
(PILAP) have asked local authorities to halt the evictions 
until they can survey the number of the renters and the new 
site is properly constructed.  The Governor of Phnom Penh 
has refused to halt the resettlement barring an order from 
the Prime Minister.  Cambodian Center for Human Rights 
(CCHR) leader Kem Sokha told us on May 5 that he was trying 
to reach the PM regarding the Tonle Bassac matter. 
 
¶6.  (U) An official from the Sour Srun Company purchasing 
the land said that he saw no problems.  He claimed that the 
majority of people were happy to leave, and those who were 
unhappy did not really live there.  When asked if he knew 
when the population had been informed of their relocation, 
he replied that was the role of the local government. 
 
¶7.  (U) A letter, dated April 24, notifying the community of 
the relocation was posted on one house in the community. 
The letter was dated only 9 days before the relocation.  The 
letter claimed the relocation notice was a result of 
proceedings that began April 21.  However, local community 
members and NGOs claimed that the process was done without 
transparency. 
 
¶8.  (U) On May 5, Tonle Bassac community representatives 
revealed that they had conducted a census of the community 
in 2002 that counted 1,367 families living in the area.  At 
a later date, however, the local municipal authorities 
conducted a census that counted 1,216 families.  In 
addition, the two surveys only had about 100 families in 
common.  The municipal authorities are adamant about using 
their own census for compensating people being relocated in 
 
PHNOM PENH 00000869  002 OF 002 
 
 
spite of the fact the community leaders have produced 
documents signed by the Sour Srun Company lawyer stating 
that the community census was to be used. 
 
¶9.  (SBU) Comment.  Land rights remain a contentious issue 
in Cambodia and a potentially explosive one.  According to 
NGOs, the Tonle Bassac issue has the makings of a lose-lose 
situation.  Many people will likely be moved but will 
probably remain at the resettlement site for a few days or 
weeks, before returning to their livelihoods in the city. 
The resettlement site will go seriously underutilized, with 
its land falling into the hands of those who have colluded 
with municipal authorities.  As a result, Phnom Penh's urban 
poverty problems will only increase with the return of many 
homeless families.  Municipal authorities pay lip service to 
resettlement guidelines and indeed another resettlement 
scheme is proceeding much better than the Bassac community 
scheme, but consistency and minimum humanitarian standards 
are still lacking. 
 
STORELLA