VZCZCXRO5916
RR RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM RUEHNH
DE RUEHPF #0557/01 2180322
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 060322Z AUG 09
FM AMEMBASSY PHNOM PENH
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1023
INFO RUCNASE/ASEAN MEMBER COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PHNOM PENH 000557 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/MLS AND DRL 
USAID FOR ASIA BUREAU 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM SOCI KDEM CB
SUBJECT: RGC LAND POLICY MAKES HEADLINES AGAIN IN CASE OF 
HIV/AIDS-AFFECTED FAMILIES 
 
REF: PHNOM PENH 379 AND PREVIOUS 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY.  Cambodia's land and eviction policies earned more 
worldwide attention July 27 when international news outlets 
highlighted the resettlement of a group of HIV/AIDS-affected 
families from a central Phnom Penh neighborhood to a site on the 
outskirts of the city.  The Phnom Penh Municipal Government (PPMG) 
had evicted the families in June after determining that they were 
not eligible for alternative housing under an urban social land 
concession in the neighborhood.  Human rights NGOs have charged that 
the families are isolated and have labeled the resettlement site an 
"AIDS Colony".  Poloff and USAID Health Officer visited the site 
August 4 to assess the situation and meet with the families. 
Although HIV-affected families have received the press attention, 
this case is more aptly viewed in the context of land issues, lack 
of governance, and the desperate situation of Cambodia's urban poor. 
 Its visibility should not detract from the enormous gains Cambodia 
has made in combating HIV/AIDS, and the government's continued 
leadership and support toward that objective.  END SUMMARY. 
 
URBAN LAND CONCESSION STUMBLES IN IMPLEMENTATION 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
¶2. (U) In July 2003, the Council of Ministers issued a letter to the 
PPMG to create four social land concessions for urban poor 
communities, including Borei Keila.  The arrangement allowed a 
private company to develop the neighborhood, located in the heart of 
the city, in exchange for constructing 10 onsite apartment buildings 
as alternative housing for the existing residents.  The concession 
plan called for all Borei Keila homeowners plus renters who had 
lived in the neighborhood since 2000 to receive apartments in the 
new buildings. 
 
¶3. (U) By March 2007, Cambodian firm Phanimex had completed three of 
the 10 apartment buildings.  The PPMG moved approximately 160 
families, including 31 HIV/AIDS-affected families, from their homes 
to make way for the remaining apartment buildings.  The PPMG 
screened the evicted families to determine which were eligible for 
apartments.  Human rights NGOs allege that the PPMG excluded the 31 
HIV/AIDS-affected families from this screening process, and for two 
years these families lived in government-provided metal sheds on the 
Borei Keila site.  In April 2009 the PPMG announced that it had 
screened the 31 families and determined that 11 of them were 
eligible for apartments in Borei Keila. 
 
¶4. (SBU) NOTE:  Prior to any resettlement, HIV/AIDS NGOs working 
with HIV-affected families in Borei Keila had singled out this 
particular population for advocacy and support (food, medical care, 
transportation support, social support) that other poor families at 
the site did not receive.  Since 2003, HIV/AIDS NGOs began 
negotiating with the government to find a resettlement site at the 
request of HIV-affected families so it is unclear if the initial 
exclusion of HIV-affected families was due in part to separate 
negotiations with the government.  END NOTE. 
 
¶5. (SBU) On June 18, the PPMG evicted the families deemed ineligible 
for apartments to a resettlement site called Tuol Sambo, located 
about 15 miles outside of Phnom Penh.  On June 21, the remaining 11 
families were also moved.  A representative of the UN Office of the 
High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNOHCHR), who was involved in 
the negotiations with the PPMG over the resettlement of the 
families, told Poloff that the 11 families are reportedly still 
eligible for apartments in Borei Keila, and that the PPMG had 
promised that their stay at Tuol Sambo would be temporary. 
 
'AIDS COLONY' LABEL DRAWS INTERNATIONAL ATTENTION 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
¶6. (SBU) Human rights NGOs labeled Tuol Sambo an "AIDS Colony", 
noting that the community is isolated and distinct from its 
neighbors, with large green metal sheds as housing and lack of 
access to income opportunities and health care.  A group of 
approximately 116 organizations focusing on HIV/AIDS issues endorsed 
a letter delivered by Human Rights Watch to the Prime Minister and 
Minister of Health highlighting the issues at Tuol Sambo.  News 
outlets picked up the story, and on July 27, CNN International 
coverage included a headline on "Cambodia's AIDS Colony". 
 
CONDITIONS AT TUOL SAMBO 
------------------------ 
 
¶7. (SBU) INFRASTRUCTURE AND SANITATION:  Poloff and USAID Health 
Officer visited Tuol Sambo on August 4 to assess the situation and 
meet with the families.  The families are living in several rows of 
large green metal sheds with partitioned apartments for each family, 
which are distinctive from the surrounding buildings in the village. 
 
PHNOM PENH 00000557  002 OF 002 
 
 
 The sheds grow hot during the day, making it difficult for the 
families to store their medications among other general comfort 
issues.  The PPMG installed one water well for the community and has 
provided electrical lines from the city's grid, making the site much 
better equipped than most of the other notorious resettlement sites 
in the area.  The sheds have toilets, although a Medecins Sans 
Frontiers assessment of the site predicted that the rudimentary 
sewage system would back up within 10 weeks of use. 
 
¶8. (SBU) HEALTHCARE:  The NGO Sihanouk Hospital Center for Hope, 
which receives funding from the Global Fund for TB, AIDS and Malaria 
(GFTAM), provided home-based care to the Borei Keila community and 
provided a mobile clinic on site twice a week for basic healthcare 
services.  Sihanouk Center for Hope continues to provide care and 
support for AIDS-affected families in Tuol Sambo, and longer-term 
support will transition to a Cambodian home-based care NGO called 
WOMEN.  WOMEN receives funding from USAID and the Global Fund. 
AIDS-affected families at both sites receive other local NGO food, 
transportation and medical support.  A local religious organization 
provides the community in Tuol Sambo with money to travel back to 
Phnom Penh on a monthly basis to procure their antiretroviral (ARV) 
medications. 
 
¶9. (SBU) INCOME AND EMPLOYMENT:  The families' primary concerns were 
that the metal sheds would not be able to withstand Cambodia's heat 
and rains, and that they were too far from the city to be able to 
earn livelihoods.  Most of the residents reported that they had been 
construction workers or other laborers when they lived in Borei 
Keila.  A 2007 study estimated that the average monthly income of 
the HIV/AIDS-affected families in Borei Keila was $97, or 
approximately $3.20 per day.  The families said that the roundtrip 
travel cost between Tuol Sambo and Phnom Penh by motorcycle taxi 
averages $4-$5. 
 
COMMENT 
-------- 
 
¶10. (SBU) Although the situation of the families at Tuol Sambo has 
justifiably received much attention, the challenges that the 
families face are not unique.  The Borei Keila/Tuol Sambo case is 
one of many land disputes that have highlighted the significant 
inadequacies in the PPMG's eviction and resettlement policies, as 
well as the desperate situation of Cambodia's urban poor, which are 
routinely raised by civil society and donors, including Embassy 
Phnom Penh (Reftel).  This case, while difficult, should not detract 
from the enormous progress that Cambodia has made in combating 
HIV/AIDS, especially with U.S. support.  USG assistance has 
contributed to a 50% reduction in the HIV/AIDS infection rates in 
Cambodia and has helped ensure that 90% of adults in need of ARV 
medications receive them.  USAID-funded programs will continue to 
support the healthcare needs of the Tuol Sambo community, and Post 
will continue to monitor the situation at the site and raise the 
larger land issues it highlights. 
 
RODLEY