Land values in Cambodia and especially in Phnom Penh have skyrocketed over the past few years. Many poor urban communities that have been living in crowded pockets of the city for years or decades, now find themselves occupying prime land. Many of them are eligible for land titles under the current land laws but because rule of law is a fiction here, many if not most of them are facing eviction. Or have already been evicted.
Forced evictions occur regularly across the country. The June and July forced resettlement of families from Borei Keila, which is being developed into an apartment complex, to Toul Sambo was particularly condemned locally and internationally. The reason: the majority of the families have at least one member who is HIV positive. In the process of deciding which families would be granted new apartments at the Borei Keila apartment complex and which would not, these families were sidelined from the start. By moving them all to a location outside of the city, far from medical care and grouped together into what other locals call “the AIDS village,” authorities have made it incredibly difficult for these families to survive. The shelters have been condemned by international observers as being inadequate even in emergency situations, lack electricity, proper ventilation and running water. You can read more about the background of the community and the eviction at Human Rights Watch and Witness.
Below are some photos of the site. These are the “shelters” where the Borei Keila community is living. The structures are made of cheap corrugated iron and build atop poorly constructed foundations. Each family shares a room 3.5 x 4.5 meters which is too hot to stay in during the day due to poor ventilation.
Cambodia Knits decided to establish its first knitting workshop at Toul Sambo to meet the employment needs of the community. In September, we visited the site with a representative of Phnom Penh City Hall’s Urban Poverty Alleviation project to get an sense of the interest of community members in joining CK. Many showed an interest in learning how to knit and signed up for the training programme.
Training began in October 2009 and after a 3 week training period, 18 knitters have successfully completed the training and begun full time employment with Cambodia Knits.
