Losing Ground - Human Rights Party.

Losing Ground
At the entrance to the prime minister’s estate, assistance
- or at least the appearance of it - was swift. A guard made
a call and within 15 minutes an official arrived to meet the
farmers who were sitting huddled, nervous and bewildered
on the ground before him.
He politely accepted their petition, wished them good
luck, and graciously arranged transportation to a nearby
pagoda (Som Roun Pagoda) where, he told them, they would
be able to sleep and find food while members of the cabinet
sought a resolution to their problem. He also assured them
that they would be protected overnight by members of the
prime minister’s bodyguard unit (Hun Sen’s estate is said to
be surrounded by barracks housing about 1,000 bodyguards)
and said he would meet them later in the evening to discuss
their case. The farmers were elated.
“I believe our case is now 95 percent resolved,” said Mr. Yi.
However, a vendor operating a nearby stall was less
buoyant about the quick response, describing it as routine.
“After [the groups] arrive here an advisor comes to meet
them quickly and tells them to move to another place and
promises they will send someone to solve their problem,”
the vendor explained. “Sometimes there are as many as three
groups a day,” the vendor added. “They come from all over
the country, all 24 provinces.”
The ritual-like visits to the prime minister’s estate of
farmers facing the loss of their land (as well as low-income
urban residents facing eviction) started rising in 2006,
accelerated in 2007 and 2008 and have shown no sign of
declining this year, the vendor said.
Pagoda eviction
The farmers’ elation began diminishing when the abbot told
them they might only be able to stay one night, there was
no food for them, and neither the official who met them
at the gate nor the guards he promised arrived that night.
They were crestfallen following the first visit the following
morning by a member of the Cabinet. “He did not ask about
our troubles or difficulties, he just told us to go home,” one
of the community members, Mr. Thong Sareth said. “We
told him we will not return to Siem Reap unless they give us
a letter from Hun Sen guaranteeing our safety and that we
will not be shot.”
Monks at Som Roun Pagoda said on average two or
three groups seeking the prime minister’s intervention in
a land dispute arrive every month, that they come from
every province and generally stay one or two nights while
they await a resolution. A novice monk said the longest he
had seen a group stay at the pagoda was one week. “If the
authorities tell them to go, they have to leave, but monks
would never [willingly] tell them to leave,” he said.
By mid afternoon a low-ranking Cabinet member arrived
at the pagoda about 15 minutes after his bodyguard did. He
assured the farmers they would be safe if they returned to
Chi Kreang resident, Mr. Thong Sareth, receives a letter from a
member of Hun Sen’s Cabinet that purportedly guarantees the
safety of the farmers who fled Siem Reap.
46 Forced Evictions and Intimidation in Cambodia