Losing Ground: Forced Evictions and Intimidation in Cambodia

As shown in this report, harassment of local activists in Cambodia, including defenders of the right to housing, is widespread. Cambodia’s rich and powerful are increasingly abusing the criminal justice system to silence communities standing up against land concessions or business deals affecting the land they live on or cultivate. Many poor and marginalized communities are living in fear of the institutions created to protect them, in particular the police and the courts. As forced evictions increase, public space for discussing them is shrinking. Rights Razed noted that around 150,000 Cambodians were at risk of eviction. This conservative estimate has since been widely quoted in the international media. For the most part, however, the individual experiences of those affected go unreported. This book is about the people behind those numbers. [This book] shows how people living in poverty are routinely excluded from decisions affecting them. So-called “development” often happens to their detriment and at their expense, rather than in consultation with them.

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