Ousted Residents of Borei Keila File Suit Against Developer

Police began pushing, hitting and kicking the demonstrators, eye witnesses and rights workers said after they failed to disperse after the demonstration, on Wednesday January 11, 2012.


Several hundred families from the Borei Keila neighborhood filed suit against development company Phan Imex on Wednesday, for what they claim is a breach of an agreement to properly house residents displaced by their project.

Nearly 400 families were forcibly evicted from the Borei Keila site this month, and former residents say Phan Imex failed to construct two buildings of a promised 10 in order to house them.

Instead, many have been sent to relocation sites far from the city that lack proper health, hygiene, education and commerce opportunities, they said. The complaint calls for around $2,500 per family in compensation.

Tim Sakmony, a representative of the residents, said damages to homes in forced evictions cost families between $1,000 and $4,000.

“The company completely bulldozed my house,” Eng Than, 51, told VOA Khmer. “Dishes, rice, soup pots, blankets, mosquito net, clothes.”

Suy Sophan, president of Phan Imex, said the company will work to reach an agreement with families that have proper documentation and was offering a $500 relocation fee to families without it.