Borei Keila residents attend a religious ceremony today to commemorate their forced eviction in 2012

Residents of Phnom Penh’s Borei Keila community today commemorated the seven-year anniversary of their violent and forced eviction in 2012, to make way for a high-rise development project owned by an influential businesswoman.

Around 40 community and civil society members gathered at the site to perform a religious ceremony and addressed the media on their eviction and land rights issues. However, 10 police officers were present at the site to monitor the event, and prevented residents from hanging or holding banners highlighting their grievances.

On 3 January 2012, residents of the community were evicted from the site when Phan Imex Corporation, owned by well-connected tycoon Suy Sophan, demolished their homes without any notice, with the aid of the armed state forces.

Phan Imex was given the land under a deal that would see them develop ten buildings on the site to relocate the residents, leaving 2.6 hectares to be developed by the firm. However in 2010, it reneged on the deal after developing only eight buildings, leaving out 300 families from the original agreement.

While many families moved to relocation sites outside the city, which lacked access to basic services, some have returned to the site and continue to live in decrepit conditions demanding a fair resolution to the evictions.