Ethnic minority families claim violent evictions in Preah Vihear
Six ethnic Kuoy families were violently evicted from their homes in Preah Vihear over the weekend, according to eyewitnesses, with further evictions threatened for another 13 families this morning. Boeng Choen, 44, was ploughing her rice field in Tbeng Meanchey district’s Brame commune on October 15 when a neighbour called to say uniformed men were tearing down her house. Attempting to return home in a truck with 15 other villagers, she found the way blocked by 25 police, military police and provincial Forestry Administration officials, she said on October 17. Provincial Governor Oun Chenda said on October 17 that the land on which Choen and five other families had built their homes belongs to neighbouring Chheb district and that all those evicted were squatters. But Choen, who claims no prior notice was given of the evictions, said she and her family have been living on the land since 1995. On October 17, she showed reporters a copy of a document dated 2007 and thumbprinted by a former Brame commune chief saying the land belonged to her family.
