Villagers Fight Evictions Near Int’l Airport
More than 250 families ordered to leave their homes next to Phnom Penh International Airport to make way for expansion plans yesterday with City Hall to fight the eviction. The 256 families living in three villages in Pur Senchey district's Choam Chao commune are demanding compensation because they claim to own the land illegally and say the eviction notices violated their rights. The villagers received a letter signed by district governor Kith Sopha last Wednesday ordering them to leave their homes by Thursday, and saying that the dwellings "were constructed as anarchy". In the letter, Mr. Sopha also states that government would take "administrative measures to remove the houses without responsibility for damage" if villagers refuse to leave.
