Cambodia: UNESCO meeting must ‘condemn’ forced eviction of families living in Angkor

Thousands of people have been forced to leave their homes around the historic complex

​Cambodian authorities have intimidated and threatened many into not questioning the evictions

Governments attending UNESCO World Heritage Committee meeting in India must call for an end to evictions and respect for residents’ human rights

‘Member states at the World Heritage Committee session must unequivocally condemn the human rights violations being committed at Angkor’- Kate Schuetze

Ahead of UNESCO’s 46th session of the World Heritage Committee in New Delhi, India, (21-31 July), Amnesty International is calling on member states to condemn the Cambodian government’s forced eviction of thousands of families from the historic site of Angkor.

Kate Schuetze, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Research Director, said:

“Member states at the World Heritage Committee session must unequivocally condemn the human rights violations being committed by the Cambodian government at Angkor.

“They must also follow up on the UNESCO draft decision with a view to preventing further violations and ensuring that victims of forced evictions can access their right to effective remedy.

“The current UNESCO draft decision may be a first step towards acknowledging and addressing the rights violations that have taken place at Angkor, however, UNESCO and the member states of the World Heritage Committee still have more to do to ensure human rights – which are at the heart of the entire United Nations system – are not forgotten.”

UNESCO needs to do more

UNESCO issued a draft decision on the site ahead of next week’s meeting stating concern about “possible forced population displacements” and requested the Cambodian government invite a joint Reactive Monitoring Mission to Angkor to assess the state of conservation and relocated communities’ conditions, and called on it to inform affected communities of the ongoing relocation programme and ensure conditions complied with human rights.

The decision falls short of calling on the Government to make an explicit commitment to stop the forced evictions at Angkor as well as calling for the authorities to put in place all necessary corrective measures to ensure they fully respect the human rights of the communities affected, which UNESCO called for last year in response to Amnesty’s report that exposed the forced evictions.

 In November, Amnesty released its report Nobody wants to leave their home: Mass forced evictions at Cambodia’s UNESCO World Heritage site of Angkor, which exposed the Cambodian authorities’ failure to adequately inform people living at the site or engage in genuine consultations with them before forcibly evicting them. They also intimidated and threatened many into not questioning the evictions and to relocate to places that did not have housing, adequate water, sanitation facilities or access to livelihoods.