In Cambodia, villages wiped off the map in the name of preserving the Angkor site

On a white canvas, Chan Vichet paints one of the famous sculptures of the temples of Angkor representing the Hindu god Shiva, without looking up at the Cambodian soldiers who are loading the debris of a neighbour’s destroyed house onto a truck. He lives and works 500 meters from the ruins classified as World Heritage by Unesco, from where he draws his inspiration for the works he sells to tourists.

Soon, he will have to leave, reluctantly, the land he has occupied for seven years, like the 10,000 other families who will be expelled from the archaeological site by the Cambodian government.

The integrity of the site threatened

Some 120,000 people lived in the 400 km2 protected area in 2013, six times more than twenty years earlier. This expansion of the local population, parallel to that of tourism, threatens the integrity of the site, from the waste generated, or the excessive use of water, assured the local authorities.

They intend to reforest the spaces previously occupied by makeshift houses, without running water or mains drainage, and sometimes deprived of electricity. Their rehousing program does not concern people who have been there for generations, and is based on voluntary work, they insisted, hoping to be finished by June.

Move away from tourist routes

“Since I heard about the relocation plan, I feel numb”explains Chan Vichet, 48 years old. “I force myself to support my family, but I no longer have all my concentration, nor my creativity”, laments the painter.

Once his house is demolished, he will move with his family to Run Ta Ek, 25 kilometers from Angkor. Far from the routes taken by tourists, worries the artist who fears for his livelihood. There, earthmoving machines are working on land formerly dedicated to rice cultivation, to implement the promises of the authorities: a school, a clinic, a covered market, a pagoda…

The new residents receive a right of ownership on a piece of land of 20 meters by 30, 350 dollars, a health card and sheet metal for the roof of their future house which they must build.

Heav Vanak, 51, who lost his leg to a mine, watches his grandson play in the dust under the tarpaulin of a construction site. “I don’t have enough money to buy the materials needed to build my new house”he explains. “We are helpless. How can we protest?”he breathes.

“It’s a liveable place.“, defends Long Kosai, the spokesperson for the public body managing the site (Apsara). The families are “happy to move”he insists, recalling the employment prospects allowed by the planned opening in October of a new international airport in Siem Reap, the big city which adjoins Angkor.

Imbroglio with Unesco

The temples of Angkor, which welcomed more than two million foreign visitors in 2019, are preparing for the strong comeback of tourists, with the end of travel restrictions linked to Covid-19. If the site is not well protected, “in the future, our Angkor Wat will be removed from the World Heritage List”in which he has appeared since 1992, warned Prime Minister Hun Sen, in power for nearly forty years, in September.

But Unesco, which was concerned in 2008 about the risks associated with urban development, never called for the displacement of local populations, defended the organization in a press release to AFP. This sensitive question has arisen elsewhere, such as at Petra in Jordan, or at Luxor in Egypt.

According to Unesco guidelines, relocations must be carried out with the consent of the people concerned, and local communities must be the primary beneficiaries of tourism.

At Run Ta Ek, the new residents are not the only ones to say they are unhappy. Those who have been there for a long time complain about the land allocated to the relocated, which can no longer be used for their subsistence. “Before, we grew rice and earned enough for our family. Now we can only raise chickens and ducks, and it doesn’t earn enough. I also have credit in the bank,” breathes Horn Ravuth, 41, third-generation resident.