Camsplodia I think you're missing the point, this isn't an argument for justifying land grabbing. The same as calling out Somaly Mam on her lies isn't a defence of human trafficking. It's about the realisation that truth and justice go hand in hand and that any attempt to subvert or misrepresent the truth will never bring about justice in the general sense of the word.
Was PP Municipality contesting ownership of those areas from 96?
They definitely were in dispute by 2001. Boeng Kak and Borei Keila were rumoured to be close to eviction for as long as I've been here. Most slums here were formed after 1993 and the arrival of UNTAC and started becoming a news story with threats of eviction after 1998.
There is imagery for Phnom Penh in 1963, 1975, 1983, 1993, 2001 and 2005. It's very easy to plot the development of these communities. We can't say that we want to only follow the parts of the law we agree with or think are well written. The law is the law, as soon as we try to circumnavigate the law we are as bad as the corrupt judges and the politicians that control them.
If we know that a settlement is illegal under the law we shouldn't try to bend the truth so that the general public believe that it is legal. We should instead focus on humanitarian and moral arguments against evictions. Slinging mud at the government and accusing them of breaking the law (in cases where they haven't) will scuttle any future attempt at taking the clemency angle as it would now involve them having to admit they were wrong or at least have it appear that way.
It's my belief that for many finding the best possible solution for these families is secondary to damaging the governments reputation.
Camsplodia I think you're missing the point, this isn't an argument for justifying land grabbing. The same as calling out Somaly Mam on her lies isn't a defence of human trafficking. It's about the realisation that truth and justice go hand in hand and that any attempt to subvert or misrepresent the truth will never bring about justice in the general sense of the word.
[quote]Was PP Municipality contesting ownership of those areas from 96?[/quote]
They definitely were in dispute by 2001. Boeng Kak and Borei Keila were rumoured to be close to eviction for as long as I've been here. Most slums here were formed after 1993 and the arrival of UNTAC and started becoming a news story with threats of eviction after 1998.
There is imagery for Phnom Penh in 1963, 1975, 1983, 1993, 2001 and 2005. It's very easy to plot the development of these communities. We can't say that we want to only follow the parts of the law we agree with or think are well written. The law is the law, as soon as we try to circumnavigate the law we are as bad as the corrupt judges and the politicians that control them.
If we know that a settlement is illegal under the law we shouldn't try to bend the truth so that the general public believe that it is legal. We should instead focus on humanitarian and moral arguments against evictions. Slinging mud at the government and accusing them of breaking the law (in cases where they haven't) will scuttle any future attempt at taking the clemency angle as it would now involve them having to admit they were wrong or at least have it appear that way.
It's my belief that for many finding the best possible solution for these families is secondary to damaging the governments reputation.