In the early 2000s the Cambodian government announced a series of social and economic land concessions across the country to several different developers. Initially celebrated as a progressive step to modernize the country and the capital city, Phnom Penh, these concessions became stained with poor planning, broken promises, civil rights violations and years of struggle for thousands of families.
One of the smaller concessions was in the Borei Keila community of Phnom Penh, which gave 4.6 hectares of land in 2003 to the developer Phan Imex, owned by Suy Sophan who had close ties with Prime Minister Hun Sen. Out of that 4.6 hectares of land two were set aside for 10 new apartment buildings meant to give homes to the 1776 families living in the community as their old homes were demolished. To make way for the first three apartment buildings in 2007 the homes of 100 families were torn down. Forcing them to live in the alleyways of the neighborhood. In 2010 Phan Imex stopped building the apartments, leaving 300 families excluded. Only eight of the 10 buildings were finished. In 2012 construction workers, aided by armed police officers, demolished the homes of the remaining families, whether they had moved their belongings out or not. Phan Imex refused to compensate them. Starting in 2007 and lasting for over a decade, the residents of Borei Keila resisted and demanded to get what was promised to them. These images follow the Borei Keila neighborhood and the family of area community leader Brak Sopha from 2012 to 2015.
A drawing of Angkor Wat decorates the wall of an abandoned apartment in one of the few remaining apartment buildings in the Borei Keila community in Phnom Penh, Cambodia on May 13, 2012. Demolition of 300 homes next to the apartment buildings occurred on January 3, 2012, regardless of if people had removed their belongings out or not. This forced many families to make homes inside of the partially demolished apartment buildings or make simple shelters from tarps and debris of the old homes in the neighboring alleyways. (Photo by Joseph Pocs)
Remaining partially demolished apartment buildings in the Borei Keila community stay standing and sparsely occupied by a few families who are holding out for compensation for their loses and a new home in Phnom Penh, Cambodia on May 13, 2012. (Photo By Joseph Pocs)
A newly built apartment remains empty after developers halted construction on the promised new apartment buildings meant for the displaced residents of the Borei Keila community in Phnom Penh, Cambodia on February 12, 2014. When the developers, Phan Imex, were given land in Borei Keila by the government in 2003, it was with the plan to build 10 apartment buildings as new homes for those being displaced. Phan Imex completed eight buildings, started building the first two floors of the ninth buildings and never started the tenth. Three hundred families were impacted by this decision. (Photo by Joseph Pocs)
Representatives from Borei Keila community, developer Phan Imex and Phnom Penh officials met to discuss giving some families apartments on the only completed apartment level of the ninth building which was promised to be constructed for displaced families by Phan Imex in 2003 in Phnom Penh, Cambodia on February 15, 2014. Discussions began after Borei Keila residents tore done a fence around the ninth building and occupied it on February 14, 2014. This was in response to a rescinded offer by Phan Imex to give them small lots on which to build. Residents rejected the offer after Phan Imex changed the offered lot size from 4x6 meter lots to 4x3 meter lots. (Photo by Joseph Pocs)
A resident of Borei Keila works to build a new shelter in the alleyway of the community next to other makeshift homes in Phnom Penh, Cambodia on February 26, 2014. (Photo by Joseph Pocs)
Brak Sopha, 45, left, makes lunch in her home for her neighbors in Phnom Penh, Cambodia on March 1, 2014. Sopha is one of the community leaders in Borei Keila and often helps support residents with food and information about ongoing efforts against Phan Imex. (Photo by Joseph Pocs)
The development of the Borei Keila community continues as homeless residents wait nearby for new homes or proper compensation for their loses in Phnom Penh, Cambodia on March 2, 2014. (Photo by Joseph Pocs)
Brak Sopha, 45, does laundry outside her home in a back alleyway of the Borei Keila community in Phnom Penh, Cambodia on March 2, 2014. Without a job she does neighbors laundry for some money while her husband goes and works as a day laborer at a nearby market. (Photo by Joseph Pocs)
Father Non Neang, 46, naps with his son, Sokleap, in their home in Phnom Penh, Cambodia on March 7, 2014. Unable to do much heavy lifting due to illness, Neang provides what he can to his family as a day laborer at the nearby market which pays 5 dollars a day or less, occasionally getting small bags of food from vendors. (Photo by Joseph Pocs)
Brak Sopha, 45, looks at an old picture of herself at a celebration before the forced evictions occurred in 2012 and when she had her own small business as a baker in Phnom Penh, Cambodia on March 7, 2014. When Phan Imex demolished her home she lost her baking equipment and scooter, forcing her to give up her vendor stall. (Photo by Joseph Pocs)
Brak Sopha, 45, top right, talks to residents of Borei Keila about the recent police actions in their community against them and legal complaints that community leaders have filed against the police in Phnom Penh, Cambodia on March 11, 2014. Residents meet semi regularly to discuss their concerns and new actions being done to help gain a new home or proper compensation from the developers. (Photo by Joseph Pocs)
The completed white apartment buildings house some of the residents of Borei Keila community as the homeless residents live in makeshift shelters at their base and development continues in Phnom Penh, Cambodia on March 13, 2014. Out of the 10 promised apartment buildings only eight were completed leaving 300 families without a home. (Photo by Joseph Pocs)
Non Neang, 46, top right, works as a day laborer at Orussey Market in Phnom Penh, Cambodia on March 14, 2014. Neang walks from the Borei Keila community to the market with his brother early in the morning to earn up to five dollars a day. (Photo by Joseph Pocs)
