On a blank canvas, Chan Vichet paints an image of the Hindu deity Shiva on one of the
Angkor temples in Cambodia, not looking up, totally oblivious to
soldiers loading the remains of his neighbor's demolished house onto a truck
.
The painter lives and works
500 meters from the famous ruins
that are listed as world heritage by Unesco.
The monuments are his inspiration and his means of subsistence, since he lives by selling his paintings to tourists.
Visitors in the temples.
Photo TANG CHHIN SOTHY / AFP
But now he will have to evacuate his house, like 10,000 other families, who will be expelled from the archaeological site by the Cambodian government.
In 2013, nearly 120,000 people lived, six times more
than 20 years ago, in the 400 km2 established as a protected area,
This
population growth
that has been simultaneous to tourism is considered a problem for
the archaeological site
, because they generate waste and require an excessive amount of water, according to local authorities.
Relocation
"Since I heard
about the relocation plan
, I feel paralyzed," Chan Vichet said.
"I have to force myself to go to work to ensure the livelihood of my family, but I can no longer fully concentrate or be creative," he said.
When his house is demolished, Chan Vichet and his family will be
displaced to Run Ta Ek
, a community some 25 kilometers away built on an old rice paddy that is still under construction.
Tourists pose for a photo at the Angkor Wat temple in Siem Reap, Cambodia.
Photo EFE / MAK REMISSA
Each family will receive a 20 by 30 meter parcel, $350 in cash and 30 pieces of tin roofing material, plus a token for welfare, but
they must build their new home.
Before the pandemic, more than 2 million foreign tourists came each year to explore the ruins of Angkor Wat, which are nearly engulfed by jungle.
For a poor country like Cambodia, this stream of visitors eager to see the ruins of the ancient capital of the Khmer Empire, dating back to the 9th and 15th centuries, was a much-coveted source of income.
The
tourist activity generated a micro-economy
of shopkeepers, food and also beggars, and in parallel the local population went from around 20,000 people in the early 1990s to around 120,000 in 2013.
Now, the government of Prime Minister Hun Sen says that the settlements lack infrastructure and sanitation.
With the
expected return of tourists after the pandemic
, the executive wants to eradicate the camps in the next four months.
"Although they are here illegally, the government is doing many things to secure their livelihoods," said Long Kosal, a spokesman for the Apsara National Authority, which manages the archaeological site.
"This site
cannot allow a disorganized settlement
with such a precarious sanitary infrastructure," he explained.
The government acknowledged that some villages date back centuries and that only recent unauthorized settlements are in the eradication plan.
Tourists at Angkor Wat.
Photo TANG CHHIN SOTHY / AFP
The Apsara National Authority hopes to
reforest the jungle
where there are now ramshackle shacks, no sewage, no water and almost no electricity.
Like many other people facing the loss of their business, Chan Vichet fears that his financial situation will worsen.
Heav Vanak, 51, watches bulldozers level the ground in the dusty settlement where families will be relocated in Run Ta Ek.
He is concerned about the lack of jobs for his four grown children.
"I don't have enough money to buy materials to build a new house," he said.
"We feel powerless."
The organization that runs the site insists the families are "glad" to move and its spokesman, Long Kosal, says a school, hospital, market and pagoda are under construction.
Identity
The
ruins of Angkor Wat are a mainstay of Cambodia's tourism industry
, but they are also central to the country's identity, and the temples' outlines are even printed on the flag.
Hun Sen - who has ruled the kingdom with an iron fist for four decades - has warned opposition parties not to make displacement a campaign issue ahead of July's general election.
"If we don't resolve this, in the future our Angkor Wat will be removed from (the) world heritage list," he said in September.
In a statement to AFP, Unesco stated that although in 2008 it expressed its concern about urban development, but that it
"never asked for there to be a displacement of the population."
The relocation of communities adjacent to Unesco heritage sites has already been the subject of controversy in Petra, Jordan, and Luxor, Egypt.
Sunrise at Angkor Wat, Cambodia.
Photo Shutterstock.
The agency's guidelines stipulate that a transfer must be carried out with the consent of the population and that
local communities must be the main beneficiaries of tourism.
Suy SE and Lisa MARTIN / AFP
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