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This photo taken on January 16, 2023 shows a girl sitting on a bed as she waits for a military truck to pick up her belonging at the Angkor Wat temple area in Siem Reap province. - The Cambodian government is undertaking a mammoth operation to relocate, on a "voluntary basis", some 10,000 families who are squatting on public land near the temples. The scheme involves revegetation and is essential to preserving the site's heritage status, Cambodian authorities say. (Photo by TANG CHHIN Sothy / AFP) / TO GO WITH 'CAMBODIA-RIGHTS-HERITAGE-TOURISM,FEATURE' BY SUY SE AND LISA MARTIN - To go with 'CAMBODIA-RIGHTS-HERITAGE-TOURISM,FEATURE' by Suy SE and Lisa MARTIN

The Statement on the land grabs and forced displacement at Angkor Wat

France and Japan

Must Suspend All Support

And Demand Investigation On Forced Displacement

At World Heritage Site Angkor 

President Emmanuel Macron should take a strong stance to uphold the principles of the 1991 Paris Peace Accords when he receives Hun Manet in Paris from 18-19 January. We call on President Emmanuel Macron to take swift and decisive action regarding the forced displacement of 10,000 families at the Angkor World Heritage site.

As co-chairs of the International Coordinating Committee for the Safeguarding and Development of the Historic Site of Angkor, France and Japan must suspend all support and demand a comprehensive and impartial investigation into the reported forced displacement and land grabbing undertaking in the name of conserving the World Heritage site.

“The Cambodian authorities cruelly uprooted families who have lived in Angkor for several generations, forcing them to live hand to mouth at ill-prepared relocation sites,” said Montse Ferrer, Deputy Regional Director for Research at Amnesty International.

They ended up living under tarpaulin sheets for months in an area lacking adequate sanitation. The plight of the families and their appalling conditions of resettlement has been highlighted in a report by Amnesty International.

“These are forced evictions in disguise and on a mass scale,” said Ming Yu Hah, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for Campaigns.

The Cambodian government has repeatedly misrepresented these resettlements as voluntary, including in an official report on the state of Angkor conservation received by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Center in December 2022.

France and Japan are signatories of the Paris Peace Agreements of October 23, 1991. The signatories have commitments to respect, support, encourage, and protect human rights and fundamental freedoms and dignity of Cambodians, especially those affected by injustices.