Children who sell goods on the street and beggars would be “collected”
and taken to the Prey Speu social affairs centre – which has two-metre-high
walls and lockable gates – for the duration of the upcoming ASEAN Summit, a
City Hall spokesman said yesterday.
Such action was necessary to make
a good impression on visiting leaders such as US President Barack Obama and
Russian President Vladimir Putin, Phnom Penh Municipal Hall spokesman Long
Dimanche told the Post.
“We need to make good security
for the foreign delegations that join the ASEAN meeting,” he said.
“We plan to collect beggars and
children who are walking and selling goods and fruit on the street, and put
them in Prey Speu.”
Those taken to the centre – from
which about 30 women and children from Borei Keila escaped in January – would
be provided with training in the centre and would be free to go when they
pleased, Dimanche said.
“If the leaders from across ASEAN
and the world see beggars and children on the street, they might speak
negatively to the government.”
David Harding, deputy director of
the NGO Friends International, said that although it was not always
acknowledged by visiting delegations, this type of action was becoming common
among host nations in the lead-up to big international events.
“The larger the [visiting]
country involved, the higher the anxiety about how these people are perceived,”
he said, adding there were options other than sending people the government
wanted off the street to Prey Speu.
“These places are not adequate
for people to live in a humane way . . . so we’re working very hard to create
[other options].”
The government was, however,
beginning to recognise alternatives to this approach and was working with NGOs
that provided suitable services, Harding said.
One security guard, who did not
want to be named, told the Post yesterday high-ranking officials had stated in
no uncertain terms that beggars and sellers must be cleared from his Wat Phnom
beat – near the US embassy – before world leaders arrived for the summit, which
will runs from November 18 to 20.
“I’ve already told them not to
operate here during the ASEAN Summit, because it makes our city look bad and
visiting officials won’t like it. We had to do the same thing earlier this
year,” he said, referring to ASEAN summits in April and July.
Homeless veteran Thoeun, an
amputee who sells books near Wat Phnom, said he expected to be banned from
working his usual patch, but was not sticking around to find out.
“I know our country has this
ASEAN meeting next week, so I already know what I have to do for the sake of my
business – go somewhere else.”
Beggars along the river say they
too have been told they are not welcome during ASEAN.
Srey, 45, whose husband has been
locked in Prey Speu under similar circumstances before, said police had told
her to beg somewhere less public – and lucrative.
“I don’t really know what’s
happening here next week. I was just told to move because there’s a big
meeting,” she said.
About 100 Boeung Kak and Borei
Keila residents, mostly women, continued protesting yesterday on parkland
outside the US embassy, a short distance from Wat Phnom.
The group, who left the area on
Wednesday night after being confronted by scores of police who threatened them
with arrest, plan to protest each day until Obama arrives, in the hope he will
intervene to secure the release of imprisoned activists Yorm Bopha and Tim
Sakmony.
“However, we don’t sleep here,”
Boeung Kak resident Song Srey Leap said. “We’ll leave at night.”
Song Srey Leap said an embassy
official had told the protesters later they should a write a letter requesting
a formal meeting with US ambassador William Todd.
Dimanche said City Hall was
considering what action it would take if the protesters remained there until
the ASEAN Summit.
In a separate attempt at cleaning
up the streets yesterday, City Hall asked residents who live along main roads
to keep their houses looking neat and tidy.
“Avoid placing your garbage in
front of the house or illegally dumping it along the boulevards and roads,
which could impact public order, traffic, [the] beauty and image of Phnom Penh
as well as of the whole country,” a statement says.
Some students would also have to
play their part in ensuring the success of the summit, the final big event of
Cambodia’s chairmanship, Prime Minister Hun Sen said yesterday.
Schools on Russian Boulevard will
close from November 16 to 21 – as they did for ASEAN events in April and July –
to ensure traffic does not become too congested for dignitaries.
“I expect students will
understand and forgive us for missing school for a short time,” Hun Sen said.
Meanwhile, more than 100 families
who fear eviction from their homes near Phnom Penh International Airport in the
lead-up to the summit face a nervous wait.
Chray Nem, a resident of Por Sen
Chey district’s Choam Chao commune, said residents were still worried they
would be thrown off their properties to make room for a security fence.
“I have heard a rumour that the authorities
won’t do this now, but we don’t believe rumours until we receive an official
letter in our hands.”
Khouth Sophak Chakrya, Mom
Kunthear and Shane Worrell
Business & Investment Opportunities
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