On June 3rd 2011, individuals and families evicted from Dey Krahorm celebrated a bittersweet victory with a press conference outside their former community. Pressure from activists forced the organizers of the Bayon Challenge to cancel the football tournament which was slated to happen on Dey Krahorm land.

HRTF urges the organisers of the Bayon Challenge to find an alternative venue for the football tournament planned to be held at Phnom Penh's 7NG Field this weekend. The field sits on land that was illegally and violently seized from the Dey Krahorm community in 2009. If an alternative venue cannot be found, we call upon participating teams and sponsors to withdraw from the tournament.

At dawn on January 24, 2009, the community of Dey Krahom was leveled. Having lost their three-year battle against forced eviction, residents of the inner city community watched as their homes were ripped apart by hundreds of police, military police and construction workers armed with bulldozers, sledgehammers, hatchets, iron bars, electric batons, AK-47s, and tear gas. Those trying to resist the eviction or salvage their belongings were beaten and taken away in handcuffs.

This weekend, 7NG, the company behind the forced eviction, is hosting a football tournament on the grounds. According to the Phnom Penh Post, the 10th annual Bayon Challenge will be held on the site, which has since been developed into an exclusive sports complex by the company. Six teams, including Vietnamese sides Saigon Saints and Hanoi Drink Team, as well as local teams Bayon Wanderers, Apsara Dancers, Wing, and Ezecom, are set to participate. The event is sponsored by Tiger Beer, Coca-Cola, Phoenix Security, the FCC, Ajax Amsterdam, Dimensions UPVC Windows & Doors, and SOS Medical Clinic.

"Harmless as participating in a football tournament may seem, playing on land which was violently and illegally seized from hundreds of families is unethical. It is also a slap in the face of the families whose human rights were violated and who continue to face severe hardships as a result of the eviction," said Sia Phearum, Secretariat Director of the Housing Rights Task Force. "Anyone taking part in the event will be supporting the illegal expropriation of land in Cambodia."

"The people of Dey Krahom are the legal owners of the land," said Eang Vuthy, Development Watch Programme Manager at Bridges Across BordersC. "They were forcibly evicted without fair and just compensation. To this day, the people of Dey Krahom continue demand for their rights."

HRTF urges the Bayon Challenge's organisers to find an alternative venue where the tournament can be held in the spirit of fair play. We also call upon all participating teams and sponsors to pull out of the tournament should an alternative venue not be found. Playing on the land of Dey Krahom means playing on land tainted by human rights violations and condoning illegal land grabs in Cambodia.

For more information, please contact:
▪ Sia Phearum, Secretariat Director, Housing Rights Task Force, +855 12 852 325
▪ Eang Vuthy, Development Watch Programme Manager, Bridges Across Borders Cambodia, +855 12 791 700

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