via The Guardian, 29 November 2022:
Cambodia’s prime minister, Hun Sen, has referred to the evictions as “voluntary relocations” necessary to retain Unesco status. “Angkor Wat might be withdrawn from the world heritage [list], because it would lose the terms and conditions that are required by the world heritage commission,” he said in August. In October, he warned that those who refused to leave would be evicted without “even a single cent”.
Unesco’s world heritage committee expressed concerns about “uncontrolled” development in the park in a 2008 report, but it has not listed Angkor as “in danger” of having its status removed since 2004, and in 2014 it commended Cambodia for progress on its management of illegal structures.
Cambodia has been asked to submit a report in December on conservation at Angkor.
“Unesco or the world heritage committee have never called for population displacements in Angkor,” says a spokesperson for the UN agency, adding that Cambodia assured the office that livelihoods, sustainable development and human rights would “be respected”
Source: Mass evictions at Angkor Wat leave 10,000 families facing uncertain future
