A dozen families in Kampot province have said they fear that their land will be lost to developers after police turned up to enforce a court decision ordering the families to vacate the area to make way for a company known as Van Vanna. Hin Sy, 70, and her husband Kang Hav owned 1 hectare in Kampong Trach district before the decision.

But the couple did not register the land and receive a land title as required under Cambodia’s 2001 Land Law. The couple says that following the 12 families’ rejection of a $40,000 compensation offer, more than 30 officials attempted to evict them from the land.

Brigadier General Mao Chanmathurith, Kampot provincial deputy police chief, said police had backed off after residents protested. “But in the future, if the court orders us to detain them, we will do it,” he told the Post.