Life among the dead: in Cambodia, development has forced urban poor to make their homes in cemetery
- As condominiums crowd out slums, the 14 per cent of Cambodians living below the poverty line have become less picky about where they live
- About 130 families live in makeshift stilt houses and corrugated metal huts between the colourful tombs of Smor San cemetery in Phnom Penh
Graveyards may traditionally be the eternal resting place for the dead, but one cemetery in Phnom Penh has become a place to stay for the living, as communities destroyed by unstoppable development are forced to take desperate measures.
Ma Nith confessed she was “speechless” when she realised Smor San cemetery in the capital was to be home after her arranged marriage.
“It was beyond my belief that I could live here,” said the 42-year-old mother of four, flipping fillets on the grill as her son clambered over a grave.
“But now, I’ve adapted to it,” she said, revealing that she had lived in the graveyard for 16 years.
The World Bank estimates growth last year reached a four-year high of 7.5 per cent. But as gleaming condominiums crowd out slums, the 14 per cent of Cambodians living below the poverty line have become less picky about where they live.
Ma Nith’s family is one of roughly 130 living in makeshift stilt houses and corrugated metal huts in between the colourful tombs of Smor San.