(4 Jan 2013)
AP Television
Phnom Penh, Cambodia - 21 October 2012
1. Wide of young residents of dwelling in Doeum Sleng cemetery sitting on top of graves
2. Close up grave, pan to little girl in graveyard dwelling
3. Various of woman feeding baby by graves
4. Wide of little children playing on grave
5. Close up of graves
6. Children sitting on graves
7. Child in village in cemetery
8. Various of dwellings in village
9. Various of village resident Suong Ry cooking on front of a grave at her home
10. SOUNDBITE (Khmer) Suong Ry, Resident of Doeum Sleng :
"Before nobody lived here except just only one house. When the river bank collapsed we did not have any place to live so we saw that one house and we just came and we lived here with the graves. Now some graves have been removed and more people are coming. If all the graves are removed even more people would come."
11. Various tracking shots of children running among graves and between houses
12. Pots on top of graves by water
13. Various of children playing among graves
14. Close up of graves
15. Close up of resident Prom Hoeun
16. SOUNDBITE (Khmer) Prom Hoeun, Resident of Doeum Sleng :
"At first this place was like a forest and just had a few houses. I was afraid at the time. But after the river bank collapsed more people came and I stopped being afraid. Now there are more people than ghosts. So I think they are afraid of the people."
17. Wide of Prom Hoeun sitting by grave
18. SOUNDBITE (Khmer) Prom Hoeun, Resident of Doeum Sleng :
"I am worried that I will be forced to move to another place. If the Government give me land to live I will be ok, but if not I will be very worried because I have my family to think of."
19. Clothes being dried on washing line, tilt down to grave
20. Various of woman holding a baby in front of grave
21. Close up of woman living in Doeum Sleng
22. Various of children playing among graves
23. People gathering on grave
24. Wide of social worker Sum Samon in her office
25. SOUNDBITE (Khmer) Sum Samon, Social worker :
"Wherever people are faced with forcible eviction, they unavoidably face mental health issues. Their serious concerns make them unable to improve the living standard for their families, who are waiting to be evicted. When they are very worried like that, it causes them pain and mental health problems."
26. Various of people living in cemetery
LEAD IN
People in the Cambodian capital are slowly moving into and colonising an old graveyard, making the cemetery into a living village.
STORYLINE
From the cradle to the grave.
These people have created their homes in a cemetery.
Only 15 minutes away from the thriving heart of Phnom Penh is the cemetery Doeum Sleng.
Residents have built makeshift dwellings from tarpaulins, sheets of metal and scrap timber amongst the gravestones of the old Chinese Vietnamese cemetery.
Whether they have been evicted from their previous homes or simply have had no other choices, the residents now call this place home.
Residents are from different backgrounds and have arrived at different times.
What they share in common is that they have learned to live with the dead and the gravestones have become part of their daily life.
Many of them are now used as benches, tables or other pieces of furniture in their dwellings.
Resident Suong Ry is a 60-year-old food seller and has lived in the cemetery since 1986.
She says the population of the cemetery has gradually increased.
Some residents rent their homes for three US dollars per month whilst others claim to have lawful rights to their land.
Many of them face the threat of eviction.
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