Evicted by Cambodia, ethnic Vietnamese stuck at watery border seek mercy

Residents demolish their floating houses on the Tonle Sap river after they were ordered to leave within one week of being notified by local authorities in Prek Pnov district, Phnom Penh. - Reuters

LEUK DAEK, Cambodia (Reuters): Shunned by authorities on both sides of the border, Bach Bai has been relying on the generosity of strangers since his ethnic Vietnamese fishing community was evicted from Cambodia's capital three weeks ago and cast off downstream on their floating homes.

But few are willing to help hundreds of stateless families, who had earned a living breeding fish and hosting tourists on Cambodia's Tonle Sap River, and are now moored to a riverbank a few kilometres from Vietnam, desperate to be allowed inside.