Evacuees from Cambodia-Thai border urged to return home

February 23, 2011
Xinhua

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen's wife Bun Rany on Wednesday encouraged the evacuees from the deadly armed clashes on the disputed border between Cambodia and Thailand to return home as the tension has eased.

Bun Rany, who is the president of Cambodian Red Cross, visited 2,686 families in a refugees camp in Preah Vihear province's Kulen district. The remaining evacuees were out of the total 3,200 families who fled the clashes on Feb. 4-7.

"She has advised those evacuees to return home as the tension has eased," Nhim Vanda, the first vice-president of the Cambodian National Committee for Disaster Management, told Xinhua by telephone.

Which one is Thai, Which one is Cambodian?

FELLOW SUFFERERS: Rany and her child, left; and a Thai woman in Si Sa Ket province.

Villagers on both sides are suffering - and if claims that cluster bombs were deployed prove true, then the pain could be felt for years to come

20/02/2011

Hurley Scroggins and staff reporters

Bangkok Post

Two weeks after the shelling began, life has yet to return to normal in Svay Chrum village, four kilometres south of the frontline on the Cambodian side of the border dispute.

Dwellings sit empty, leaving evidence of a quick departure along with clothes hanging on fences and abandoned bicycles.

There were 250 families in this area; now there are five, said shopkeeper Rany who came back two days after her home was nearly hit by conventional artillery on Feb 7.

''We are the risk-takers, the people who have property to protect. I hear from the camps that everyone wants to come back, but they are still afraid of the situation here,'' she said.

People before politics

Thousands of displaced Cambodians receive government-supported aid at a temporary shelter after fleeing their villages. Photo by: REUTERS

Friday, 11 February 2011
Ou Virak
Letter to The Phnom Penh Post

The cessation of fighting at the border along Preah Vihear since Monday raises hopes of an end to violence in the region. As the Thai and Cambodian governments point the finger of blame at each other and bicker over whether the dispute ought to be resolved bilaterally or with the assistance of an international body, both governments must give immediate attention to the plight of the people who have been displaced by the fighting.

On the Cambodian side of the border, it is reported that as many as 4,100 people have been evacuated from their homes. A previous clash at Preah Vihear in April 2009 resulted in the evacuation of three Cambodian villages and the creation of an internally displaced persons’ camp – Sa Em IDP Camp – which struggled to accommodate and provide for the 1,660 evacuees who were reported to have been housed there.

Despite support from the Cambodian Red Cross and other humanitarian aid agencies as well as the local authorities, shortages of food, a lack of adequate shelter, unsafe drinking water, complications relating to human waste management and a lack of medical provisions and practitioners rendered the camp uninhabitable.

Cambodian civilians in Preah Vihear Temple

A Cambodian boy listens to the radio after his family fled their home to take refuge in the disputed 900-year-old Preah Vihear temple in Preah Vihear province, about 543 km (337 miles) north of Phnom Penh, October 17, 2008. Nearly 200 Cambodian residents living near the temple have taken refuge on its grounds, after recent fighting killed three Cambodian soldiers, a local Cambodian newspaper reported. The International Court of Justice awarded the temple to Cambodia in 1962, but the court failed to determine the ownership of 1.8 square miles (4.6 sq km) Hindu ruins, a ruling that has rankled with Thais ever since. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea
A Cambodian girl washes the dishes while residing temporarily in the disputed 900-year-old Preah Vihear temple in Preah Vihear province, about 543 km (337 miles) north of Phnom Penh, October 17, 2008. Nearly 200 Cambodian residents living near the temple have taken refuge on its grounds, after recent fighting killed three Cambodian soldiers, a local Cambodian newspaper reported. The International Court of Justice awarded the temple to Cambodia in 1962, but the court failed to determine the ownership of 1.8 square miles (4.6 sq km) Hindu ruins, a ruling that has rankled with Thais ever since. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea
Cambodian children eat noodles while residing temporarily in the disputed 900-year-old Preah Vihear temple in Preah Vihear province, about 543 km (337 miles) north of Phnom Penh, October 17, 2008. Nearly 200 Cambodian residents living near the temple have taken refuge on its grounds, after recent fighting killed three Cambodian soldiers, a local Cambodian newspaper reported. The International Court of Justice awarded the temple to Cambodia in 1962, but the court failed to determine the ownership of 1.8 square miles (4.6 sq km) Hindu ruins, a ruling that has rankled with Thais ever since. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea
A Cambodian girl keeps warm near a fire while taking refuge inside the walls of the disputed 900-year-old Preah Vihear temple October 17, 2008. Nearly 200 Cambodian residents living near the temple have taken refuge on its grounds, after recent fighting killed 3 Cambodian soldiers, a local Cambodia newspaper reported. The International Court of Justice awarded it to Cambodia in 1962, but the court failed to determine the ownership of 1.8 square miles (4.6 sq km) Hindu ruins, a ruling that has rankled with Thais ever since. REUTERS/Adrees Latif