‘Bullets were flying over my roof’: Mothers in Cambodia flee to shelters to protect their children
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- Renewed clashes between Cambodia and Thailand have displaced over 303,200 civilians in Cambodia.
- Displaced families at relief sites face worries about health, education, and income loss.
- Conflict impacts Cambodian workers in Thailand, causing many to return amid safety fears and economic hardship.
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BANTEAY MEANCHEY, Cambodia – Ms Sao Sopha was heavily pregnant when she left home with her son and her cab-driver husband in search of safety on Dec 9, a day after military clashes flared up again between Cambodia and Thailand.
“I am worried and scared because bullets were flying over my roof and the roof was shaking,” said Ms Sopha, 27, who is from O’Beichoan commune in north-western Banteay Meanchey province, near the border with Thailand.
She and her family arrived safely at a temporary relief site set up on the grounds of a pagoda in O’Chrov district, about an hour away from her home.
Two days later on Dec 11, she started experiencing labour pain while at the shelter and was taken by an ambulance to the nearest hospital, where she gave birth to her daughter.
“I felt worried before she was born, but now I feel a bit better because she has arrived safely,” said Ms Sopha, who spoke to The Straits Times at the shelter as she held her baby.
Two-day old Nin Reaksmey, whose mother, Ms Sao Sopha, 27, gave birth to her on Dec 11 after fleeing to a relief displacement site.
ST PHOTO: MAY WONG
Ms Sopha and her family are among the 303,200 civilians displaced by the latest fighting,
At least 100 families have set up camp at the pagoda relief site since fighting between Thailand and Cambodia resumed on Dec 8 after an earlier five-day conflict in July. Many families have children between three and 14 years old. Some expressed worries that their children would fall sick or miss out on school.
Temporarily displaced Cambodians who have set up camp on the grounds of a pagoda.
ST PHOTO: MAY WONG
Construction worker Khoeut Srey Oun, who sleeps in a wooden cart parked on the pagoda’s grounds, along with her six children, told ST that one of the children has developed a fever.
The 36-year-old, whose children are aged five to 19, borrowed her neighbour’s farming tractor to get away from her home on Dec 9. She took an hour to drive the tractor, with the cart attached, to the shelter.
Ms Khoeut Srey Oun has six children aged five to 19. They are now sleeping in the back of a wooden cart after fleeing their home using a borrowed farming tractor.
ST PHOTO: MAY WONG
“There were big explosions, so I didn’t dare stay. I have many children to protect,” she said.
At the site, many children, including hers, while away their time playing or sitting idle. “I’m sad that my children can’t go to school. I’m afraid they will grow up illiterate,” she said.
Madam Phat Phally, 60, who has 14 grandchildren aged three to 15, voiced similar concerns. “I don’t want to see wars happen because my grandchildren can’t go to school and they won’t be educated,” she said.
The United Nations Children’s Fund, or UNICEF, told ST that it is “deeply concerned about the safety and well-being of children and families who have been displaced by the recent violence”.
“Displacement can also lead to family separation and disrupt children’s sense of stability and security, which can have a long-lasting impact on their mental health and development,” said its regional spokeswoman Eliane Luthi.
Like many others in temporary relief camps, those interviewed by ST said they were not sure when they could return to the comfort of their own homes.
Thailand and Cambodia have resumed military assaults against each other despite signing a peace accord in late October
While she is safe now, Ms Sopha is afraid that her children might get sick at the relief site. She is breastfeeding her daughter but worries about not being able to afford baby formula as her husband Noeun Theanin, 30, the family’s sole breadwinner, is unable to work now.
The prolonged lack of income weighs heavily on the minds of many in the shelter. Life for these low-income families was already challenging enough. Now, whatever little they may have in savings will most likely be depleted.
Said Mr Theanin: “I feel sad because the country is at war and I have a newborn baby at the same time.”
Saying that he was short of money, he added: “It’s stressful to take care of my family and ensure the safety of my children and wife.”
Some others expressed concern for loved ones who are working in Thailand.
Ms Hoeun Sreymao’s husband has been working in Thailand for four years as a construction worker. She worries about his safety, given the military clashes and growing nationalism on both sides.
Said Ms Sreymao, 33, a mother of two who works as a construction worker: “I told him to come back if possible. But if he can’t, he should stay in one place and not go anywhere.”
About 1.2 million Cambodian migrant workers, both documented and undocumented, were living in Thailand as at the middle of 2025, said the International Labour Organisation (ILO) in its second-quarter briefing note.
The last round of clashes between the two nations in July
Cambodia state media outlets reported that more than a thousand of the country’s citizens have returned from Thailand recently as a result of the latest conflict.
Said Ms Sreymao: “Because of this war, (many Cambodians) stopped working in Thailand. We came back to work in Cambodia. We are afraid of problems from the war, which makes everything difficult.”
