Cambodian workers flock home from Thailand after clashes
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Cambodian migrant workers carrying their belongings as they returned from Thailand following border clashes through the Daung International Border Gate in Battambang province.
PHOTO: AFP
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PHNOM PENH - Hundreds of thousands of Cambodian migrant workers have returned from Thailand following deadly border clashes between the two neighbours, a Labour Ministry official told AFP on Aug 6.
Cambodia and Thailand agreed on a ceasefire starting from July 29
Huge numbers of returning workers and their families streamed through the Ban Laem-Daung border post between Thailand’s eastern Chanthaburi province and Battambang in Cambodia on Aug 6.
Most were laden with belongings – suitcases, backpacks, heavy bags, blankets and electric fans – as they trudged on foot through the crossing.
Cambodia’s Labour Ministry spokesman Sun Mesa said more than 750,000 Cambodians, including children, had returned since clashes broke out on July 24.
“They feel unsafe and scared in Thailand,” he said, adding that there were reports that Cambodian migrants were attacked by “gangsters”.
There was no separate confirmation of the total of 750,000.
A Thai immigration officer told AFP the official figure was confidential but said “there are many crossing back”.
Thai media reports quoted the head of the Thai-Cambodia Border Trade and Tourism Association of Chanthaburi as saying more than 200,000 Cambodians had crossed back.
The group said on its Facebook page that about 20,000 crossed on Aug 5 and about 30,000 were expected to cross on Aug 6.
A total of some 1.2 million Cambodian migrants have been living and working in Thailand, Mr Sun Mesa said.
Cambodia’s Defence Ministry spokeswoman Maly Socheata said on Aug 6 the situation remained calm along the Thai border and “our forces are on high alert”.
Officials from Cambodia and Thailand began meetings in Malaysia on Aug 4 aimed at de-escalating border tensions.
Nearly 300,000 people fled their homes as the two sides battled with jets, rockets and artillery along the rural border region, marked by a ridge of hills surrounded by wild jungle and agricultural land where locals farm rubber and rice. AFP
