Cambodians flee for their lives into dire conditions amid border clashes
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Evacuees at a temporary camp in Cambodia's Oddar Meanchey province on Dec 11.
PHOTO: AFP
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SREI SNAM, Cambodia – Bullets were flying as Cambodian casino worker Chay Rey and her family fled their home amid border clashes between Thai and Cambodian forces
“My husband and I were trying to run away,” she said at a temple in the town of Srei where about 500 people had taken shelter from the violence. “My heart was almost broken because I was so scared of getting killed.”
Now the evacuees face shortages of food and clean water in the makeshift camps.
“It’s really hard to stay here like this,” Ms Chay Rey, 54, said.
“No rice, food, money. Children had asked for money to buy food. There’s no drinking water,” she added.
Cambodia evacuation shelters overwhelmed
Cambodia has set up over 100 evacuation centres across six provinces, housing around 130,000 people, but the scale and speed of the displacement has created shortages of food, shelter, drinking water and sanitation facilities, said Mr Janes Imanuel Ginting, national director of the aid group World Vision.
The previous outbreak of fighting in July
“This is clearly more significant compared to before,” Mr Ginting said.
“This time, food is less. Mostly instant noodles and rice from local authorities, public donations and initial support from humanitarian organisations.”
And this time, domestic resources have been stretched by the return of over 800,000 Cambodian workers working in Thailand on top of the previous round of displacement, and the authorities have asked national and international aid groups for more help, he said.
“The most important thing is getting food to eat,” said Mr Linh Thoem, a 53-year-old Cambodian who had fled the border district of Trapeang Ampel with some family members and moved into a shelter – but left his children behind.
“I am still checking the situation on whether the fighting at my village gets worse. If so, I’ll evacuate my children from the village to save their lives. They must stay behind to look after the cattle. The only last option is to abandon the cattle and come here for their survival.”
His shelter is currently providing running water and food, and also has a medical team but, if the fighting continues, supplies could be at risk.
“We have brought some things to eat for a short period of time only, but if this fighting drags on, we run out of food for my family,” he said. REUTERS
