Cambodia/Thai border conflict cause biggest refugee crisis since Khmer Rouge
It pains me this morning to share with you that the border conflict between Cambodia and Thailand has taken a significant turn for the worse that has resulted in the biggest refugee crisis in the country since the infamous days of the Khmer Rouge in the 1970s.
An estimated 420,000 Cambodian villagers, mostly from some of the poorest provinces and including all of our hundreds of families from Oddar Meanchey, have been displaced from their homes to evacuation camps indefinitely as fighting intensifies along the border.
We have been forced to close our school and boarding house and walk away from our cow and aquaculture farm due to the fighting spreading well beyond the initial few kilometres from the border that it was originally focussed on. One of the attached photos of Thai military F-16 fighter jets was taken by a friend of our projects (Jackie for those who have met him) from his home and he is more than 50km south of the Thai border. One of our farm workers has been sneaking back to the property late at night to check on our cows and secure them for the evening as they are worried they will flee because of the noise from the artillery fire. One one occasion a Thai drone dropped bombs a few hundred metres away from the farm while he was locking the cows up and they bolted into the neighbours place. It's a very dangerous situation.
The living conditions in the evacuation camps is nothing short of third world, with families huddling under plastic sheets draped over trees and sleeping on mats on the ground or the ground itself. Basic meals are being provided by the Cambodian government, but sanitation is a great concern and the threat of malaria, particularly among malnourished children, is a very real threat after a wetter than normal wet season just past. The scale of the situation appears to be totally overwhelming local authorities.
I was speaking with our project director Pastor Abe last night, and if his health continues to improve after his recent accident, he is intending to take a team into one of the larger evacuation camps next week where the majority of our OM villagers are based (and many other families) to cook and distribute some nutritious meals to as many people as he is allowed and the funds we have allocated permit.
We will continue to monitor the situation and provide whatever support we can and really hope peace will prevail very soon. These are some of the poorest families on the planet and even a normal day is a struggle for them so this must just be unbearable.
Thanks again for your ongoing support and encouragement.
All the best,
Rob
We would love for you to consider partnering with us in an array of great projects across two of Cambodia's poorest provinces by making a tax deductible donation today (or any day). You can contribute directly into our Australian working account ‘Supporting Cambodia’ BSB: 015-600 Account: 1967 91878 (Please include your name and email address in the transaction for a tax receipt) or with a credit card on our donation page.
