An abandoned bus riddled with bullet holes and shattered windows. - Photo: ST
BANTEAY MEANCHEY, (Cambodia): Even as bomb explosions and artillery fire grew louder and more frequent, farmer Yem Mal has dug in his heels instead of moving to a safer spot.
The 65-year-old is the chief of Roluos commune in Banteay Meanchey province, north-western Cambodia, about 45 minutes by car from the border with Thailand.
About 95 per cent of the commune’s 4,000 residents, including his family members, have been evacuated, he said, but he is staying behind to keep watch.
On Tuesday (Dec 9), a day after hostilities resumed between Thailand and Cambodia, Mal spent four hours digging a bunker in his backyard. The space can hold seven people in a tight squeeze, he told The Straits Times.
The home-made hideout was put to the test just two days later, when Mal and a few of his neighbours hid inside it after hearing firing on Thursday (Dec 11) morning.
When they emerged half an hour later, they found a few pieces of shrapnel about 1km away from their makeshift bomb shelter.
Though Mal had a scare, he is still determined to stay put for now.
“I will run if the fighting gets worse. If the bombings keep me from sleeping and I can’t bear this situation, I will run,” he said.
Farmer Yem Mal spent four hours digging a bunker in his backyard. - Photo: ST
The resumption of military clashes between Thailand and Cambodia, since a five-day battle in July this year that had been the worst conflict in recent years, has led to the evacuation of more than half a million people on both sides of the border.
Thailand reported its first civilian deaths of three people on Dec 11, with some 80 others wounded. At least 11 civilians have been reported to have been killed in Cambodia and 74 others injured.
The Cambodian authorities insist that the Thai military is continuing to fire into its villages, including using military drones to drop bombs on Cambodian territory. Thailand has maintained that it is fighting to protect its sovereignty and territorial integrity.
The two neighbours have been bickering for centuries over ownership of undemarcated areas along their shared 800km-long border.
Cambodia has set up more than 100 evacuation centres across six provinces, housing around 130,000 people, said Mr Janes Imanuel Ginting, national director of the aid group World Vision Cambodia. He added that the scale and speed of the displacement has created shortages of food, shelter, drinking water and sanitation facilities.
The non-government humanitarian organisation has been helping particularly women and children affected by the latest clashes, distributing supplements to pregnant women and micro-nutrient snacks to children. It has also set up 12-child-friendly spaces at displacement sites in Siem Reap, the country’s capital.
In Treas commune near Roluos, some residents are also staying behind to protect their property and belongings even though the clashes do not look like abating.
“I understand that life is more important but life will be difficult if we leave our home,” says Chhem Sokha, a 65-year-old retired civil servant whose family members have left for a safer spot.
Sokha’s neighbourhood is largely empty now as most of the villagers have decided to evacuate further away, leaving shops shuttered and houses padlocked.
Two abandoned mini buses, riddled with bullet holes and shattered windows, stood on one side of the street.
That most villagers have left is understandable: Two loud explosions were heard, about 20 seconds apart from each other, when The Straits Times visited.
It was unclear where the explosions happened or which side of the border they came from.
The two buses were reported by local media to have been shot at by Thailand military earlier this week and Cambodia claims that two people were killed.
Sokha, a father of four, hopes that the current war will end soon as “people in both countries are suffering and do not want war”.
“Please let the people of both countries live in harmony,” he pleaded.
Besides the humanitarian crisis, residents also worry that their livelihoods are now in jeopardy.
Pek Hea, 53, who lives in Svay Chek district in Banteay Meanchey, is staying put by her small mom-and-pop store even though most people in her neighbourhood, including her four children, have left for safer places.
“I’m very scared. When I hear the explosions, I run quickly and hide,” she said. “But I can’t sell anything here now because people have left. How can I sell?” - The Straits Times/ANN
