Yern Reth said she fled on December 9 with only her three young grandchildren, while So Chanren, who left her home on December 9 after fighting intensified near the border. - PPP/ANN
PHNOM PENH: While hundreds of thousands of families displaced by recent cross-border fighting in Banteay Meanchey province welcome the Cambodia-Thailand ceasefire, many remain uncertain as to when they can return home, with safety assessments and official instructions still pending.
As of December 27, the Ta Dok Market Safety Centre alone was host to 2,337 families, or 8,485 people, reflecting the scale of displacement caused by the fighting.
Among them is 58-year-old So Chanren, from Thnal Bot village in O’Bei Choan district, who fled her home on December 9 after fighting intensified near the border. She has been staying at the Tadok Market Safety Centre in Mongkol Borey district since then.
“I was happy when I heard the shooting had stopped,” Chanren said.
“I pray for the country to have lasting peace so future generations can live and study peacefully. I don’t want any more problems.”
Despite the ceasefire, her return home remains uncertain. “I still have to wait for instructions from the authorities,” she said.
“If my house is damaged, as long as the land is still there, I can rebuild. I just want to go home as soon as possible.”
Another evacuee, 58-year-old Yern Reth, from an area near the Boeung Trakuan border crossing, said she fled on December 9 with only her three young grandchildren. Her home was hit by shelling the following day.
“My house was first to be hit,” she told The Post. “When I arrived here, apart from the assistance provided, I only had help from a few neighbours – just enough to survive.”
Despite the destruction, she said she had no choice but to carry on. “Even though my home was destroyed by the Thai military, I had to take my grandchildren and keep going.”
At the Wat Pongor Safety Centre in Kampong Svay Sangkat, Serey Sophon city, 944 families – around 3,300 people – are currently taking shelter, part of a wider total of more than 61,000 displaced families, or nearly 200,000 people, across the province.
Another evacuee, Praang Srey Mao, from Singha commune, who fled on December 8, said conditions at the Wat Pongror safety centre, while temporary, were manageable.
“Life here is not too difficult,” she said. “But we all want to go home. I was very happy when I heard the shooting had stopped. We want peace – lasting peace.”
A first-time refugee following the Thai military’s second incursion into Cambodia, Prom Yasprom from Singha commune in Ochrov district said he was not shocked by the fighting but fled out of concern for the safety of his wife and grandchildren, seeking refuge at the Wat Pongor camp.
“We don’t want war, we just want peace and to return home soon. We had to leave our grandchildren, as well as our livestock, cattle, pigs and chickens, behind,” he told The Post while sitting in a tent near the temple fence.
While the ceasefire has brought a sense of relief, uncertainty continues to hang over displaced communities, many of whom are waiting for official clearance to return and assess the damage to their homes.
For now, thousands remain in limbo – grateful for safety, yet longing for the day they can return to their land and rebuild their lives. - The Phnom Penh Post/ANN
