100,000 Cambodians evacuated from border areas with Thailand

More than 100,000 Cambodians have been evacuated from border areas with Thailand, since clashes resumed between the two neighboring countries in Southeast Asia, according to what the Cambodian Ministry of Defense announced yesterday.

Defense Ministry spokeswoman Mali Suchiata said that tens of thousands went to shelters in five provinces.

For his part, the spokesman for the Thai Ministry of Defense, Surasant Kongsiri, said during a press conference: “More than 400,000 people were transferred to shelters,” after the Thai government’s initial tally stated that 180,000 had been evacuated.

He added: “Civilians were forced to evacuate en masse, due to what we considered an imminent threat to their safety.”

The two sides are exchanging accusations over the resumption of clashes last Sunday, less than two months after a ceasefire agreement brokered by US President Donald Trump. Thailand and Cambodia have long been in conflict over the demarcation of parts of their border, which extends over a length of 800 kilometers, and which dates back to the French colonial era.

The violence renewed about six weeks after Thailand and Cambodia signed a truce, with reports of violent fighting breaking out along the border.

The President of the Cambodian Senate, Hun Sen, pledged to wage a fierce fight against Thailand, after widespread fighting between the two countries prompted tens of thousands of residents to flee the border areas.