Displaced border residents at safety centres describe anguish over Thai military actions

Battambang Provincial Governor Sok Lou led a working group to inspect reception centres set up by the provincial administration for people displaced by the fighting. He instructed local authorities and specialised officials to intervene, coordinate assistance and help residents resolve the difficulties they face. The displaced residents came from districts along the Cambodia–Thailand border within Battambang province and were staying at safety centres. They expressed deep anguish over being forced to abandon their homes and endure displacement, attributing their suffering to what they described as an invading war by Thai troops against innocent Cambodian civilian villages. Displaced residents from Phnom Proek district staying at the safety centre in Wat Ksatrey Kdol, in Kdol village, Kdol Ta Haen commune, Bavel district, said Thai troops’ firing at residential areas was brutal and indiscriminate. The displaced residents also expressed firm confidence in the leadership of Cambodian Senate President Hun Sen and Prime Minister Hun Manet, saying both leaders always cared for people in every circumstance, shared their joys and hardships and would not flee and abandon them. “We, the displaced people, pray for victory for the heroic Cambodian troops and for them to crush and destroy the invading Thai forces so they cannot return to violate our Cambodian territory again,” the residents said. By: Pai Sokhim