via CAAI
30/4/2011 - Children are among the tens of thousands of civilians displaced in the ongoing territorial conflict between Thailand and Cambodia.
As of yesterday evening, it was reported that 42,500 Cambodian civilians have fled violent skirmishes erupting along the country's border with Thailand. Most of them are women, children and elderly persons. An estimated 11,200 of those forced to flee their homes are people who have been displaced recently.
According to a more recent media report by the AFP, the total number of displaced people now exceeds 85,000 civilians.
"We have never expected such great number of evacuees, so now our major concerns for them are clean water and sanitary facilities," Nhim Vanda of the Cambodian National Committee for Disaster Management told China's Xinhua News Agency.
Emergency relief assistance for fleeing families and their children should remain an important humanitarian consideration − this means ensuring peoples' access to water, hygiene and sanitation facilities, well as food, shelter, safety and child protection services.
Maintaining some normalcy, such as children's access to education, in the face of displacement is also desirable. Already, 67 schools have closed in Cambodia, leaving 1,600 students out of the classroom. Schools is Thailand's Surin province are now functioning as shelters.
The ceasefire brokered between the two countries on Thursday has broken down with the renewed violence that has villagers on the run. A total of 16 people have been killed in the fighting, which has lasted for more than a week.
The current casualties from the conflict are mostly among military personnel − eight Cambodian soldiers, seven Thai soldiers and one Thai civilian. Several people were injured.
This is the ninth day of the conflict. Gunfire has been exchanged over disputed border areas at the temples of Ta Moan and Ta Krabei. These temples are just 150 kilometers west of the Preah Vihear Temple, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. UNESCO is the United Nations Educational, Social and Cultural Organization.
Preah Vihear (known as Phra Viharn in Vietnam), an 11th century temple, is located in the Oddar Meanchey province of Cambodia. A 1962 court ruling gave the temple to Cambodia. However, the temple can reportedly be most easily accessed via Thailand, who has also claimed ownership to some 4.6 square kilometres of the surrounding area.
The current casualties from the conflict are mostly among military personnel − eight Cambodian soldiers, seven Thai soldiers and one Thai civilian. Several people were injured.
Cambodia has reportedly called on the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to review the case.
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