Cambodia's Displaced Families Enter a Second Year of Fear and Uncertainty

Thousands still wait for a safe return

More than a year after fighting along the Cambodia Thailand border drove families from their homes, thousands of Cambodians are still living in crowded camps and host communities. As of July 30, 2026, the crisis is about more than finding emergency shelter. Damaged houses, blocked farmland, unexploded weapons and interrupted public services have left families unsure when they can return, while children grow up in settlements intended to be temporary.

Cambodia's National Committee for Disaster Management recorded 141,850 people still displaced across 102 sites and host communities on January 15, 2026. That was down from nearly 649,000 at the height of the crisis on December 27. Humanitarian agencies nevertheless warned that some returns were fragile: families had gone home, found conditions unlivable and moved back to displacement sites.

Cambodia's government initially reported that more than 20,000 people, including over 6,000 children, remained displaced. The figures reflect different dates and definitions as people move among camps, communities hosting them and their places of origin. A falling count can accompany continued hardship when families return to damaged homes or move again because basic services are missing.

Families who remain displaced face daily uncertainty over food, water, health care and shelter. Many live in small tin structures or tents that leak during heavy rain. The quality and availability of toilets, clean water, food supplies and basic medical care vary from one settlement to another.

An aid worker with a Western agency described the difficulty of keeping the camps healthy, particularly during the rainy season:

These are not nice places. The government and NGOs are doing their best, but it is not easy, especially now with the rainy season.

Going home requires more than leaving a camp

Some villages remain behind military barricades and trenches. Families may be unable to reach their houses or farmland, while livestock, tools and crops have been abandoned or damaged. Even a house that is still standing may lack clean water, electricity, a nearby school or a functioning clinic.

Humanitarian agencies reported that some households temporarily returned to camps after discovering damaged homes or unavailable essential services. For those families, leaving a displacement site did not bring a lasting end to displacement. It meant another move and another attempt to find somewhere they could live.

Unexploded ordnance creates a further danger. The term refers to weapons that have not exploded as intended. Shells, mines and other weapons left by border fighting can remain lethal long after the shooting stops, putting families at risk as they walk through villages or try to work their land.

Bopha Moly, a mother of three aged 42, lives in Rong Cham, a camp nearly 400 kilometres northwest of Phnom Penh. School has restored some stability for her children, but she described a family caught between concern about camp life and fear that returning home may never be possible:

It is OK now the children can go to school. But it is not home. I am afraid they will get sick here. But I am afraid we may never go back.

The Cambodia Humanitarian Response Forum and government authorities say assistance must follow two tracks. Families who have returned need housing repairs, restored services and help rebuilding their livelihoods. People who cannot leave displacement sites still need shelter, food, water, health care and protection. No clear date has been given for their return.

School closures leave children without routine

A January humanitarian update recorded 69 schools still closed in several border provinces, affecting 12,601 students and almost 500 teachers. Earlier figures from Cambodia's education authorities showed the scale of disruption at the height of the fighting: 1,311 schools closed across seven provinces, affecting more than 322,000 students and 15,000 teachers.

The January total of 69 closed schools was roughly one twentieth of the earlier 1,311. The reduction shows how much the scale of closures had eased, while the 12,601 students still affected faced continuing disruption to their education.

Temporary learning spaces have opened in some camps, although attendance is irregular and supplies are limited. Children who have moved repeatedly must try to resume their lessons while their families cope with uncertain housing, income and access to services.

Classrooms offer more than education. They give children a regular schedule, contact with friends and time with adults who can notice signs of distress. For families such as Moly's, the opportunity to attend school makes camp life more manageable, even while the absence of a permanent home remains painful.

Nutrition and health risks grow in crowded sites

Humanitarian partners recently screened 1,452 children under five and found cases of moderate and severe acute malnutrition requiring treatment or supplementary food. Acute malnutrition means a child is dangerously short of the nourishment needed for health and growth. Severe cases require treatment, while supplementary food can help children whose nutritional condition has deteriorated.

Infants, pregnant women and nursing mothers are particularly exposed when families lose their income and depend on irregular assistance. Food shortages and disrupted health services can affect several generations in the same household, from a pregnant mother to a young child.

Will Parks, UNICEF's representative in Cambodia, warned that crowded sites with limited water, sanitation and medical care could increase the risk of diarrhea, respiratory infections, waterborne illness and diseases preventable through vaccination. Closed local clinics also make routine immunization and maternal care harder to reach.

Water, toilets and medical services therefore form part of the same urgent response as food and shelter. A family may have a roof overhead while still facing illness because clean water is scarce or a clinic is inaccessible. Moly's fear that her children could become sick reflects the uncertainty parents face in these conditions.

Today's fear brings back memories of earlier wars

Cambodia's displacement crisis is unfolding in a country still living with the psychological legacy of the Khmer Rouge genocide of the 1970s, the later Vietnamese occupation and decades of conflict. Many parents and grandparents carry memories of forced relocation, hunger, loss and fear.

Sothy Eng, an associate professor at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, commissioned a survey of 828 Cambodians in August 2025. Nearly nine in ten respondents said the conflict affected their ability to concentrate or function at work or school. More than 70 percent reported sleeping fewer than seven hours a night, and more than three quarters said they felt much more worried about the future.

More than 90 percent of respondents said the violence brought back memories of war experienced by their parents or grandparents. The survey included people who were not directly displaced, showing how the conflict has affected public life beyond the camps.

Psychologists describe intergenerational trauma as the way severe stress can affect children through family behavior, stories, silence, insecurity and disrupted relationships. Unresolved fear can shape how families respond to danger and how children understand the world around them. Children experience this differently, and many will not develop a mental health disorder.

Families who have lost homes, land or relatives may face particularly sharp strain. Repeated moves, separation from loved ones and uncertainty can turn fear that began during an emergency into lasting anxiety, depression or post traumatic stress.

Parks said children exposed to prolonged uncertainty may struggle with sleep, concentration and emotional expression. Parents who are exhausted and frightened may also find it harder to give children the calm reassurance they need. Supporting children therefore involves supporting the adults caring for them, too.

Art helps children express what they cannot explain

Phare Ponleu Selpak, whose name means the brightness of the arts, has brought drawing, painting, music and play to children in displacement sites. Its work began as emergency support after families fled the fighting, then shifted toward longer term care as small camps merged into larger settlements.

Phare was founded by people who grew up in refugee camps created by earlier wars, including Site 2 near Aranyaprathet in Thailand. Their experience has shaped a program intended to help children recover routine, confidence and a sense of control.

Ponlork Van, Phare's communications manager, said the organization plans to keep activity centers open for as long as children remain displaced. It is also searching for new sites as families are relocated. He described the concern driving that continuing work:

Without intervention, the traumas of forced displacement can set in permanently. Prolonged stress can replace a sense of normalcy with a permanent state of fear and survival.

Art therapy is a form of psychosocial care, support that addresses emotional well being and social relationships through creative activity. Drawing, painting and music can help people process emotions and rebuild connections with others. Such activities are especially useful for young children who may not have the words to describe fear, grief or confusion.

Australian psychologist Cait McMahon, who has worked with survivors of war trauma across Southeast Asia, said children do not have to explain their experiences verbally during arts sessions. Drawing and music give them a way to express themselves without pressure while playing with other children. She explained why recovering a sense of choice matters:

Trauma takes away a sense of power and control from you. This sort of therapy can help you reinstate that.

Monks offer familiar support amid displacement

Khmer Buddhist monks have visited villages and camps to distribute aid, lead prayers, teach meditation and speak with people experiencing fear, grief and sleeplessness. Temples can provide trusted communal spaces where displaced families encounter familiar rituals and reconnect with neighbors.

Formal mental health services are scarce in many rural and border areas. Some displaced people may also feel uncomfortable seeking clinical counseling, especially when religious and community networks are more familiar and accessible.

Buddhist teachings about suffering, change and compassion can help people understand painful experiences without seeing distress as a personal failure. Group prayer, meditation and religious ceremonies may also restore social bonds weakened by flight and separation.

Monks provide spiritual and community support, while trained psychologists, doctors and child protection specialists provide professional assessment and care. Safe, coordinated cooperation between humanitarian agencies and religious institutions could bring these forms of support together and help identify people who need urgent medical or mental health treatment.

Border fighting has disrupted lives on both sides

The dispute centers on contested territory and competing interpretations of century old French maps. Tensions intensified after a minor confrontation in May, followed by full scale clashes on July 24. The worst violence came in December, and both governments accused the other of violating a ceasefire reached that month.

The fighting killed more than 100 people. At its height, about 1.1 million people were displaced across Cambodia and Thailand. Most displaced residents in Thailand returned home, while Cambodia, the weaker military power, did not occupy Thai land and has struggled to secure the return of communities near the contested frontier.

The main stages of the crisis and its documented effects include:

• May: A minor border confrontation intensified tensions.
• July 24: Full scale clashes began.
• August 2025: A survey of 828 Cambodians examined the conflict's effects on daily life and emotional health.
• December: The worst violence occurred, and both governments accused the other of violating a ceasefire reached that month.
• December 27: Displacement in Cambodia reached nearly 649,000 people.
• January 15, 2026: The National Committee for Disaster Management recorded 141,850 people still displaced across 102 sites and host communities.

Another 900,000 Cambodian migrant workers fled Thailand. Many had borrowed heavily to secure jobs there, leaving their families with debt as well as lost wages. Losing work abroad also meant losing money sent home to support relatives.

The United Nations estimated that lost remittances, the money workers send home, could cost Cambodia almost US$1 billion across 2025 and 2026, more than 1.8 percent of gross domestic product. Gross domestic product measures the value of goods and services produced in an economy. The estimate connects the loss of individual pay packets to a wider national economic cost.

Social media has added anger to a dispute already shaped by nationalism. Online insults and unverified claims can deepen hostility, making compromise harder and increasing fear among communities that have long traded, worked and traveled across the border.

Chroeck Chhunieng, a software engineer aged 27 in Phnom Penh, expressed the defiance heard from many Cambodians:

They are bigger than us, but they will never beat us. They have bullied us throughout history. But we never give in.

Relief must support both return and continued displacement

Humanitarian partners estimate that more than 239,000 people across nine provinces have received assistance since the fighting began. Cash support reached more than 78,000 households classified as poor during the first half of January. Aid has focused on shelter, food, water and sanitation, but needs remain high.

Protection teams are watching for family separation, violence against women and children, exploitation and unsafe conditions in crowded sites. Accessible toilets, private washing areas, complaint systems and referral services are essential parts of keeping a camp safe. Referral services connect people with the medical care, protection or other help they need.

Returning families need more than transport home. They need repaired houses, safe farmland, health services, schools, documentation and income. Families still displaced need reliable assistance that continues beyond the first emergency, rather than ending while they are still unable to leave.

The experience of earlier Cambodian refugee communities shows why mental health care should begin alongside food and shelter. Art, music, play, schooling, family activities, community gardening, meditation and professional counseling can help families rebuild routines while they wait for a safe and lasting return.

Moly's children can now attend school, and Phare's activity centers give other children opportunities to play and express themselves. These gains matter in daily life. A lasting recovery still requires homes people can reach safely, services they can use and livelihoods that allow families to support themselves.

Key Points

• The National Committee for Disaster Management recorded 141,850 people still displaced in Cambodia on January 15, 2026, across 102 sites and host communities.
• Damaged homes, military barriers, interrupted services and unexploded weapons continue to complicate return.
• A January update recorded 69 closed schools affecting 12,601 students and almost 500 teachers.
• Children face nutritional problems, illness risks, disrupted education and emotional distress.
• Phare Ponleu Selpak is providing creative activities, while Buddhist monks offer spiritual and community support.
• About 1.1 million people were displaced across Cambodia and Thailand at the height of the fighting, and another 900,000 Cambodian migrant workers fled Thailand.
• The United Nations estimated that lost remittances could cost Cambodia almost US$1 billion across 2025 and 2026.
• Recovery requires sustained relief, housing repairs, safe farmland, restored services, income and mental health care.