Internally Displaced Persons – 1991

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Internally Displaced Persons – 1991

1991

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The United Nations Advance Mission in Cambodia (UNAMIC) contained a program focusing on the repatriation of Cambodian refugees and the resettlement of internally displaced persons (IDPs) during the Cambodian civil war. The Secretary-General, in close consultation with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), designed a program to organize and establish repatriation routes, reception centers, and resettlement areas for refugees. “These activities would need to be carefully coordinated with the mine-awareness programme begun earlier in 1991 for Cambodian refugees and displaced persons in the camps along the Cambodia-Thailand border” (United Nations).1

In order to facilitate the return of IDPs and repatriation of Cambodian refugees, the Australian government provided $1 million to the first stage of one of the largest rebuilding projects in history.2

On November 21, 1991, a tripartite memorandum of understanding was reached between the Thai government, the Supreme National Council (SNC), and the UNHCR. This memorandum related to the repatriation of Cambodian refugees and displaced persons from Thailand. Thailand’s cooperation was essential in the safe and orderly return of all Cambodian refugees and displaced persons to their homeland.3 The return of refugees and IDPs was perceived as an essential element of the peace process. It was essential that these Cambodians be given the opportunity to take part in the Constituent Assembly election and in the building of the Cambodian nation.

There were 180,000 IDPs in Cambodia, 20 percent of whom had been displaced for more than 20 months.4

  1. “Cambodia – UNAMIC Background,” United Nations, accessed July 2010, http://www.un.org/en/peacekeeping/missions/past/unamicbackgr.html.
  2. “Grant to Help Displaced Cambodians Go Home,” COURIER-MAIL, October 23, 1991.
  3. “Thai-Cambodian Joint Communique Issued,” BBC Summary of World Broadcasts, November 25, 1991.
  4. “Cambodia – The Facts: A Shattered Nation,” New Internationalist, Issue 242 (April 1993), accessed July 25, 2010, http://www.newint.org/issue242/facts.htm.