Internally Displaced Persons – 1993

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By the end of April 1993, about 165,000 internally displaced persons, who were driven from their land and means of livelihood by fighting and insecurity, joined the resettlement and reintegration program, along with 370,000 refugees and displaced persons along the Cambodia and Thailand border.1

Internally Displaced Persons – 1992

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While the refugee resettlement program was moving smoothly, the resettlement of internally displaced persons did not get much attention during its initial phase. Unlike their countrymen who had crossed over the border, IDPs did not have a vast aid program overseeing their welfare.2 The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) provided 139,548 US dollars for dry-season agricultural assistance to IDPs in south-west Cambodia. “The project will provide for the procurement, transport and distribution of rice seed, fertilizer and insecticide to displaced persons, as well as assisting in land preparation (mechanized and manual) and supervision of planting and harvesting” (BBC, 1992).3

Internally Displaced Persons – 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).4

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.5

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.6 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.7