Refugees – 1993

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Refugees – 1993

1993

Full Implementation Full implementation

The repatriation of Cambodian refugees in Thailand progressed as scheduled. Altogether, 231,358 people had been repatriated back to Cambodia as of January 1, 1993; 124,959 Cambodians remained on Thai soil.1
“According to Lt-Gen Sanan Khachonklam, head of the Coordination Centre for the Repatriation of Cambodian Refugees, a total of 339,109 Cambodian refugees and displaced people, or 78,231 families, had been repatriated under the programme,” according to a report on the radio. “Meanwhile, 18,000 Cambodians have returned by themselves. After the departure of today’s group of 525 refugees, about 16,000 Cambodian refugees and displaced persons will remain at Site 2. They will be repatriated gradually, and all will be back in Cambodia by April” (BBC Summary of World Broadcasts, 1993).2

By the end of April 1993, 370,000 Cambodian refugees and “displaced persons” marked the beginning of a much longer and more difficult process of resettlement and reintegration.3

  1. “Cambodia: Cambodian refugee repatriation “progressing as scheduled,” BBC Summary of World Broadcasts, January 14, 1993.
  2. “Cambodia: Last Cambodian Refugee Camp in Thailand Closed,” BBC Summary of World Broadcasts, April 2, 1993.
  3. Grant Curtis, “Transition to What? Cambodia, UNTAC and the Peace Process,” UNRISD Discussion Paper (1993): DP48, accessed July 25, 2010, http://www.unrisd.org/80256B3C005BCCF9/%28httpAuxPages%29/2F0008467C7D3E…$file/dp48.pdf.