Cambodian workers flock home from Thailand after clashes
Cambodia and Thailand agreed on a ceasefire starting from Tuesday last week after five days of clashes killed at least 43 people on both sides when a long-standing dispute over contested border temples boiled over into fighting on their 800-kilometer (500-mile) boundary.
Huge numbers of returning workers and their families streamed through the Ban Laem-Daung border post between Thailand's eastern Chanthaburi province and Battambang in Cambodia on Wednesday.
Most were laden with belongings — suitcases, backpacks, heavy bags, blankets and electric fans — as they trudged on foot through the crossing.
Cambodia's labor ministry spokesman Sun Mesa said more than 750,000 Cambodians, including children, had returned since clashes broke out on July 24.
'They feel unsafe and scared in Thailand,' he said, adding that there were reports that Cambodian migrants were attacked by 'gangsters.'
There was no separate confirmation of the total of 750,000. A Thai immigration officer told AFP the official figure was 'confidential' but said 'there are many crossing back.'
Thai media reports quoted the head of the Thai-Cambodia Border Trade and Tourism Association of Chanthaburi as saying more than 200,000 Cambodians had crossed back.
The group said on its Facebook page that about 20,000 crossed on Tuesday and about 30,000 were expected to cross on Wednesday.
A total of some 1.2 million Cambodian migrants have been living and working in Thailand, Sun Mesa said.
Cambodia's defense ministry spokeswoman Maly Socheata said on Wednesday the situation remained calm along the Thai border and 'our forces are on high alert.'
Officials from Cambodia and Thailand began meetings in Malaysia on Monday aimed at de-escalating border tensions.
Nearly 300,000 people fled their homes as the two sides battled with jets, rockets and artillery along the rural border region, marked by a ridge of hills surrounded by wild jungle and agricultural land where locals farm rubber and rice.
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