Taking advantage of the influx of refugees, an enterprising Cambodian has set up a small food bar ...

Accession Number P03258.117
Collection type Photograph
Object type Negative
Maker Smith, Heide
Place made Cambodia
Date made 1993
Conflict Period 1990-1999
Cambodia (UNTAC), 1992-1993
Copyright Item copyright: © Australian War Memorial
Creative Commons License This item is licensed under CC BY-NC
Description

Taking advantage of the influx of refugees, an enterprising Cambodian has set up a small food bar under a makeshift thatch structure at the point where the train bringing returning refugees from the Thai border camps stops for the road trip to Phnom Penh. A large number of people are gathered around the tables under the shelter eating, having just disembarked from the 'Sisophon Express', a train bringing refugee families from the Thai border camps for repatriation to Cambodia. The returning families were then transported to the UN reception centre in Phnom Penh, where preparations were made for their final movement to the location of their choice. The Repatriation Component of the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC) was responsible for the repatriation and resettling of 370,000 Cambodian refugees located in Thai border camps from April 1992 until March 1993, with only one fatality recorded.