| Accession Number | P03258.160 |
|---|---|
| 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
This item is licensed under CC BY-NC
|
A young mother at the Chroy Sdao refugee resettlement site, northeast of Battambang, works on ...
Description
A young mother at the Chroy Sdao refugee resettlement site, northeast of Battambang, works on weaving thatch for use in building. It is likely that she has cut the materials herself in the surrounding forests, risking her life due to hidden anti-personnel mines, and will attempt to sell the thatches to earn enough to eat. Although the refugee resettlement programme, run for the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC) by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) was successful in the task of repatriating and resettling 370,000 Cambodian refugees, the reality of attempting to earn a living in areas where unmarked minefields claimed life and limb every day remained a huge problem that continued to tie up an estimated 800,000 hectares of otherwise productive agricultural land.