Donald Trump had included the issue among the resolved conflicts of his term as president of the United States. And instead, a border dispute that is at least a century old keeps tensions very high between Cambodia and Thailand, raising concerns in the international community.
“I ask the parties to immediately cease fire and resume dialogue”, was the appeal of Pope Leo XIV on Wednesday at the general audience after the new bloody clashes on the border between the two Asian countries.
The Secretary General of the United Nations António Guterres he urged both sides to “show restraint and avoid a further escalation of the situation”, underlining how their conflict has caused “numerous civilian casualties, damage to civilian infrastructure and displacement on both sides”. Donald Trump, who in recent months had committed to a ceasefire after the bloody clashes of the summer, has said he will intervene to stop the fighting.
The death toll from the last three days of hostilities is 10 dead: seven Cambodians and three Thais. Thai authorities said they had evacuated more than 400,000 people, while Phnom Penh said 100,000 people on the Cambodian side had been moved to shelters. Thailand and Cambodia have disputed territorial sovereignty along their 800-kilometer land border for more than a century. The ambiguities left by old colonial treaties periodically cause border disputes to resurface.
In May this year the killing of a Thai soldier reignited tension, causing an escalation which for a few weeks remained confined to the diplomatic sphere. In Thailand there was also the scandal that led to the resignation of Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra, whose conversations with the former Cambodian prime minister Hun Sen (whom she called “uncle”) were published. The Thai leader’s criticism of her country’s army provoked the intervention of the Constitutional Court, which dismissed the prime minister, accused of having put her private interests before those of the nation, damaging the country’s reputation.
Displaced Thais who fled their homes following clashes between Thai and Cambodian troops queue for food at a gymnasium-turned-evacuation center in Si Sa Ket province
(EPA)
At the end of July the conflict then degenerated with bombings and artillery clashes which in five days caused dozens of deaths and the evacuation of hundreds of thousands of people in the border area.
After the ceasefire brokered by Trump and the Prime Minister of Malaysia, Anwar Ibrahim, armed clashes have resumed in recent days. As the BBC reports, violence has spread to at least six provinces in northeast Thailand and five provinces in north and northwest Cambodia this week.
Thailand’s Defense Ministry said on Wednesday that the military actions were “limited in scope and used as a last option.” “Peace must go hand in hand with the safety of our citizens, period,” said the ministry spokesperson.
Cambodia instead accused Thailand of launching “aggressive military attacks” who targeted civilian institutions and “sacred cultural sites”, including historic temples along the disputed border. Also on Wednesday, Cambodia announced its withdrawal from the 33rd Southeast Asian Games taking place in Thailand.
