AKP Siem Reap, August 02, 2025 -- A senior Cambodian lawmaker offered encouragement Saturday to hundreds of children evacuated to a refugee centre at a Buddhist temple in Sot Nikum district in Siem Reap.

The children from the border provinces of Oddar Meanchey, Banteay Meanchey and Preah Vihear are among almost 200,000 people displaced by Thai attacks on Cambodian territory last month.

H.E. Suos Yara — chairman of the National Assembly Commission on Foreign Affairs, International Cooperation and Information — met the refugees at Prasat Wat Banteay Srei as foreign diplomats arrived as part of their two-day mission to Oddar Meanchey and Siem Reap.

'WE WANT PEACE!’

As the diplomats arrived with Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister H.E. Prak Sokonn, the senior member of parliament led a welcome by the displaced children who chanted: ”We want peace! We want to go home! We want to go back to school!”

Speaking on the fifth day of a ceasefire brokered by Malaysia and the United States with support from China, the deputy prime minister paid homage to the Cambodians who had sacrificed their lives in the conflict with Thailand.

“I hope all refugees can go home soon and that things return to normal,” he told the refugees.

In a separate event arranged by the Union of Youth Federations of Cambodia (UYFS),  H.E. Suos Yara spent more than an hour with more than 500 schoolchildren and infants evacuated from the border provinces.

‘LOOKING AT THE SKY … LAND OF THE KHMERS’

Meeting at the dining hall of the temple, he inspired them with patriotic songs like Kun Merl Tov Mek (“Looking at the Sky”) and Den Dei Khmer (“Land of the Khmers”)

About 30 members of the Sot Nikum branch of the UYFS helped to organise the gathering with the lawmaker, who also chairs the Young Parliamentarians at the National Assembly.

On Friday, heads of diplomatic missions from Phnom Penh visited Banteay Ampil district in Oddar Meanchey province.

In Kouk Mon district — less than 20 kilometers from the Thai border — they inspected local dwellings and a temple that had been shelled and bombed by the Thai military before the ceasefire came into effect on Monday

The diplomats also inspected a health center at Wat Phnom Thmor Kamborand makeshift shelters for displaced civilians in the border province.

Among countries taking part in the inspection tour were Australia, Brunei, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, South Korea, Malaysia, Myanmar, Pakistan, the Philippines, Singapore, Turkey, Russia, the United Kingdom, the United States and Vietnam.

The European Union (EU) mission also took part along with the Phnom Penh offices of the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the United Nations  Population Fund (UNFPA) and the World Food Programme (WFP).

“We need ASEAN and international peacekeepers to be on the ground to objectively monitor the ceasefire to ensure peace, impartiality and justice,” H.E. Suos Yara said.

“For helping to secure the ceasefire at midnight last Monday, we deeply appreciate the roles played by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim of Malaysia, U.S. President Donald Trump and the People’s Republic of China,” he said.

For additional support, he thanked the broader international community, notably Australia, Canada, the EU, France, Germany, Indonesia, South Korea, Laos, Japan, New Zealand, the Philippines, Russia, United Kingdom and Vietnam as well as UN agencies. 

By Sao Da
Photos: National Assembly