Cambodian humanitarian crisis
This phase was also marked by intensive United States bombing from 1969 to 1973 of the Khmer Rouge and sanctuaries and bases inside Cambodia of the North Vietnamese Army as part of its strategy to win the Vietnam War.
In 1979 and 1980, the chaos caused hundreds of thousands of Cambodians to rush to the border with Thailand to escape the violence and to avoid the famine which threatened Cambodia.
Vietnam withdrew from the country and the United Nations led Cambodia toward an elected government and repatriated 360,000 Cambodians, emptying and closing the refugee camps.
Lon Nol initiated an unsuccessful campaign to oust the soldiers and cut the supply lines of the North Vietnamese in Cambodia.
Resupply of the city by land and sea was cut off by the Khmer Rouge and, by the time the government surrendered on April 17, 1975, many of the inhabitants were starving.
"One third to one half of the population of the country was forced by the communists at gunpoint to walk into the countryside in tropical temperatures and monsoon rains without provision for food, water, shelter, physical security, or medical care.
[12] The remnants of the Khmer Rouge retreated to the Cardamon Mountains near the border with Thailand and other resistance movements sprang up in western Cambodia.
The Preah Vihear incident stimulated the international humanitarian community into action to help Cambodians who often arrived at the Thai border in the last extremity of starvation.
[17] The "land bridge", conceived by aid worker Robert Patrick Ashe, was a relief measure that bypassed the Phnom Penh government.
Some aid agencies favored cooperation with the government in Phnom Penh and accused the land bridge of encouraging a black market in food and assisting anti-government forces, including the Khmer Rouge.
[21] Meanwhile, at Khao-I-Dang and other refugee camps a few miles inside Thailand, Cambodians, mostly urban middle-class survivors of the Khmer Rouge, hoped for resettlement abroad.
[22] Many of the Cambodians in the refugee and border camps remained there for years, fearful of returning to their country and desiring resettlement abroad.
[23] In October 1991, a comprehensive peace agreement was reached between the contending parties in Cambodia which called for the withdrawal of Vietnamese military forces and the creation of the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC) with the responsibility of enforcing a ceasefire, organizing elections for a new Cambodian government, and repatriating Cambodians still in refugee camps in Thailand or in border camps.
[24] UNHCR supervised the repatriation effort which resulted in 360,000 Cambodians returning to the country from refugee and border camps in Thailand.
A sizable number of UN and humanitarian aid workers remained in the country to promote human rights and democracy and support reconstruction and economic development.
