Humanitarian Response Forum (HRF) - Situation Report 6: Cambodia-Thailand Border Situation (5 September 2025)

This report is produced by Humanitarian Response Forum (HRF) in collaboration with humanitarian partners. It covers the period from 30 August to 5 September.

Situation and Impact

In the last week, the number of displaced people continued to gradually decrease, with the National Committee for Disaster Management (NCDM) reporting 18,165 displaced people as of 4 September, a 35 per cent reduction from the 29,673 displaced people reported on 29 August. From a peak of 172,094 displaced people reported by the Ministry of Defense on 30 July, six days after the fiercest fighting between Cambodian and Thai troops, 87 per cent of displaced people have returned to their areas of origin along the Cambodia-Thai border in Preah Vihear and Oddar Meanchey provinces. Of the remaining 18,615 displaced people, 14,278 people remain in 40 displacement sites while 3,887 people are hosted with friends and family. Preah Vihear province hosts the largest number of displaced people (12,054 people), followed by Siem Reap (5,222 people) and Oddar Meanchey province (889 people). Meanwhile the number of economic migrants returning from Thailand increased slightly, from 873,661 people reported by the National Committee for Counter Trafficking (NCCT) on 28 August, to 876,666 people on 3rd September, a growing concern particularly for those who served as primary income earners for already vulnerable families from wages earned in Thailand.

Large scale returns from displacement sites to villages of origin began to occur following the 8 August General Border Committee meeting in Malaysia and subsequent 13-point cease-fire agreement, which brought a halt to hostilities and greater security to towns and villages along the border. Since then, with the exception of a slight increase in displacement on 15-16 August, following unconfirmed information of a possible attack by the Thai army, the number of displaced people has continued to steadily decline. The number of displaced people is likely to continue to decrease as areas of return are deemed secure for return. For those areas still deemed too insecure for return, primarily due to continued presence of unexploded ordinances (UXOs), some displacement is likely to persist, though at smaller scale and in consolidated sites.

Humanitarian partners are taking a two-pronged approach; 1) continued support to vulnerable households in remaining displacement sites and, 2) early recovery response planning and implementation for displaced families returning to areas of origin together with returning migrant households. These early recovery interventions will focus on households returning to damaged and/or destroyed homes, livelihood assets and on those who have lost access to basic services.

In the coming weeks, with the situation likely to remain fluid, humanitarian partners will continue to work with national and subnational authorities in monitoring population movements, analyzing early recovery needs assessments results, and in ensuring all efforts by humanitarian partners complement the wider response effort of the Government. The focus of the response will further shift to early recovery interventions, with continued support for vulnerable households that remain displaced.