Cambodia border conflict is a disaster for the region's poorest

SeeBeyondBorders is a small education-focused NGO working in one of the world's poorest-educated countries. A conflict between Thailand and Cambodia threatens children's futures

Thai residents who fled homes following the clashes between Thai and Cambodian soldiers, at an evacuation center in Surin province, Thailand, last week. Picture: AP/Sakchai Lalit

The unfolding conflict in the Cambodia-Thailand border provinces is a disaster for the region’s most disadvantaged people. It echoes a disturbing global trend of increasing nationalism, the spread of disinformation, and declining support for multilateral institutions including ASEAN, the UN and the International Court of Justice (ICJ). It has an immense human cost.

This is a conflict, at least in part, about borders and power, set against a backdrop of political turbulence within Thailand. Sovereignty along the 800km Thai-Cambodia land border has been disputed by Thailand since it was mapped by the colonial French in 1907.