Scenes from Poipet, where deported Cambodian workers wait to be returned home

Photographs taken this morning in Poipet (on the Cambodian side of the Thailand-Cambodia border) where thousands of Cambodian workers deported from Thailand have gathered, waiting to be returned to their home provinces by the Cambodian government.

Cambodia poipet workers

Trucks are pouring into Poipet with deported workers, and just as quickly the Cambodian government is trying to get them back to the provinces.

Cambodia poipet workers

CNRP estimates that 500,000 Cambodians have been deported from Thailand, while the Ministry of Labor puts the number at 43,000.

Cambodia poipet workers

The Cambodian government has deployed 150 trucks to bring the deported workers back to their home provinces.

Cambodia poipet workers

Poipet City governor Ngor Mengchruon is quoted in the Cambodia Daily as saying that Cambodian authorities are overwhelmed by the number of migrant workers arriving back in the country.

Cambodia poipet workers

Dealing with newly arrived Cambodians from the Thai border.

Cambodia poipet workers

Eager to not have a refugee camp on their hands, the Cambodian government has worked quickly to get the deported workers back to their families.

Poipet Cambodian refugees SIM cards

Crisis situation? Metfone is there giving away free SIM cards.

Cambodia poipet workers

Military police overseeing the newly returned workers from Thailand.

Cambodia poipet workers

Many Cambodian workers paid large sums to be returned to Poipet, in fear that they would be killed if they did not.

Cambodia poipet workers

Cambodian military trucks were on hand to bring the Khmer workers from Poipet into Cambodia.

Cambodia poipet workers

Most left Thailand with bags, boxes or just the clothes on their backs.

Cambodia poipet workers

Trucks heading to different parts of Cambodia were offered to the newly arrived deportees.

Cambodia poipet workers

It has been reported that as many as nine Cambodians have been killed during the deportations.

Cambodia poipet workers

There are reports of Khmers being asked for bribes by the Thai military police. On the Cambodian side in Poipet, the situation seems relatively orderly and bribe-free.

4 Responses to Scenes from Poipet, where deported Cambodian workers wait to be returned home

    Fred says:

    I wanted to reply privately but cannot find the option. I am only one of the many volunteers helping in Poipet and I’m very thankful for seeing someone letting the world know what’s happening here. But I also need to tell you thab you info is not correct. Metfone is giving away pgonecards of 1usd for free, and so is cellcard doing. Besides, their volunteers are helping in the different actions that are being held.
    Thanks again for your post and I hope you don’t mind mi comment.

    george says:

    may buddha bless the long suffering khmer…

    Vincent says:

    Good pictures of a bad situation. Thanks for sharing.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.