Echoes of War -recounted by the one born after the Genocide
December 29, 2025
Oxfam’s Humanitarian Response teams departed in two directions on December 26, 2025. One team headed toward the internally displaced persons (IDPs) safe camp in Preah Vihear province to prepare for the next day’s relief, while another returned from Anlung Veng district in Oddar Meanchey province to Siem Reap after completing distributions. At exactly 15:02, the team en route to Preah Vihear received a chilling message: “The bombs just dropped at O’Kon Teng again. We passed this area only this morning.” Thankfully, they were safe because they had taken a different route out.
Reading that message, I felt my body turn cold, haunted by memories from the mid-1980s in Kampong Cham province. I was five years old, walking home from a neighbor’s house with a rack of grilled fish in my hands. It was around 5:30 p.m. when the ground shook violently beneath me. A deafening explosion froze me in place. The fish fell into the dirt. An explosion took place as Khmer Rouge soldiers raiding our village for food. That moment etched itself into me. War leaves scars that do not fade. For those of us born after the genocide, its echoes remain just as terrifying. That same fear returned as I watched the video of children fleeing their classrooms to escape shelling of Thai Military. I saw myself in them—whether in that childhood moment or later during a market bombing. How could so many bombs, shells, and fighter jets strike indiscriminately at schools, temples, homes, and civilian spaces? What justifies this 2025 intensified arm conflict does not account for the true cost born by hundred thousand of families and individuals on both sides of the borders: families torn apart, children displaced, trauma replayed endlessly through social media feeds, lives on their phone screens!
Arriving in Preah Vihear, we were greeted by a night sky alive with drones. Before dawn, I stepped onto the balcony and looked up: the sky was still dark, but countless blinking lights filled the darkness. The mission ahead at the breaks of dawn is the distribution of 3,500 dignity kits to displaced families in three IDP safe camps. As we arrived at the first camp in Tbeng Meanchey district that early morning, rows of makeshift tents nestled behind Phnom Tbeng revealed the harsh reality of displacement. Compared to camps in Banteay Meanchey I visited two weeks before, those in Preah Vihear were more crowded, with a strikingly large number of children. Families sat quietly by the kits we distributed, their emotions beyond words. They had been uprooted in a conflict they did not start. The distant thunder of artillery reminded us of the fragility of safety.
“I met A.S., holding her baby sister. She explained this was her family’s second time in the same safe camp. The first was in July 2025, when her youngest sister, Sreyroth, was only five days old. Now, at five months, Roth clung tightly to my finger, innocent yet already twice displaced. I could only imagine how tightly she must cling to her mother whenever bombs explode nearby.”
During the first two rounds of distribution, operations proceeded smoothly under the careful management of the camp committee. The honorable presence of the Governor and Deputy Governor of Preah Vihear province, respectively, provided not only oversight but also a sense of recognition and solidarity for the IDPs. The importance of provincial leadership in ensuring that humanitarian assistance is delivered with dignity and efficiency is very well noted.
In the third camp, the atmosphere shifted as logistical challenges required additional support. In order to complete the set-up of the kits, we welcomed the remarkable volunteers of youth and children of the displaced families along with Oxfam team, they stepped forward to assist. Their swift action and unity transformed what could have been a delay into a demonstration of resilience and community strength. Within approximately twenty minutes, the arrangement was completed. Rice sacks were placed for all families, while dignity kits were unpacked and positioned alongside the food supplies. This rapid and organized effort reflected not only the efficiency of the volunteers but also the collective determination of the displaced community to support one another in times of need. To me, this illustrated that displaced families are not passive recipients of aid but active participants in safeguarding their dignity and well-being.
Family returns to their safe camps after receiving kits distributed by Oxfam team during the recent emergency response in Preah Vihear province. Thanks to the generous funding support from the Government of Belgum. Photo by author.
“I heard the thud of the bomb being dropped while distributing the kits. I look to the sky with everyone else, and the startled gaze of the elderly, hearing the thunder that is not thunder, learning a new, terrible normal. The sky was no longer just sky, but a canvas of fear. At one point, I interviewed Saem's mother—Saem is a child who was sitting on the wheelchair. "Here in this camp, my fiercest battle isn’t for her dreams, but for her dignity. A clean diaper. It sounds so small, doesn’t it? But when you don’t know if you’ll have enough tomorrow, that small thing becomes a mountain. Right now, every clean diaper is a small victory I fight for.”
Despite the hardship that the people are facing, the provincial authorities are determined to oversee the set-up and operation of the camps. In the three camps we visited, they were well managed, with access to water, sanitation, first aid, and volunteer support.
“We’ve tried our best to make it as comfortable as we could for the people,” the management committee of one IDP told Oxfam team. Yet, families remained deeply distressed by intensified bombing and the longing for the war to end and reunite with their loved ones. The display of their distressed emotion could sometimes turn into aggressive languages use, among other things. Still, government distributions, donations, and humanitarian relief continued; some families received aid up to eight times by 27 December, we were told, though the supplies varied.
The emotions were overwhelming as we listened to the remarks and messages of gratitude from the people receiving the kits, while the distanced sound of bomb drops echoed around us. We felt deep gratitude for the opportunity to help, but sorrow for grieving parents, tears with children who hoped their homes would survive, and admiration for the resilience of communities facing unimaginable hardship. Together, we stood strong, committed to making a difference.
With funding from the Government of Belgium and the Government of Ireland, during these three-day trip, Oxfam distributed 4,500 dignity kits across five camps: Wat Trav Kiet, Wat Perng Angkam, and Wat Perng Preah Kor safe camps in Preah Vihear province, and Hun Sen O Krouch High School and O Ambel Primary School safe camps in Oddor Meanchey province. Each kit contained rice, blanket, mosquito net, soap, detergent, balm, sanitary pads, torches, nail cutter, toothpaste, toothbrushes, sarong, and packaging bag etc.
Oxfam welcomed the ceasefire news as our mission concluded; this is in line with Oxfam Statement calling for urgent ceasefire, issued in the week.
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