Cambodian child’s quiet plea as families remain trapped after border conflict

BANTEAY MEANCHEY, Cambodia, Jan 12, 2026 (KPT) — Nine-year-old Nhem Socheata remembers the moment her childhood ended.

“At first, I felt nothing. I didn’t understand anything. But after a while, I realized they were invading — they wanted Cambodian land,” she said softly inside a crowded displacement camp at Chansy Pagoda.

Socheata once lived in Chouk Chey village, where mornings meant school and evenings meant family meals. Today she studies in a makeshift classroom, one of thousands of children uprooted by fighting along Cambodia’s border with Thailand.

“Because the Thai side invaded so heavily, I had to run away with my parents,” she recalled. “At home, life was happy. Here, everything is difficult — bathing, cooking, even eating.”

Her village remains under Thai military encirclement, with barbed wire and shipping containers blocking roads despite a ceasefire signed December 27. Local authorities say about 700 families are still trapped outside their homes.

The Interior Ministry reports nearly 480,000 displaced people have returned, but more than 161,000 — including over 52,000 children — remain in camps across seven provinces. Many who tried to resettle were forced back after finding homes destroyed or contaminated with unexploded ordnance.

For Socheata, the statistics mean little. She misses her teachers, her classmates and her bed at home. “I really want to go back,” she said. “I want to see my teachers and my friends again.”

Authorities say clearance operations are underway, but progress is slow. For children like Socheata, each day in the camp is a reminder of what has been lost — and of the simple dream to return home.