At the 42nd meeting of the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR) in Manila, the Philippines, in 2026, Cambodian Human Rights Committee member Seang Chinda presented Cambodia’s allegations against the Thai military. He said that during a second, 21-day war, Thai forces deliberately used various weapons disproportionately and indiscriminately, with fighter aircraft flying deep into Cambodian sovereign territory to drop bombs.
In a press release, Seang Chinda further said: “These attacks killed or injured numerous civilians, displaced more than 649,000 people and severely damaged private and public property, including the World Heritage site of Preah Vihear Temple.”
The Cambodian rights official said two months had passed since the December 27, 2025 ceasefire took effect. Although it clearly guaranteed displaced people’s prompt, unimpeded, safe and dignified return, an estimated 50,000-plus people, mostly women and children, were still unable to go home. He attributed the obstacles to destroyed homes, continued illegal occupation of Cambodian territory, shipping containers and barbed wire, and risks from cluster-munition remnants and other unexploded ordnance.
He added that this human-made tragedy had no legal justification and ran entirely counter to the purposes of regional and international human rights law: enabling everyone to live in dignity, free from fear and poverty.
By Nget Pisant
