Cambodia is no longer a refugee-producing country. At the end of 2000, about 16,000 Cambodian refugees were in Vietnam and some 100 were in Thailand. Most of those in Vietnam are ethnic Vietnamese who fled to Vietnam between 1990 and 1995. They live in relatively stable conditions, with work opportunities and access to public health and education services.

The repatriation of Cambodian refugees from Thailand was completed in 1999. By the end of that year, there was also no significant internally displaced population in Cambodia. Cambodia hosted 34 refugees and asylum seekers at year's end.

Cambodia is a signatory to the UN Refugee Convention but has no domestic law on refugees and asylum seekers. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees conducts refugee status determinations for asylum applicants and provides them with legal and financial assistance.

In 2000, Cambodia continued the process of political and economic reconstruction begun in 1998. That year, elections brought Hun Sen to legitimate power (having previously seized power through a coup) in a coalition government with long-time rival, Prince Norodom Ranariddh.

The Khmer Rouge is no longer a significant political or military threat. Nearly all top leaders and most rank-and-file members of the Khmer Rouge (a guerrilla group since Vietnam ousted them from power in 1979) have surrendered or fled the country, bringing an end to one of the century's most brutal chapters.

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