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Cambodia will offer mental health services to more than 20,000 people still displaced by last year’s border conflict with Thailand, Transcultural Psychosocial Organization Cambodia (TPO) said Tuesday.
The initiative, led by TPO, National Committee for Disaster Management and the U.N. Population Fund, is backed by $1.3 million in funding from Japan and will set up counseling centers at displacement sites and temporary housing in the border provinces.
The program comes a year after a report from World Vision International found that nearly two-thirds of families displaced after clashes in July 2025 were experiencing severe psychological distress. The assessment covered more than 40 makeshift camps at the time in Preah Vihear, Banteay Meanchey and Siem Reap provinces.
The assessment found that evacuation, witnessing bombing or shooting, and losing relatives were among the events most associated with psychological distress. Children were also affected, with many reporting fear after exposure to violence and displacement.
Taing Sopheap, deputy director at TPO, said the counseling centers are meant to promote the well-being of women and children in particular.
“The rooms we established are intended to help restore their psychological well-being and ensure confidentiality for them,” she said.
Five spaces providing psychological services have been operating in temporary housing sites in Preah Vihear, Siem Reap and Banteay Meanchey since February, according to Sopheap.
She said many people have sought services at the centers, most of them women, though some still appear hesitant to access counseling.
Ozawa Nobue, head of economic and development assistance at the Japanese Embassy in Phnom Penh, said Japan will continue to support people affected by the border conflict in cooperation with the Cambodian government and international organizations.
Doeur Raksa, a displaced border resident now living in Rong Cham village in Banteay Meanchey, said having a place where people can share their emotional struggles is helpful.
“Sometimes we also want to talk about what is in our hearts after leaving our village,” she said. “What I cannot forget is when a shell fell while I was selling coffee. I was frightened because it happened so suddenly and I had not prepared anything.”
Raksa said her family’s biggest struggle is rebuilding their livelihood after losing their home and farmland. Like other displaced residents, she cited limited employment opportunities.
Khom Oeup, another displaced resident who used to live in the disputed village Cambodia says is Chouk Chey, in Banteay Meanchey, also welcomed the new psychological services.
“This arrangement is good, but we still miss our homes,” he said. “We are still haunted by images of war, explosives, and a lack of space. And the factories are only in remote provinces. The economy is not doing well, there are no jobs.”
According to the government, more than 20,000 people, mostly women and children, remain displaced since a ceasefire was reached in December.
Many are from villages now occupied by Thai forces, where hundreds of homes have been razed. Bangkok has argued the zones are part of its territory or frozen frontlines, while Phnom Penh has said Thailand is encroaching on its territory.
