URGENT APPEAL

Escalating conflict along the Thailand–Cambodia border has forced hundreds of thousands of people to flee their homes.

In Siem Reap province alone, more than 82,000 displaced people are now seeking safety — many of them children, women, elderly people, and pregnant women.

Children are facing immediate and serious risks. Schools have closed, families have been separated, and overcrowded displacement sites are placing children at heightened risk of psychological distress, exploitation, neglect, and long-term harm. 

WHY CHILDREN ARE MOST AT RISK

Children make up a significant proportion of those displaced, and the disruption to family life and essential services has severe consequences:
– Loss of access to education and safe learning environments
– Increased exposure to trauma, anxiety, and distress
– Heightened safeguarding risks in overcrowded camps and institutions
– Increased risk of detention, institutionalisation, and family separation

THIS LIFE’S EMERGENCY RESPONSE

This Life is delivering a rapid, child-protection-led emergency response, working in coordination with Cambodian authorities and in line with humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality, and do-no-harm.

Our response focuses on:
– Emergency food and hygiene assistance for displaced families
– Child-focused and family-based mental health and psychosocial support       (MHPSS)
– Establishment of Child-Friendly Spaces in displacement sites and institutional settings
– Targeted protection support for children relocated from residential care facilities
– Diversion and alternative care support to prevent the detention of children affected by displacement