341:
340:
321:
colors for different treatments. The US embassy volunteers were pressed into giving injections and other duties normally performed only by trained medical personnel. Reporters were persuaded to carry buckets of electrolyte fluid from patient to patient and try to get them to drink cupfuls of the liquid. In the midst of the chaos, monsoons struck and many refugees died on the cold, wet ground without being able to get to the hospital. During the camp's first 14 days of operation between 14 and 42 people died each day, according to Dr. Keith
Dahlberg.
317:
border to the west. Nearly 2,000 severely ill or dying refugees were brought to the hospital area in the first few days. The medical personnel were assisted by volunteers from
Bangkok organized by the wife of the US ambassador. As the refugees arrived, nurses sent those who appeared to be sick or starving to a makeshift hospital which Dr. Levi Roque constructed by stringing a wire from a bulldozer to a tent pole and draping it with canvas. There were no beds; refugees lay on straw mats.
50:
583:, but she's not going to make it.'" Later the First Lady recalled: "I picked up a baby and put it down on a blanket on the ground. They started crying, and when I turned around the baby had died." The First Lady later told reporters, "I'm emotionally overwhelmed. It's a very difficult situation for me as a wife and a mother to visit the camp and see such poverty and misery. I'm going home as fast as I can to tell my husband about it."
579:, several members of congress and a group of journalists to tour the camp on 9 November 1979. Her visit was widely publicized and appeared on the nightly news on all major US networks. In one frequently-aired clip, a refugee died in front of Carter while an American physician protested irritably: "'This girl is about to go,' said an angry doctor, ordering the newsmen covering the visit to keep back. 'She just had a
57:
599:
Holding Center was opened. The Thai
Government immediately began transferring refugees from Sa Kaeo to Khao-I-Dang. Since most of the refugees were under the control of the Khmer Rouge, the Thai government encouraged them to return to areas of northwestern Cambodia under Khmer Rouge control. This was
558:
inside
Thailand where they could receive food and medical attention, rest and recuperate, and regain their strength in order to fight the Vietnamese. It was also Thai policy to maintain separate camps for populations under Khmer Rouge control, since providing aid to them was politically controversial
312:
On 24 October 8,000 refugees arrived by bus from settlements at the border. According to Dr. Hans
Nothdurft: "Initially, the camp was no more than a fenced-off area of bushland with no housing facilities, no water, and no sewage system; approximately 2.7 square meters of space were available for each
308:
donated plastic rope, straw mats, and baby bottles. With less than one day's advance notice, UNHCR and other volunteer agencies hastily constructed basic camp infrastructure as thousands of malnourished
Cambodians arrived. Several hundred unaccompanied children were in these first groups of refugees.
320:
Khmer Rouge soldiers were mixed in with the women and children. A reporter said, "They did not look like human beings...but rather like wild animals...They slept huddled side by side like beasts in a cage." Doctors wrote instructions for care on the chests of patients with marking pens of different
543:
331:
There was no naturally occurring source of potable water. The Thai military trucked water in from
Aranyaprathet. Drainage in the campsite was such that shortly after the refugees arrived, it flooded and a few refugees, too weak to lift their heads, drowned as they lay under tents made of plastic
316:
When the first refugees arrived, there were only three doctors and eight other health workers present. The health status of the first refugees in Sa Kaeo was dire; for several months many of them had been starving in the mountains sandwiched between the
Vietnamese to the east and the closed Thai
559:
and because the Thai government considered the Khmer Rouge the only force capable of mounting any meaningful resistance to the
Vietnamese. The Khmer Rouge quickly replicated their power structures in Sa Kaeo and their cadre exerted almost complete control over camp residents.
383:
The medical personnel at Sa Kaeo (up to 60 doctors and 170 other health workers by early-1980) represented different nationalities with different languages, cultural values, and medical training, but only a few team members had ever worked in a developing country or had seen
251:
in
December 1978 and by early-1979 thousands of Cambodians had crossed the Thai-Cambodian border seeking safety and food. By May 1979 large numbers of refugees had set up improvised camps at Kampot, Mairut, Lumpuk, Khao Larn, and Ban Thai Samart, near
415:
A 1,200-bed hospital was initially no more than a thatched roof without walls, where patients lay on mats on the dirt floor with medical records and intravenous solutions clipped to wires above them. Within a week, however, the teams had improvised a
627:
Images of dead and dying refugees at Sa Kaeo were broadcast around the world and international aid began to flow into Thailand to assist the refugees. This also engendered the belief that famine was general in Cambodia. A front-page article in
403:
drilled during the second week of operation were eventually connected via a network of pipes to distribute water throughout the camp. A trench latrine was dug around the periphery of the camp. Thai provincial health authorities provided
612:, who staged a protest at the camp's Buddhist temple in June 1980 and were imprisoned by the Thai military. Another camp, Sa Kaeo II, was opened and by July 1980 all refugees had been transferred to other camps or
292:
cultivation. The Thai government requested that UNHCR make immediate emergency preparations for the Cambodians. Brown hired a bulldozer and started carving roads in the mud. A backhoe was hired to dig
284:, about 40 miles inside the border. UNHCR was invited to establish a holding center there that would house up to 90,000 refugees. UNHCR sent one of its newest recruits, British journalist
632:
said, "2.25 Million Cambodians Are Said to Face Starvation." The international community responded with large amounts of food aid that was delivered to Cambodians by the "land bridge" at
313:
person. Part of the area was designated for the camp hospital; a bulldozer-cleared field with some bamboo-canvas construction provided primitive shelter for approximately 300 patients.
260:, which sparked international outrage and was discussed in July 1979 during an international conference on the Indochinese refugee crisis in Geneva. Then on 10 October, 60,000
1226:
264:
soldiers and civilians under their control arrived at Khlong Wa and, shortly thereafter, Khlong Gai Thuen. These refugees were in advanced stages of exhaustion and
1201:
1211:
554:
soldiers and the civilians they had forced to flee with them to the border. This was because the Khmer Rouge were eager to move some of their cadre to the
280:
to inform him that the Thai military would transport Cambodians at the border from areas south of Aranyaprathet to a location outside of the Thai town of
81:
1191:
1216:
392:
facilities, for more laboratory support, and their preference for expensive drug regimens reflected medical cultural values of developed countries.
357:
1206:
1045:
1008:
915:
787:
365:
297:
808:
885:
49:
1138:
724:
304:
and thatch to construct a hospital, built hastily by 200 Thai workers Brown hired at US$ 2 a day. A crude warehouse was built.
288:, together with his Thai assistant, Kadisis Rochanakorn, to survey the site, a 160,000-square-meter uninhabited area used for
1221:
352:
By the end of November 1979 some 15 Thai and international relief agencies were providing services at Sa Kaeo, including the
380:
institutions provided additional volunteers as did several embassies. Numerous individuals also volunteered their services.
361:
645:
345:
232:. It opened in October 1979 and closed in early-July 1980. At its peak the population exceeded 30,000 refugees; no formal
256:. In June, 42,000 Khmer refugees were pushed back into Cambodia by the Thai Royal Army in what was known as the
650:
305:
660:
699:
Return to Cambodia; The Significance and Implications of Past, Present and Future Spontaneous Repatriations
655:
633:
122:
1095:
960:
Susan E. Holck and Willard Cates, "Fertility and Population Dynamics in Two Kampuchean Refugee Camps,"
665:
605:
542:
225:
221:
141:
857:
546:
Rosalynn Carter, at Sa Kaeo, holds a child in her arms while speaking with the mother, 9 November 1979.
1196:
697:
248:
276:
On 22 October 1979 Colonel Sanan Kajornklam of the Thai Supreme Command telephoned Martin Barber of
484:
592:
388:
and severe malnutrition before—the two prevailing problems in the camp. Their repeated calls for
285:
917:
Emergency Refugee Health Care: A Chronicle of the Khmer Refugee-Assistance Operation, 1979-1980
783:
595:
of the UNHCR to prepare a new site with better drainage and more space. In late-November 1979
580:
576:
527:
523:
519:
488:
257:
1113:, "2.25 Million Cambodians Are Said to Face Starvation; Plight Held Worse Than Refugees'"
568:
328:
dropped to a daily average of three or four, over half of whom died outside the hospital.
816:
591:
Embarrassed by the unfavorable impression created by Sa Kaeo, the Thai government asked
776:
405:
353:
325:
229:
1036:
Rosalynn Carter, "When Statistics Become Human Beings," In Levy and Susott, pp. 53-62.
728:
1185:
1110:
1098:
Not just victims: Conversations with Cambodian Community Leaders in the United States
609:
324:
Within eight days the camp's population grew to over 30,000 people. After 8 November
253:
601:
476:
409:
369:
265:
36:
670:
613:
596:
551:
515:
441:
261:
163:
1163:
944:
511:
433:
417:
400:
96:
83:
555:
480:
421:
914:
Allegra, Donald T; Nieburg, Phillip; Grabe, Magnus, eds. (September 1983).
1132:
Years of Horror, Days of Hope: Responding to the Cambodian Refugee Crisis.
976:
Years of Horror, Days of Hope: Responding to the Cambodian Refugee Crisis.
617:
572:
500:
468:
461:
457:
445:
437:
396:
377:
373:
1086:
Daniel Susott, "Khao-I-Dang: The Early Days." In Levy and Susott, p. 78.
1172:
1147:
1129:
959:
839:
Terms of Refuge: The Indochinese Exodus and the International Response.
507:
496:
472:
453:
385:
293:
281:
244:
217:
531:
449:
301:
233:
567:
In an effort to show US support for the Thai response, First Lady
541:
389:
339:
277:
159:
137:
126:
1164:
Dahlberg, Keith: "Cambodian Refugee Camp 1979," an excerpt from
1062:
Public & Private: Twenty Years Photographing the Presidency.
945:
Dahlberg, Keith: "Cambodian Refugee Camp 1979," an excerpt from
778:
The Quality of Mercy: Cambodia, Holocaust, and Modern Conscience
492:
289:
395:
Water was initially carried by truck to the camp and stored in
268:, and the need for organized living arrangements was obvious.
228:
with support from international relief agencies including the
616:, over 7,500 of them to Khmer Rouge-controlled areas inside
1064:
Washington, D.C.: National Geographic Insight, 2002, p. 46.
1011:
Condemned to Repeat?: The Paradox of Humanitarian Action
874:
Rice, Rivalry, and Politics: Managing Cambodian Relief.
491:, also complicated many patients' nutritional status.
452:
were widespread, with many patients showing all four.
550:
A large proportion of the Cambodians in Sa Kaeo were
1100:. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2003; p. 35.
16:
Refugee camp on the Thai-Cambodian border, 1979-1980
1175:
Refugee Workers in the Indochina Exodus, 1975-1982.
992:Dahlberg, K. "Medical Care of Cambodian Refugees,"
860:
Refugee Workers in the Indochina Exodus, 1975-1982.
195:
187:
182:
174:
169:
155:
150:
135:
120:
112:
24:
1073:Butler, Victoria "Visitors on refugee bandwagon,"
775:
876:Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 1983.
815:. Columbia University. 2007-09-05. Archived from
769:
767:
765:
763:
761:
1160:Bangkok: Distributed in Asia by DD Books, 1981.
909:
907:
905:
903:
901:
899:
897:
420:, delivery room, receiving ward, and a special
978:Millwood, NY: Associated Faculty Press, 1987.
803:
801:
799:
300:(CAMA), which also donated 100,000 pieces of
8:
988:
986:
984:
691:
689:
687:
685:
510:, and 55 percent of cases were diagnosed as
940:
938:
853:
851:
849:
847:
21:
1134:Millwood, N.Y., Associated Faculty Press.
1013:, Cornell University Press 2002, p. 118.
1004:
1002:
964:Vol. 13, No. 4, Apr., 1982, pp. 118-124.
747:
745:
408:by draining stagnant water and spraying
1227:Populated places disestablished in 1980
862:Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2010, p. 188.
725:"Thai / Cambodian Border Refugee Camps"
681:
240:Origins of the Cambodian refugee crisis
181:
168:
149:
119:
111:
76:
42:
1025:Cambodia: Report from a Stricken Land.
923:. Atlanta: Centers for Disease Control
1130:Levy, B. S. and D. C. Susott (1987).
526:were encountered, and a few cases of
348:outside the Sa Kaeo Hospital in 1979.
272:Establishment of Sa Kaeo Refugee Camp
194:
186:
173:
154:
134:
7:
1202:Populated places established in 1979
1166:Flame Tree: a Novel of Modern Burma.
1027:1st ed. New York: Arcade Pub., 1998.
947:Flame Tree: a Novel of Modern Burma,
479:and anemia, especially in children.
996:March 14, 1980 243:10, pp. 1062-65.
604:by many aid workers, including the
563:Visit by First Lady Rosalynn Carter
178:0.16 km (.006 sq mi)
1212:1980 disestablishments in Thailand
1152:Boston, MA: Boston Pub. Co., 1987.
538:Composition of the camp population
428:Physical condition of the refugees
14:
841:Zed Books, New York, 1998, p. 69.
705:. Dallas: The Intertect Institute
506:Most refugees were infected with
366:Christian and Missionary Alliance
298:Christian and Missionary Alliance
1192:Former refugee camps in Thailand
1150:Pawns of War: Cambodia and Laos.
782:. New York: Simon and Schuster.
55:
48:
1217:1979 establishments in Thailand
1177:Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2010.
1158:Kampuchea, Balance of Survival.
1141:Cambodia: The Years of Turmoil.
1096:Chan, Sucheng and Kim, Audrey,
753:Kampuchea, Balance of Survival.
600:viewed as a gross violation of
436:dominated the medical picture.
372:, and an Israeli medical team.
220:relief camp established on the
56:
1143:Asia Horizons Books Co., 2000.
890:cover story, November 12, 1979
518:–resistant. Numerous cases of
456:deficiencies, particularly of
296:. Water tanks were donated by
1:
1139:Neveu, Roland, and Davies B.
949:Thailand: Orchid Press, 2004.
646:Cambodian humanitarian crisis
1168:Orchid Press, Thailand, 2004
696:Rogge, John R (March 1990).
1117:, August 08, 1979, Page A1.
962:Studies in Family Planning,
774:Shawcross, William (1984).
1243:
1173:Thompson, Larry Clinton.
216:) was the first organized
858:Thompson, Larry Clinton.
344:Israeli doctors from the
199:480/km (1,200/sq mi)
77:
43:
34:
1207:Cambodia–Thailand border
651:Indochina refugee crisis
306:Catholic Relief Services
19:Refugee camp in Thailand
661:Nong Samet Refugee Camp
346:Hadassah Medical Center
146:November 1979-July 1980
1046:"A Devastating Trip,"
886:"Deathwatch Cambodia"
656:Nong Chan Refugee Camp
634:Nong Chan Refugee Camp
547:
475:infections aggravated
349:
224:. It was built by the
123:Government of Thailand
97:13.82056°N 102.05889°E
1222:Refugee camps in Asia
666:Site Two Refugee Camp
606:Preah Maha Ghosananda
545:
343:
226:Royal Thai Government
222:Thai-Cambodian border
208:(also referred to as
142:Royal Thai Government
974:Levy BS, Susott DC.
614:forcibly repatriated
249:Democratic Kampuchea
236:was ever conducted.
206:Sa Kaeo Refugee Camp
196: • Density
69:Location in Thailand
1075:The Globe and Mail,
121:Established by the
102:13.82056; 102.05889
93: /
1115:The New York Times
1077:November 13, 1979.
1060:Walker, Diana H.,
872:Mason L, Brown R.
630:The New York Times
593:Mark Malloch Brown
548:
350:
286:Mark Malloch Brown
188: • Total
175: • Total
837:Robinson, W. C.,
623:Impact of Sa Kaeo
608:and the Reverend
581:blood transfusion
577:Richard Holbrooke
528:hemorrhagic fever
203:
202:
156: • Type
1234:
1118:
1108:
1102:
1093:
1087:
1084:
1078:
1071:
1065:
1058:
1052:
1050:, Nov. 19, 1979.
1043:
1037:
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911:
892:
883:
877:
870:
864:
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842:
835:
829:
828:
826:
824:
813:Forced Migration
805:
794:
793:
781:
771:
756:
749:
740:
739:
737:
736:
727:. Archived from
721:
715:
714:
712:
710:
704:
693:
524:blackwater fever
520:cerebral malaria
258:Dangrek genocide
108:
107:
105:
104:
103:
98:
94:
91:
90:
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86:
59:
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22:
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1124:Further reading
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569:Rosalynn Carter
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998:
980:
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952:
934:
893:
878:
865:
843:
830:
795:
788:
757:
755:Bangkok: 1981.
741:
716:
680:
678:
675:
674:
673:
668:
663:
658:
653:
648:
641:
638:
624:
621:
588:
585:
564:
561:
539:
536:
463:
429:
426:
406:insect control
354:Thai Red Cross
337:
334:
273:
270:
241:
238:
230:United Nations
201:
200:
197:
193:
192:
189:
185:
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1167:
1162:
1159:
1156:Carney T. M.
1155:
1153:
1151:
1148:Isaacs A. R.
1146:
1144:
1142:
1137:
1135:
1133:
1128:
1127:
1123:
1116:
1112:
1111:Seymour Hersh
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1092:
1089:
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1080:
1076:
1070:
1067:
1063:
1057:
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1051:
1049:
1048:Time Magazine
1042:
1039:
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888:Time Magazine
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854:
852:
850:
848:
844:
840:
834:
831:
819:on 2016-03-03
818:
814:
810:
809:"10. Sa Kaeo"
804:
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791:
789:9780671440220
785:
780:
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768:
766:
764:
762:
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748:
746:
742:
731:on 2011-09-28
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610:Peter L. Pond
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514:, much of it
513:
509:
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498:
494:
490:
486:
482:
478:
474:
470:
467:were common.
466:
459:
455:
451:
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427:
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413:
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399:drums. Three
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336:Camp services
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254:Aranyaprathet
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139:
136:Relocated by
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78:Coordinates:
51:
38:
33:
23:
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1157:
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1024:
1019:
1010:
993:
975:
970:
961:
955:
946:
925:. Retrieved
916:
887:
881:
873:
868:
859:
838:
833:
821:. Retrieved
817:the original
812:
777:
752:
733:. Retrieved
729:the original
719:
707:. Retrieved
698:
629:
626:
602:human rights
590:
587:Camp closing
566:
549:
505:
477:malnutrition
431:
414:
410:insecticides
394:
382:
370:World Vision
351:
330:
323:
319:
315:
311:
275:
266:malnutrition
243:
213:
209:
205:
204:
131:October 1979
37:Refugee camp
1197:Khmer Rouge
1009:Terry, F.,
751:Carney TM.
671:Khao-I-Dang
597:Khao-I-Dang
552:Khmer Rouge
516:chloroquine
442:kwashiorkor
262:Khmer Rouge
164:Khmer Rouge
100: /
88:102°03′32″E
1186:Categories
735:2009-12-02
677:References
512:falciparum
434:starvation
418:blood bank
401:deep wells
183:Population
151:Government
85:13°49′14″N
927:7 January
823:7 January
709:7 January
556:sanctuary
485:bacillary
481:Dysentery
462:vitamin B
458:vitamin A
422:nutrition
326:mortality
214:Ban Kaeng
210:Sa Kaeo I
29:Ban Kaeng
1023:Kamm H.
640:See also
618:Cambodia
573:Thailand
571:visited
469:Hookworm
446:beriberi
438:Marasmus
424:center.
397:aluminum
378:Buddhist
374:Catholic
332:sheets.
294:latrines
247:invaded
140:and the
116:Thailand
530:due to
508:malaria
501:endemic
497:scabies
483:, both
473:ascaris
454:Vitamin
386:malaria
282:Sa Kaeo
245:Vietnam
218:refugee
113:Country
63:Sa Kaeo
26:Sa Kaeo
786:
532:dengue
489:amebic
450:anemia
448:, and
302:bamboo
234:census
191:30,000
921:(PDF)
703:(PDF)
575:with
499:were
432:Mass
390:x-ray
278:UNHCR
160:UNHCR
138:UNHCR
127:UNHCR
994:JAMA
929:2018
825:2018
784:ISBN
711:2018
522:and
495:and
493:Lice
487:and
471:and
460:and
376:and
358:ICRC
290:rice
170:Area
362:MSF
212:or
1188::
1001:^
983:^
937:^
896:^
846:^
811:.
798:^
760:^
744:^
684:^
636:.
534:.
503:.
444:,
440:,
412:.
368:,
364:,
360:,
356:,
162:,
125:,
931:.
827:.
792:.
738:.
713:.
464:1
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