UNBRO

UNBRO was the acronym for the United Nations Border Relief Operation, a donor-nation funded relief effort for Cambodians and others affected by years of warfare along the Thai-Cambodian border from 1979 until the 1990s.

In the wake of a brutal and discredited rule by the communist Khmers Rouges and their subsequent ouster from power by invading Vietnamese forces, widespread suffering, especially among displaced Cambodians crowding the Thai-Cambodian border areas, triggered calls for international relief efforts. UNBRO was created to coordinate these efforts.

UNBRO received its monetary and in-kind donations primarily from the United States, the European Commission, Japan, France, the United Kingdom, Australia and Canada. Critics were of the opinion that UNBRO served a purpose beyond humanitarianism -- namely as a vehicle to deliver support to anti-Vietnamese factions operating out of the refugee camps located in UNBRO's area of operations, thereby complicating Vietnam's efforts to play a decisive role in Cambodia's internal politics.

It remains true that the vast majority of United Nations member States and non governmental agencies still consider UNBRO as a model UN operation that effectively and cost-efficiently provided essential support to more than 350,000 Cambodian civilians and played a major role in saving the lives of thousands living under khmer rouge harsh control or who were subject to shelling by Vietnamese forces.