One Year After the Border Fighting, Angelina Jolie Has Not Forgotten Cambodia's Displaced

July 24 marked a sombre anniversary for Cambodia: exactly one year since armed clashes broke out with Thailand along the shared border. To mark the date, Angelina Jolie chose to speak publicly, reminding the world that the humanitarian fallout from the conflict is far from over for tens of thousands of families.

Angelina Jolie

A message posted on Instagram

The Oscar-winning actress spoke out on her Instagram account on the anniversary itself. She explained that the fighting a year ago had upended the safety and stability of countless people, and that nearly 30,000 Cambodians remain internally displaced today, unable to return home.

Jolie also recalled the hurried evacuation of her foundation's staff and their families when fighting broke out near the border — an episode she described as a stark reminder of how quickly conflict can return.

A long-standing, personal bond with Cambodia

Angelina Jolie's ties to Cambodia go back many years. Her eldest son, Maddox, was born in the country, and the actress was granted Cambodian citizenship in 2005. For more than two decades, her foundation — the Maddox Jolie-Pitt Foundation, now known simply as the Maddox Foundation — has run demining, environmental conservation and community development programmes with a locally led team in the border region, in the very area where last year's fighting took place.

In her message, Jolie emphasised the friendships she has built over the years with her neighbours and with the foundation's team, forged through the shared work of clearing landmines and developing the area.

Work has resumed, but concern remains

While Jolie said she was grateful that the foundation's work — protecting the land and supporting local communities' health and livelihoods — had resumed, she made clear that her thoughts remain with those still waiting to go home. She reaffirmed her affection for the country and admiration for the resilience of its people.

A humanitarian crisis that is still unresolved

At the height of the fighting, hundreds of thousands of civilians were forced to flee the border area. A year on, most of the displaced have returned home, but Cambodian authorities still count nearly 30,000 people living in internal displacement, unable to return due to ongoing security concerns. Many have been relocated to temporary sites set up in the border provinces while conditions on the ground are improved.

The situation has also taken a toll on long-running community development projects in the region — demining, conservation and livelihood support — many of which have been slowed by the persistent instability.