UNBRO

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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 and its Cold War allies. Significantly, however, China also contributed resources, giving added weight to an 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.