The hope for peace in Cambodia after thirteen years of war seemed promising following the agreements reached at the Paris conference. The main objective was to establish an interim coalition government known as the Supreme National Council, which would oversee United Nations-supervised elections. However, the Khmer Rouge, supported by Thailand, had other plans and continued to instigate insurgency across the country, further destabilizing an already fragile peace.

The Role of UNTAC

To help stabilize Cambodia and manage the anticipated elections, the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC) was formed. However, UNTAC forces did not arrive until March 1992, and their deployment was slow, allowing the Khmer Rouge to increase its territorial control. The Khmer Rouge remained obstinate, refusing to disarm or comply with monitoring, while launching disruptive attacks that included mining roads and railways, intimidating villagers, and targeting ethnic Vietnamese. They also declined to participate in the elections.

Despite these challenges, the return of refugees occurred relatively peacefully. The UNTAC mission, which cost around $2 billion and employed 22,000 military and civilian personnel, was the most expensive operation the UN had ever undertaken at that time. However, its success is still a subject of debate. The international forces, drawn from approximately a dozen countries—including Indonesia, India, Ghana, Uruguay, Pakistan, and Bangladesh—were often ill-prepared for their peacekeeping roles, with many only trained for combat situations.

Criticism of UNTAC also centered around perceived insensitivity. Many personnel, unused to the high salaries they received, adopted extravagant lifestyles and paid inflated prices for basic services, leading to a temporary economic boom. However, this prosperity dwindled rapidly after UNTAC’s withdrawal. A nascent tourism industry began to emerge, albeit constrained by the guerrilla tactics of the Khmer Rouge, and there was a notable rise in prostitution. UNTAC did not implement HIV testing for its staff, and it has been widely blamed for the subsequent AIDS epidemic affecting Cambodia.

Today, Cambodian sentiments regarding UNTAC are mixed. While some argue that the mission failed to achieve lasting peace and created more issues than it resolved, others believe that without UNTAC’s intervention, the country could have once again fallen under Khmer Rouge control.