The wife and children of slain political analyst Kem Ley have arrived in Melbourne, Australia, after staying in Thailand for nearly two years while waiting to be granted residency.

Mr Ley’s wife Bou Rachana and her five sons left Cambodia for Thailand on August 28, 2016, after receiving refugee status from the UNHCR.

Venerable But Buntenh, a former member of the committee for Kem Ley’s funeral, posted on his Facebook page that Ms Rachana and her sons had arrived in Australia safety last Saturday.

“Kem Ley’s wife has done a great job because now his family has arrived in Australia,” he said.

Mr Ley was shot and killed at a gas station coffee shop in Phnom Penh on the morning of July 10, 2016.

Hong Lim, an elected member of state government in Victoria where Melbourne is the capital, told the international media that he and the large Khmer community in Australia were happy that the Ley family had arrived there and he hoped they would have a better life.

Mr Lim added that the next step would be to find a suitable place for the family to live and to help the children go to school.

Eurth Ang was arrested minutes after killing Mr Ley and later told police he killed Mr Ley because of an outstanding debt of $3,000. This motive has been debunked as it has been confirmed that the two men did not know each other and that Mr Ang was living in poverty and would not have been able to loan someone that much money.

Full story in Wednesday’s paper.

• Tags: Bou Rachana, Kem Ley, political analyst