Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Radio Australia
In the week that the Cambodian War Crimes Tribunal has opened, there's already some good news out of the country. And that's on the issue of landmines. Landmines are one of the most devastating legacies of Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge regime, with, in the past, around 800 casualties per year. But now, 27 years after the fall of the Khmer Rouge, that number has been brought down by around 50 percent. Part of that success is due to the work of non-governmental organisations, like AUSTCARE.
Presenter/Interviewer: Zulfikar Abbany
Speakers: General John Sanderson, AUSTCARE's Ambassador for Cambodia
SANDERSON: There are several components to this of course, one is the clearance of the mines themselves, the other is to create awareness of the mine problem throughout Cambodia, including the marking of mine fields. And there's been significant progress on all of these fronts. The key issue is that they now have some very strong idea of exactly where the mines are and how many of them there are. So the task ahead is much clearer than it used to be originally.
ABBANY: And the number of casualties has come down by half now is that right?
SANDERSON: Yes this year the casualties are down by 50 per cent, so it's an indication of how much progress has been made. It's a great result. Now whether the totality of that is due to reduction of the number of mines or the fact that people are now able to understand more clearly how to operate around the mine threat, that's a moot point. But it's still a very important reduction in casualty levels.
ABBANY: You've also been trying to turn what's essentially a very negative thing into a positive thing. So it's not just about clearing landmines from fields is it?
SANDERSON: No, no, no, I mean the fact is that there's a lot of valuable land that had actually been under mines. So Cambodians themselves have taken to clearing minefields without the proper training and proper organisational structure, and they've taken a lot of casualties to do that. So there's been land brought into production by Cambodians at great loss to themselves. But also there is now a program with a number of non-government organisations, but particularly AUSTCARE bringing about increased opportunity by introducing people to ways and means of getting better production out of the land. And so both the aid agencies and the non-government agencies that are involved in this have now taken up this new dynamic of turning previously mine-invested land into productive land.
ABBANY: And what sort of things are being produced out on the land?
SANDERSON: Well actually Cambodia is a very fertile area; it can produce a lot of things. So we're talking about this comprehensive farming is where they actually produce rice and produce fruit with trees, they produce staples like corn and so on, they have fish farms and animals, and the whole thing is linked together. So that these are more or less self-sustaining, and there's a lot of model farms that have been setup on these lines as examples to Cambodians about how to generate a living out of what are fairly small holdings by Australian standards.
ABBANY: I can imagine the response from Cambodians has been a very positive one, and given the start-up now the Cambodian War Crimes Tribunal. What sort of a feeling is there in the country? Is this a time of turnaround now?
SANDERSON: Well I think there's a very positive dynamic in the country. To the credit of the government there has been a very strong process of reconciliation. A lot of former Khmer Rouge people are now part of the administration and part of the armed forces. Some of them are district governors and some of them are provincial governors. Some of them are in the armed forces, but more to the point a lot of the poor rank and file of the Khmer Rouge are starting to make a living for themselves in the country. And this process of embracing them as part of the national reconciliation I think has been pretty successful.
Presenter/Interviewer: Zulfikar Abbany
Speakers: General John Sanderson, AUSTCARE's Ambassador for Cambodia
SANDERSON: There are several components to this of course, one is the clearance of the mines themselves, the other is to create awareness of the mine problem throughout Cambodia, including the marking of mine fields. And there's been significant progress on all of these fronts. The key issue is that they now have some very strong idea of exactly where the mines are and how many of them there are. So the task ahead is much clearer than it used to be originally.
ABBANY: And the number of casualties has come down by half now is that right?
SANDERSON: Yes this year the casualties are down by 50 per cent, so it's an indication of how much progress has been made. It's a great result. Now whether the totality of that is due to reduction of the number of mines or the fact that people are now able to understand more clearly how to operate around the mine threat, that's a moot point. But it's still a very important reduction in casualty levels.
ABBANY: You've also been trying to turn what's essentially a very negative thing into a positive thing. So it's not just about clearing landmines from fields is it?
SANDERSON: No, no, no, I mean the fact is that there's a lot of valuable land that had actually been under mines. So Cambodians themselves have taken to clearing minefields without the proper training and proper organisational structure, and they've taken a lot of casualties to do that. So there's been land brought into production by Cambodians at great loss to themselves. But also there is now a program with a number of non-government organisations, but particularly AUSTCARE bringing about increased opportunity by introducing people to ways and means of getting better production out of the land. And so both the aid agencies and the non-government agencies that are involved in this have now taken up this new dynamic of turning previously mine-invested land into productive land.
ABBANY: And what sort of things are being produced out on the land?
SANDERSON: Well actually Cambodia is a very fertile area; it can produce a lot of things. So we're talking about this comprehensive farming is where they actually produce rice and produce fruit with trees, they produce staples like corn and so on, they have fish farms and animals, and the whole thing is linked together. So that these are more or less self-sustaining, and there's a lot of model farms that have been setup on these lines as examples to Cambodians about how to generate a living out of what are fairly small holdings by Australian standards.
ABBANY: I can imagine the response from Cambodians has been a very positive one, and given the start-up now the Cambodian War Crimes Tribunal. What sort of a feeling is there in the country? Is this a time of turnaround now?
SANDERSON: Well I think there's a very positive dynamic in the country. To the credit of the government there has been a very strong process of reconciliation. A lot of former Khmer Rouge people are now part of the administration and part of the armed forces. Some of them are district governors and some of them are provincial governors. Some of them are in the armed forces, but more to the point a lot of the poor rank and file of the Khmer Rouge are starting to make a living for themselves in the country. And this process of embracing them as part of the national reconciliation I think has been pretty successful.
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