Landmine victims playing volleyball in Phnom Penh. Cambodia, one of the world's most heavily landmined countries, will not be clear of the devices until at least 2020, Prime Minister Hun Sen said Tuesday, adding another decade to demining efforts (AFP/File/Tang Chhin Sothy)PHNOM PENH (AFP) - Cambodia, one of the world's most heavily landmined countries, will not be clear of the devices until at least 2020, Prime Minister Hun Sen said Tuesday, adding another decade to demining efforts.
Although the government expects to increase its mine-clearance budget, Hun Sen said projections made in 2000 that the country would be clear 10 years later were "over-optimistic".
"At the time, we said we'd be clear by 2010, but now Cambodia will take about 10 years more", he told an annual meeting on demining efforts, without explaining why.
Hundreds of people are killed or maimed every year by the millions of mines and other unexploded ordnance still littering the countryside after decades of conflict.
Several foreign demining groups have worked with the government's own ordnance agency since 1992 to clear the minefields. But the work is extremely slow, and roughly 2,900 square kilometres (1,119 square miles) of land remains covered with mines.
Earlier in the year Hun Sen said landmines were one of the biggest obstacles to the country's development, and on Tuesday urged the United States to sign the Ottawa Treaty, an international landmine ban.
The United States is responsible for a large proportion of unexploded bombs and other ordnance still being found in much of the countryside after its massive bombing campaigns in Cambodia during the early 1970s.
"It's true that the US has not signed lots of treaties, including the landmine ban... we appeal to the US to work on issues related to the safety of the world", Hun Sen said.
Although the government expects to increase its mine-clearance budget, Hun Sen said projections made in 2000 that the country would be clear 10 years later were "over-optimistic".
"At the time, we said we'd be clear by 2010, but now Cambodia will take about 10 years more", he told an annual meeting on demining efforts, without explaining why.
Hundreds of people are killed or maimed every year by the millions of mines and other unexploded ordnance still littering the countryside after decades of conflict.
Several foreign demining groups have worked with the government's own ordnance agency since 1992 to clear the minefields. But the work is extremely slow, and roughly 2,900 square kilometres (1,119 square miles) of land remains covered with mines.
Earlier in the year Hun Sen said landmines were one of the biggest obstacles to the country's development, and on Tuesday urged the United States to sign the Ottawa Treaty, an international landmine ban.
The United States is responsible for a large proportion of unexploded bombs and other ordnance still being found in much of the countryside after its massive bombing campaigns in Cambodia during the early 1970s.
"It's true that the US has not signed lots of treaties, including the landmine ban... we appeal to the US to work on issues related to the safety of the world", Hun Sen said.
3 comments:
The United States is responsible for a large proportion of unexploded bombs and other ordnance still being found in much of the countryside after its massive bombing campaigns in Cambodia during the early 1970s.
This sentence is actually not reflecting the truth. Most of the unexploded ordnance currently found in Cambodia are mortar shells, artillery shells, hand grenades, rifle grenades and small arms ammunitions. These are the devices which are causing most of the casualties. Even though Cambodia was heavily (and illegally) bombed between 1965 and 1973, it is rare for demining agencies to come across US bombs. Most of the large ones exploded on impact or have been since dismantled for scrap metal. The US also used cluster munitions, but mainly in North-East Cambodia, and these devices do no cause many incidents anymore in Cambodia (unlike in Laos, Iraq and Afghanistan).
For more informations, please consult the CMVIS reports http://www.redcross.org.kh/services/cmvis.htm
No, many people have died from the US unexploded bombs, especially children who play with or tried to disassemble it to sell for scrap metal.
I agree that hundreds of thousands of Cambodian people may have been killed and injured during the US bombing campaign, and they should be tried for this crime against humanity.
Though, I encourage you to get in touch with CMAC, HALO Trust, MAG or the CMAA to learn about the reality of demining in Cambodia.
The Unexploded Ordnance (UXO) I described earlier, which were used massively in Cambodia, were mainly produced in Russia and China, main weapons providers in the 1960-1980s.
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