PHNOM PENH: Senior Minister and First Deputy Chairman of the Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority, Ly Thuch, has said that while Cambodia still faces challenges with landmines, the remaining 2,017 square kilometers of land, of which close to 800 square kilometers is affected by landmines, is planned to be completely cleared of the unexploded ordnances by 2025.
During a review meeting between Senior Minister Ly Thuch, Director Juan Carlos Ruan of the Implementation Support Unit (ISU), and Senior ISU Officer, Gregory Cathcart, it was concluded that based on a feasibility assessment, Cambodia, a State Party to the Ottawa Convention (also known as the “Mine Ban Treaty”), had not been able to achieve its 2019 target of clearing all landmines in the country.
Cambodia had previously set a goal to clear all landmines in the country over a 10-year period between 2010-2019. While falling short of meeting its goal, by 2019, a total of 8,290 minefields had been cleared of anti-personnel mines, 101,424 anti-tank mines, 1560 munitions and 73,231 explosive remnants of war, over more than 577 square meters of land.
Senior Minister Ly Thuch said that after the review and in accordance with the spirit of the "Maputo +15 Declaration" in 2014, Cambodia has proposed to extend the demining goal for another six years from 2020 to 2025, to achieve complete freedom from landmines by 2025.
He said, "Cambodia faces many problems related to landmines and explosive remnants of war as a result of the country's protracted war from the early 1960s to the end of 1998. Under the victorious policy of Prime Minister Hun Se at the end of 1998, Cambodia achieved complete peace throughout the country, which allowed the Royal Government of Cambodia to adequately address the threat posed by landmines and unexploded ordnance.”
In response, Director Juan Carlos Ruan congratulated and commended the Royal Government of Cambodia for taking care of and organizing a clear structure for the coordination and management of the Cambodian mine action sector and also expressed his high appreciation for the achievements of demining work in the past, even despite the context of the Covid-19 pandemic.
On the occasion of this meeting, the ISU Director continued that he wished to ask Cambodia to host the ‘Global Conference on Assistance of Anti-Personnel Mines and Other Explosive Remnants of War, and Disability Rights,’ which is scheduled to be held in 2023, with the support of the European Union and participation of 200 countries.
As of December 2021, Cambodia has cleared 2,328 square kilometers of land from unexploded ordnances, and destroyed 1,118,810 anti-personnel mines, 25,952 anti-tank mines and explosive remnants of war, and 2,983,416 cluster bombs, with 7,732,536 beneficiaries.
