Cambodia, home to 10
million people and the fabled Angkor Wat temple, is also “home” to
millions of landmines. War has injured the country socially, culturally and
economically and the effects are visible in many ways but perhaps most
poignantly in the number of children, men and women wearing prostheses or riding
wheelchairs.
Mines laid by all factions in the Cambodian conflict continue to maim and
kill civilians and military and make agricultural land unsafe. In 1998, 1,249
known new casualties occurred. More than 644 square kilometers of land is known
to be mined, and another 1,400 square kilometers is suspected to be mined. In a
country where 85 percent of the population is dependent upon agriculture or
related activities, such a contamination represents a massive restriction of
Cambodia’s economic base. However through the Cambodia Mine Action Center
(CMAC), and the non-government organizations that work alongside it, the people
of Cambodia are tackling this legacy of conflict.
Mine Ban Policy
Cambodia signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 3 December
1997, but has yet to ratify. The delay in ratification can largely be
attributed to political events in Cambodia following the signing of the treaty:
the general election in June 1998, attempts by political parties to form a new
coalition government, street demonstrations and disputes about the credibility
of the general election. A new government was finally sworn in on 25 November
1998. Throughout this period the National Assembly met for a minimal number of
days and passed little legislation.
In the meantime, the Cambodia Mine Action Center has translated the Mine Ban
Treaty into the Khmer language and drafted a domestic law banning use,
production, and trade of antipersonnel landmines. It would prohibit civilians,
civil servants, Royal Cambodian Armed Forces (RCAF), military forces and the
National Police from using antipersonnel mines in any circumstances, except for
training purposes. The law would give the Cambodia Mine Action Center
responsibility for destroying mines and for coordination of mine clearance
organizations inside Cambodia. The law also outlines punishments for those who
possess or use landmines on Cambodian soil.
Article 26 of the Constitution of the Kingdom of Cambodia states: “The
King shall sign and ratify international treaties and conventions after a vote
of approval by the National
Assembly.”[1]
On 29 January 1998, the Mine Ban Treaty and the draft Landmine Law were
presented at the Council of Ministers and recommended for the list of
legislation to go before the National Assembly in the coming months.
[2] It is unclear how long this
process will take. On 14 August 1998, during a march for peace at Siem Reap,
King Norodom Sihanouk called for ratification of the Mine Ban
Treaty.[3]
The Cambodia Mine Action Center has advised the government of its reporting
obligations under Article 7 of the Mine Ban Treaty and work on this will
commence in the near
future.[4]
Cambodia was one of the early supporters of a comprehensive ban on
antipersonnel landmines. On 2 October 1994 Norodom Sihanouk, King of Cambodia,
issued a declaration calling for a law against the use of antipersonnel
landmines, the destruction of existing stockpiles, and a request to donor
countries for demining
support.[5] At the same time he
began a series of personal donations to the work of the Cambodia Mine Action
Center which by the end of 1998 totaled
US$13,000.[6]
First Prime Minister Norodom Ranariddh announced at an international donors
meeting on 11 March 1994 an immediate ban on the import and laying of landmines
in Cambodia.[7] In August 1994,
Ieng Mouly, the Chairman of the CMAC, announced the government’s intention
to legislate a ban on the use of landmines. No timetable was given for the
legislation but he proposed the interim steps of criminalizing the re-mining of
demining sites, ensuring that new minefields are marked and banning sales of
mines to civilians.[8]
In January 1995, the Cambodian delegation to the governmental experts meeting
in preparation for the Review Conference of the Conventional Weapons Convention
(CCW) and its Landmine Protocol called for a comprehensive ban on
landmines.[9]
On 2 June 1995 Samdech Chea Sim, High Representative of His Majesty the King,
reiterated the position of the Kingdom of Cambodia at the 1995 NGO Landmine
Conference in Phnom Penh:
We call for severe punishments on the use and the laying of landmines, as
well as for the outlawing of those who use and lay land mines. We appeal to all
mine-producing nations to stop this production and to destroy all the existing
arsenals of landmines. We call for the ban of sale and shipment of landmines. At
the same time, we call for immediate cessation of new mine planting and for the
immediate destruction of all landmines in the hands of the Khmer Rouge outlaws.
In this spirit we are the fighters for a mine free Cambodia and a mine free
world.[10]
At the closing ceremony of the same conference the Co-Minister of Defense,
Lieutenant-General Tea Banh made a statement that the Royal Cambodia Armed
Forces “fully and actively” supported “all kinds of
efforts” to reduce the dangers caused by antipersonnel
landmines.[11]
Draft landmine laws were written in 1995 and 1996 but never became law
because of political changes in Cambodia at that time. The contents of the most
recent Landmine Law are similar to that of the 1996 draft law. No legislation
has yet been passed in Cambodia in relation to antipersonnel landmines.
It should be noted that during this period in which Cambodian leaders
expressed strong support for a ban on antipersonnel landmines, there continued
to be numerous reports of use of mines by the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces
against the Khmer Rouge.
Cambodia has been an active participant in the Ottawa Process from the
beginning, attending the October 1996 strategy conference in Ottawa and all the
treaty preparatory conferences in 1997, endorsing the pro-ban treaty Brussels
Declaration in June 1997, and taking part in the three weeks of treaty
negotiations in Oslo in September 1997. It voted in favor of the December 1996
U.N. General Assembly Resolution calling on states to pursue vigorously an
international agreement banning antipersonnel mines, but was absent from the
votes on the pro-ban UNGA resolutions in 1997 and 1998.
More recently, on the occasion of the Phnom Penh International Forum on
Demining and Victim Assistance, 26 October 1998, Samdech Hun Sen, Second Prime
Minister of the Royal Government of Cambodia, stated:
We Cambodians are also proud that while the Khmer Rouge continued the war,
the Royal Cambodian Government has ordered the army not to lay any landmines.
Last year the Cambodian Royal Government has drafted a law forbidding the use or
possession of landmines in Cambodia, because the Royal Government of Cambodia,
as well as the people of Cambodia, as well as the rest of mankind hope that our
Cambodian Assembly could proceed with its work to approve this draft law as soon
as possible.[12]
On the same day, 26 October 1998, Ieng Mouly, Chairman of the CMAC and
Minister of Information, made the following statement:
Cambodia is totally committed to ban the use, stockpiling, and transfer of
landmines. We were among the first signatories of the Ottawa convention. For the
convention to take effect, the new National Assembly will have to ratify in the
future. The National Assembly will have also to adopt a law on the ban and on
the destruction of stockpile of landmines, a law that the current government has
already drafted. This is to prevent new mines being planted. At the same time,
we continue to mobilize our efforts to clear, as fast as possible, many million
of landmines that are hiding in the soil of
Cambodia.[13]
On 25 March 1997 Cambodia ratified the amended CCW Protocol II on
landmines.[14] In an interview
in February 1999, CMAC Chairman Ieng Mouly stressed that the government is
against anything that dilutes the Mine Ban Treaty and will continue to promote
all aspects associated with this treaty.
[15]
Production
Despite the millions of deadly mines in Cambodian
soil, the government of Cambodia has manufactured only one kind of antipersonnel
landmine, the KN-10, a Claymore-type mine. However, there are countless reports
of homemade or improvised mines being produced across Cambodia by various
actors. Cambodia manufactured the KN-10 in the early
1970s.[16] It is a directional
fragmentation antipersonnel mine, similar to the Vietnamese MDH-10 and former
Soviet MON-100 mines. The KN-10 is typically command detonated, however, it can
be used with a tripwire, and is often found attached to a tree or similar
item.[17]
Improvised or homemade mines are made by a variety of people and for a
variety of purposes. Civilians make such mines for property protection (e.g.
land, houses, village, bridge, and animals), for fishing or for settling scores
in neighborhood disputes. The most recent report of such use was Rattankiri
province, in the northeast of Cambodia, where poachers are trying to catch
tigers with homemade landmines. Poachers buy explosives and detonators from
middlemen, who are often the people commissioning them to kill the tigers. Each
mine uses about 2 kilograms of explosive and costs less than US$20 to
make.[18]
Since the signing of the Mine Ban Treaty Khmer Rouge soldiers continued to
manufacture improvised landmines in small factories in the northwest of the
country, though production is believed to have ceased now. Sources known to
the Landmine Monitor researchers have met men who worked in these
factories.[19] CMAC is charged
with destroying all improvised mines and a technical adviser will visit the
factory areas in order to devise safe means to destroy these mines. It is also
believed that in some refugee camps along the Thai-Cambodian border Khmer Rouge
soldiers forced civilians to produce
landmines.[20]
As of February 1999, there is no concrete evidence of continued landmine
production by any Cambodian group.
Transfer
Since the early 1970s, many landmines have crossed
the borders of Cambodia, though it is difficult to know which mines were
imported by the Cambodian government, by opposition forces, and which were
simply brought to Cambodia by foreign armies. (See list below of antipersonnel
landmines encountered in Cambodia). It is known that Cambodia imported from the
United States 622,458 AP mines, nearly all of them M18A1 Claymore mines, from
1971-75.[21]
Since King Sihanouk’s 2 October 1994 landmine declaration, Cambodia has
maintained a formal position against the import or export of antipersonnel
landmines.[22] In an interview
on 17 February 1999, the Deputy Commander in Chief of RCAF and Chief of Joint
Staff Lt. Gen. Pol Saroeun stated that the government was no longer importing
landmines, and that he was unaware of any such trading in
Cambodia.[23]
An informal survey of local markets notorious for the sale of weapons found
that antipersonnel landmine were no longer for
sale.[24] There are of course
isolated cases. In 1998, a member of the Cambodia Campaign to Ban Landmines in
Sisophon was approached by a trader in Phnom Malai, Banteay Meachey province. He
asked if a buyer could be found for his forty landmines.
The Cambodian government is not known to have exported antipersonnel mines in
the past.
It is widely believed that antipersonnel landmines are clandestinely traded
by groups or individuals through Thailand to the Burma border, but there is no
formal evidence of such transfers.
Stockpiling
On 17 February 1999 RCAF Deputy Commander in Chief
Lieutenant General Pol Saroeun formally stated that the Cambodian government no
longer had stockpiles of antipersonnel
landmines.[25] Between 1994
and 1998 the government destroyed 71,991 antipersonnel mines. The following
table shows the numbers of landmines destroyed by the
RCAF.[26]
Landmine
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
Total
Antitank
362
560
1605
927
131
3585
Antipersonnel
13970
5053
34907
6151
11910
71991
Improvised
0
0
11325
7307
4392
23024
Total
14332
5613
47837
14385
16433
98600
These landmines were destroyed by explosion, individually and in groups, as
they were found. Cambodia received no financial assistance for this
process.[27]
The relatively small number of AP mines destroyed--and reported by the
military to be the entire stockpile--stands in stark contrast to previous
estimates of Cambodia’s stockpile of more than one million
mines.[28]
The Cambodia Mine Action Center has retained less than one thousand
antipersonnel landmines for training. These are kept in the regional
headquarters and the training center in Kompong Chhnang. CMAC usually uses
copies of landmines for training purposes.
It is widely believed that there are caches of mines in different parts of
the country, left over from years of conflict in Cambodia. These mines are
believed to be under the control of soldiers or village security, businessmen,
or simply left undiscovered in the forest. Landmines are sometimes kept by
individual villagers for fishing, property protection or settling scores. No
records have been kept of such stockpiles and the Cambodia Action Center will
undertake an information gathering process in relation to this issue in the next
year.[29] Lt. General Pol
Saroeun stated that any stockpiles which are found by the RCAF would be
destroyed.[30] It is also
widely believed that stocks of mines belonging to the Khmer Rouge still remain
in cave areas in
Thailand.[31]
Use
Since the signing of the Ottawa Treaty on 3
December 1997 there have been reports of new use of antipersonnel landmines in
Cambodia. Fighting broke out in O’Smach, Otdar Meanchey province,
O’Beichoen, Banteay Meanchey province and Samlot district, Battambang
province, and all sides of the conflict sustained many landmine
injuries.[32] It is unknown,
however, whether these injuries were caused by newly laid mines, or old mines.
There is no concrete evidence to prove there was new use of landmines, but many
observers consider it highly likely. Lieutenant General Pol Saroeun stated that
the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces had not laid new
mines.[33]
Funcinpec opposition forces under the command of Nhek Bun Chay controlled a
small piece of land near O’Smach on the Thai/Cambodian border. It was
literally ringed with a kilometer of landmines. Landmines were believed to be
the primary weapon in their arsenal and were used to buy time while negotiations
continued with the
government.[34]
In the case of Samlot, defecting soldiers and their families mined and
booby-trapped their villages as they retreated to Thailand in September 1997.
They used mines recovered while clearing paddy fields and Improvised Explosive
Devices (IEDs) made from rockets and grenades. In the same district in the
months that followed Division 16 (previously of the RCAF, then defected to the
resistance forces) laid landmines to protect mobile
headquarters.[35]
During October 1997 Khmer Rouge radio claimed that they would continue to
exercise their right to lay landmines. During 1998 the Khmer Rouge was under
extreme military and political pressure and used both landmines and IEDs to
protect themselves from Royal Cambodian Armed
Forces.[36]
At the time he signed the Mine Ban Treaty for Cambodia in Decebmer 1997,
Foreign Minister Ung Huot stated, “Some press reporting can be misleading.
Recent suggestions of newly laid mines in fact seem only to be a few buried
improvised explosive devices. We can take a little comfort in that the need to
use such crude devices shows that the resistance forces no longer have access to
manufactured
landmines.”[37]
It is widely recognized that individuals continue to use landmines for
fishing, for the protection of property and for settling scores. There have
also been cases of police and poachers using mines.
On 10 August 1998 in Beoung Veng, six kilometers south of Phnom Malai,
Banteay Meanchey, police surrounded a forest with mines in order to capture a
murderer who had hidden there. The man emerged from the forest stepped on a mine
and the police shot him. He
died.[38] On 27 January 1999 in
Ratanakiri province, homemade mines were used by poachers for catching and
killing tigers. Tiger bones are highly sought by Vietnamese
traders.[39]
China, North Korea, Former Soviet Union, Former East Germany
PPMI- SR
Former Czechoslovakia
PPM-2
Former East Germany, China
PSM-1
Bulgaria, Poland
Type 66
China
Type 69
China
Type 72
China, South Africa
Type 72B
China
The Landmine Problem
After 30 years of conflict Cambodia is among the
most mine/UXO affected countries in the world. In 1998, seven years after the
1991 peace agreement, mines and UXOs caused more than 1,200
casualties.[41] More than 644
square kilometers of land is known to be mined, and another 1,400 square
kilometers is suspected to be mined. About 148 square kilometers of land has
been cleared thus far. The great majority of mined areas are located in the
provinces along the Thai-Cambodia border where most of the fighting occurred
since 1979. The eastern provinces are mostly affected by UXOs as a result of the
Vietnam War, though there are also some mined areas. A recent U.S. State
Department report estimated the number of mines in Cambodia at 4-6
million.[42]
CMAC does not yet have an exact figure of the number of families affected by
landmines. However, most of the rural communities living along the
Thai-Cambodian border are affected by mines in various ways. There is a shortage
of land for settlement, for agriculture, and it is difficult to the rehabilitate
rural infrastructure (schools, road, irrigation systems). Landmines also
restrict safe travel and income-generating activities such as gathering
firewood, and threaten the security of children.
According to the World Food Program (as cited by CMAC), there are still over
110,000 Internally Displaced Peoples who are either waiting to resettle or have
just returned to their village of origin. In most of cases these villages of
origin are either mined or very close to suspected areas. There are also 37,000
refugees still living in Thai refugee camps who are currently returning to
heavily mine infested areas in Samlot, Samroung and Anlong Veng.
There has never been a systematic Level One Survey of the mine problem in
Cambodia, but a great deal of suspected and confirmed areas are registered in
the Cambodia Mine Action Center Database. During the UNTAC period (1991-3),
information was collected on the location of around 1,900 suspected mined areas.
CMAC has collected and verified reports of suspected areas, and recorded them in
the database since 1992. In early 1999, CMAC plans to start a systematic Level
One Survey to assess the extent of the mine/UXO problem throughout the country,
and develop a National Demining Plan. This survey will contain a socio-economic
component, which will collect information on the number of people affected and
the socio-economic potential of the contaminated
areas.[43]
The information recorded to date in the CMAC Database is as follows:
Based on the CMAC Database register, the verified/marked mined areas are
characterized as
follows:[45]
Priority 1
Land to be used for resettlement
265 fields
22%
Priority 2
Land to be used for agriculture
764 fields
64%
Priority 3
Land to be used for community development
106 fields
9%
Priority 4
Land to be used for infrastructure
57 fields
5%
Total
1192 fields
100%
Mine Action Funding
The Cambodia Mine Action Center is the government
demining agency for Cambodia. It receives funding from the Cambodian government,
other governments, the United Nations and non-governmental organizations who act
as custodians for government funds. CMAC’s annual project costs are US$12
million. This does not include advisory support or in-kind
donations.[46] From 1994-1998,
cash contributions to CMAC totalled $63 million. In-kind contributions totalled
millions more; the U.S. alone has provided $10 million in in-kind
donations.[47] The breakdown of
CMAC’s expenditures are as follows: mine clearance 90%; mine verification
7%; mine training 2%; mine awareness
1%.[48]
Most of the funding has been given to a special Trust Fund for Cambodia
established by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), “Assistance
to Demining Programs in Cambodia.” From December 1997 through December
1998, $9.14 million was received into the trust
fund.[49] Contributors included:
Netherlands (Dec. 1997) $2.4 million; Sweden (Dec. 1997/June ‘98) $2.6
million; Denmark (Jan. 1998) $878,000; Japan (Feb. 1998) $1 million; Australia
(June 1998) $1.7 million; Finland (April 1998) $520,000; South Korea (Nov.
1998) $25,000. Thus far in 1999, New Zealand has contributed US$100,000, Japan
has pledged U.S.$900,000, and Belgium has pledged 30 million Belgian francs to
the UNDP Trust Fund for
Cambodia.[50]
From 1993 to 1998 the Royal Government of Cambodia donated approximately
U.S.$1 million to the Cambodia Mine Action
Center.[51] In addition to this
financial support the Royal Cambodian Government has donated 59 hectares of land
in Kompong Chhnang province for the CMAC training center and land for the CMAC
headquarters in Phnom Penh. The government has granted CMAC tax-free status,
which has an estimated value of at least U.S.$2 million
dollars.[52] All donations were
given for the purposes of humanitarian demining by the Cambodia Mine Action
Center.
The Cambodia Mine Action Center receives three kinds of support from other
governments and non-governmental organizations: financial, advisory and in-kind
support. For example, Norway contributes money to the UNDP trust fund, but also
funds technical advisors through the NGO, Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA).
The United States does not provide money to the UNDP trust fund, but has
provided millions of dollars in in-kind support in the form of trucks,
explosives, cars, demining equipment and so on. Other countries fund bilateral
projects. Sweden is funding a three-year program to establish a mine detection
dog program in Cambodia. Finland is funding a two-year project for mechanical
demining by funding the testing and perhaps the operational development of two
mechanical demining flails. [53]
Donor countries are listed in the following table.
Contributions from Donor Countries to the Cambodia Mine Action Center,
1994 -1998[54]
Country/
Organization
Financial Support in Cash (US$)
Technical Advisors
In-Kind
Australia (1994 – 98)
10.21 million
Yes
Belgium (1997)
0.82 million
Yes
Canada (1994 – 98)
2.83 million
Yes
Denmark (1993, 96-98)
4.15 million
Finland (1998)
0.52 million
Flail
Pope John Paul II (94)
5,000
King of Cambodia*
13,000
Japan (1994/96/98)
6.3 million
Norway (1994/95/96)
1.96 million
Yes, provided through Norwegian People’s Aid
New Zealand (93-97)
0.54 million
Yes
Netherlands (93, 96-98)
7.76 million
Yes
Switzerland (1997)
$ 67,000
South Korea (1998)
$ 25,000
Sweden (1995-98)
8.83 million
Yes
United Kingdom (93-96)
4.119 million
Bilateral in context of Trust Fund (95-99)
USA (1994)
910,000
Leadership Training and in kind donations valued at $ 10 million.
Germany* Dir.CMAC.97
1.6 million
European Union*
5.3 million
Yes, provided through Handicap International
UNDP/CARERE* (93-2000)
4 million
Capacity building
USAID*
2 million
UNICEF*
1 million
Yes
UN Volunteers*
4 volunteers CMAC
4 x $35,000
* Not donated through the UNDP Trust Fund
Mine Clearance
Mine clearance operations in Cambodia are
coordinated by CMAC. In addition to its own demining platoons, mine marking
teams, EOD teams, and mobile mine awareness treams, CMAC coordinates NGO
demining organizations--Mines Advisory Group, Halo Trust, and Norwegian
People’s Aid.
Total land cleared in Cambodia to date is 148 square kilometers. The CMAC
database indicates that this has included land for resettlement (54.4%),
agriculture (44%), infrastructure (1.2%), and economic development
(0.4%).[55]
CMAC
In 1998 CMAC cleared 11.5 square kilometers of
land.[56] CMAC currently
conducts major demining operations in seven provinces:
Demining Unit 1 – Banteay Meanchey, Siem Reap
Demining Unit 2 – Battambang,
Demining Unit 3 – Kampot, Kampong Speu,
Demining Unit 4 – Kampong Cham, Kampong Thom
It conducts other mine/UXO clearance activities in an additional five
provinces. Mine and UXO clearance teams, Community Mine Marking Teams, Mine
Verification and Survey Teams and Mine Awareness Education Teams are active in
Kampong Chhnang, Svay Rieng, Prey Veng, Kandal, and Takeo.
All employees involved in demining operations in Cambodia are selected
locally. The expatriates work as Technical Advisors dealing with demining
operations, explosive ordnance disposal, verifications, mechanical mine
clearance, training, mine detection dogs, financial and logistics
techniques.[57]
Mines Advisory Group (MAG)
MAG Cambodia began its operations in October 1992. Today the organization
operates five demining teams, seven Mine Action Teams (MATs) and two EOD teams.
The MAT concept has been recently developed by MAG Cambodia. MATs primarily
focus on clearing small plots of land for community use, for example around
pagodas, water sources, clinics, schools and for resettlement purposes. MATs
comprise one supervisor, 12 deminers, one Trauma Care trained medic and a
driver. The team can be transported in one vehicle, which gives the team
increased mobility and flexibility. Each MAT member is primarily deployed as a
deminer. However to provide an integrated response to the mine and UXO problem
faced by a community, each deminer is trained in a secondary skill such as
Surveying and Marking, Mine Awareness, Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD), and
basic trauma care. MAG currently conducts operations in six provinces:
Battambang, Kampong Thom, Kampong Speu, Banteay Meanchey, Pursat, and Siem
Reap.[58]
Funding for the Mines Advisory Group totalled $2.4 million in 1998.
Contributors included the UK government (DFID), Australian government (AusAID),
UNICEF, World Vision International, Church World Service, EZE, Lutheran World
Federation, FinChurchAid/FIWIDA, DanChurchAid/DANIDA, and
UNICEF.[59]
HALO Trust
HALO Trust has been working in Cambodia since 1991. HALO currently has two
base locations in Thmar Pouk and Siem Reap and two satellite locations in the
towns of Samrong and Anlong Veng. HALO’s activities in Cambodia can be
summarized as: Mine clearance, Survey, Marking, Limited Mine awareness, Route
proving, Promotion of development in remote areas.
HALO currently employs 560 local staff and expatriate Technical Advisors. In
addition to the mine clearance teams in each location, a UXO call out team is
prepared to provide rapid response to requests from civilians, government,
non-government and International Organizations. In 1997 HALO conducted a trial
use of an armored tractor fitted with a Bush cutter. HALO says they were so
successful five units are now deployed and operating in Cambodia with a further
five on order and planned to be deployed by mid-1999.
During 1998 HALO converted from the traditional Two Man One Lane to One Man
One Lane system (OMOL), which HALO states has doubled the number of demining
lanes for the same running costs with a significant improvement in productivity
per lane. In early 1998 HALO conducted an investigation on land use of all sites
cleared by HALO between 1992 and May 1998, and found that over 90% of land
cleared by HALO had been used for purposes it was intended for when clearance
took place, and that less than 1% of cleared land had been repossessed by the
military.
Beginning in March 1999 all sites cleared by HALO will be revisited and the
socio-economic template developed by the CMAC planning unit will be applied to
each of these sites and a consolidated report generated. HALO has regular
meetings with both CMAC and MAG to ensure no duplication of effort occurs and
there is a two-way flow of information regarding survey, clearance and
technological developments.
HALO is currently funded by ECHO (European Community Humanitarian Office),
the governments of the UK (DFID), Ireland (DFA), Finland, United States (State
Department), and Japan (Embassy), UNDP/CARERE, and the NGO Association to Aid
Refugees/Japan.[60]
Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA)
NPA’s clearance effort in Cambodia began in 1992. NPA currently runs
two major projects, which could be defined as humanitarian mine action. Five
Technical Advisers are involved in the process of improving the technical side
of mine clearance, while empowering CMAC to develop into a self-reliant,
sustainable organization. NPA also runs a project to help landless poor to
settle on demined land. In addition, it gives support to the Cambodian School
for Prosthetics and Orthotics, and has set up a light engineering factory in
Phnom Penh, employing mine victims in the production of demining equipment.
NPA’s budget for 1998 was $1.43 million, including $905,000 for Community
Development; $460,000 for Technical Assistance to CMAC (demining); and $65,000
for the School of
Prosthetics.[61]
Areas Cleared
Since 1992, CMAC has maintained records of areas
cleared. The records can be accessed from the CMAC Operations Branch or Database
Unit.[62]
CMAC Community Liaison Officers have conducted
socio-economic assessments in 60 mined areas cleared by CMAC. The assessed areas
constitute 25% of the total number of areas cleared, and 20% of the total
surface area cleared, by CMAC. Thus they are not necessarily representative of
what may later be found as the CMAC socio-economic efforts continue. However,
there are interesting features of the data collected so far.
The proportion of land under dispute is quite limited -- only 4%. However,
without proper coordination and cooperation, CMACs efforts in areas previously
administered by the Army and from which the civilian population was displaced
will be made difficult by the potential for land disputes.
Assessments of 60 cleared mined areas showed that 1,559 families have
benefited from the land cleared: 46% IDP families and 54% local
families.[67] Out of the total
1,559 beneficiary families, 700 (54%) have used the land for resettlement, 213
(14%) were already settled on the land cleared and 646 (41%) are cultivating it.
The higher percentage of families using land for resettlement in Battambang
(66%) and Banteay Mean Chey (48%) is due to the return of Internally Displaced
People to their villages of origin. This proportion will increase significantly
as the remaining assessments are made in the areas opened since the Khmer Rouge
defections in 1996. The average agricultural land cleared used by one family is
0.8 hectare, ranging from 0.4 to 1.1 .The average housing plot used by one
family is 1,376 square meters. It should be noted that housing plots in rural
areas are not just used for building homes but also for cultivation of vegetable
and fruit gardens.[68]
Assessments of 83 mined areas planned for clearance in 1998 and 1999
indicated that 6,300 families will benefit from the land cleared: 60.5% IDPs
families and 39.5% local poor families.
This issue has been of concern to a network of NGOs who work in mined areas.
During June 1998 a group of NGOs met in Battambang province and issued a
statement that included an analysis of the situation and recommendations. That
statement was adapted with experience from other NGOs and sent as part of the
NGO Statement To The 1999 Consultative Group Meeting On Cambodia, Tokyo, 25-26
February 1999.[69]
Agencies working in development and reconstruction of mine affected
communities, following mine clearance, in Cambodia include Norwegian
People’s Aid, Lutheran World Service, Jesuit Refugee Service, Church World
Service, World Vision, Action Nord Sud and CARERE.
Mine Awareness
Despite the 1.1 million people who have received
mine awareness education, it is evident given the number of accidents that
result from tampering with mines that many people lack or have incorrect
knowledge about the dangers of mines/UXO, especially children. An
Information-Needs survey planned by CMAC to take place next year will provide
more details about this
issue.[70] CMAC is responsible
for the national strategy and for coordinating all awareness-raising
efforts.
Mine marking is a crucial form of mine awareness. CMAC has two kinds of teams
involved in marking mined areas. 13 Mine Marking Teams (MMT) mark verified
mined areas of high priority. Another 13 Community Mine Marking Team (CMMT) mark
priority areas and do small scale clearance of minefields in remote
villages.
However, effective exclusion of civilians from suspected areas requires more
than just marking. Mine awareness programs and the active participation of local
authorities play essential roles in modifying the behavior of villagers in
suspected mine areas. Though there have been improvements, villagers driven by
economic necessity often go to the dangerous areas.
There are three lead agencies in the area of mine awareness education. They
include:
CMAC – 12 teams, mass media campaign, billboards, NGO Campaign;
MAG – 8 teams, billboards;
MATT- awareness integrated into World Vision’s development
activities.[71]
Other development agencies in mined areas have integrated mine awareness into
their programs. None of the programs in Cambodia rely on training village people
as awareness educators. Rather, each organization employs Awareness Teams,
typically with four educators in each, visiting two to five locations a week
(villages, schools, development projects, etc.)
Over the past five years, more than 1.1 million people have received mine
awareness education, including more than 423,000 in 1998
alone.[72]
1994: 59,817
1995: 121,678
1996: 216,649
1997: 281,916
1998: 423,434
Total: 1,103,494
Landmine Casualties
The Mine Incident Database Project reports that
there were 1,249 landmine casualties in
1998.[73] Of those, 177 people
died. The number of mine incidents per month is not constant over time. Over
the past years the same trend has been observed: the numbers go up during the
dry season and down in the wet season. Increased military activity and forest
gathering activities during the dry season explain this trend. In 1998, the
monthly incident figure ranged from 180 in January to 54 in
October.[74]
The Mine Incident Database Project provides a clear picture of the landmine
casualty situation in Cambodia. The database resulted from close collaboration
of various agencies, chief among them the Cambodian Red Cross (CRC), which
agreed to host the database project and sponsor data gathering teams in four
provinces, and MAG, which deployed data gathering teams in five provinces.
UNICEF has been the project’s principal donor . Handicap International
provided technical advisors, and field staff were responsible for setting up the
data base along with training, coordinating and monitoring of CRC data gathering
and data entry staff.
The Mine Incident Database Project has prepared graphs and diagrams
highlighting the overall situation of landmine casualties in Cambodia. There
is inadequate space to present them in this report, but they include:
1998 Mine Incidents: Casualties ranked by Province
Long Term Casualty Trends by Year 1979 -1998
Short Term Trend: Total Reported Casualties by Month, 1996-8
Total Casualties: Deaths vs. Injuries 1998
Casualties by Age Group 1998
Military vs. Civilian Casualties 1998
Casualties by Gender 1998
Incident by Occupational Category (Civilian vs. Military) 1998
Incidents by Occupational Status (Mine) 1998
Incidents by Occupational Status (UXO) 1998
Analysis of Casualty Types and Type of Amputation 1998
The figures of the Mine Incident Database Project are not yet comprehensive,
as there are still key areas where CRC has limited information on mine incidents
(former Khmer Rouge areas along the Thai-Cambodian Border). However, it is
planned to base data gatherers in these areas in 1999. Statistics experts
suggest an additional 20% probably reflects a more accurate figure.
To date it has been impossible to have exact statistics on the total number
of people disabled by landmines and still alive in Cambodia today. At least
14,500 people have died as result of landmines. At least 24,410 survived mine
injuries initially.
Most Cambodian disabled are among the very poorest in a very poor country.
Health costs for landmine injuries can completely bankrupt the family. Recent
studies have shown that the average expenditure in health care is approximately
$20-33 per capita/per year. Most Cambodians are paying far more than they can
afford for generally poor quality, ineffective
care.[77]
Most support for landmine survivors is provided by non-governmental
organizations. The government provides a small pension to soldiers who become
landmine victims. The pension ranges from 30,000 -180,000 riels per month
(approximately US$8–50). It is often months late or collected by the
commander of the division and never paid to the victim or the family.
The Cambodian government has developed a health plan with operational
districts, which consist of referral hospitals and health centers. These health
centers are planned to be within ten kilometers or two hours walk of the
population they serve. In 1998 surgical facilities are available at the
provincial level for landmine injuries. A special hospital for victims of
conflict run by the NGO EMERGENCY exists in Battambang. Military hospitals
caring for soldier victims include those in Battambang, Siem Reap and Phnom
Penh.
Figures provided by the Ministry of Health detail patient intake for
hospitals in 1998. They indicate that of the 177 people who died from landmine
injuries, only 21 died in hospital. Of the 1,249 victims, 735 received hospital
teatment.
NGOs in Cambodia do not differentiate between funds used for care and other
services for landmine victims and those used for victims of other
disabilities.
Prosthetics
Five international organizations have taken responsibility for the production
and distribution of prosthetics in Cambodia. They include the American Red
Cross, Cambodia Trust, Veterans International, the International Committee of
the Red Cross and Handicap International. There are some fifteen workshops
located throughout Cambodia. In 1998 the total number of prostheses produced was
5,858, an average of 484 per month.
The National School of Prosthetics and Orthotics (NSPO) is located in Phnom
Penh, sponsored by American Friends Service Cambodia, American Red Cross,
Cambodia Trust and Veterans International, and operated by Cambodia Trust. The
School has the capacity to train 12 students per year in a three-year curriculum
course, which has international accreditation. The School’s director
estimates that 100 technicians are required to required to meet Cambodia’s
minimum needs. In 1997 six students graduated, followed by seven graduates in
1998. The School is also developing a role in the region, as two students from
the Laos joined the program last year.
The Foot Factory is a private business with technical assistance from
Handicap International. It uses local materials to produce vulcanized rubber,
solid ankle, and cushioned-heel prosthetic feet. The feet are purchased by
Handicap International and given to agencies. The ICRC – funded and
operated Components Factory supplies Prosthesis and Orthotics parts to the
majority of the workshops in Cambodia.
Wheelchairs
Many of those who lose both their legs in a landmine accident require a
wheelchair for their life and work. Three organizations produe wheelchairs in
Cambodia: Jesuit Refugee Service Cambodia, Veterans International, and
Association to Aid Refugees--Japan. Together in 1998 they produced a total of
1,581 chairs. Assessment of wheelchair users, training in wheelchair use and
follow up is also done by these agencies. A national plan for wheelchair
distribution has been partially successful. ICRC, ARC, HI, CT and various NGOs
and individuals purchase and distribute wheelchairs to the handicapped. There is
a policy among wheelchair producers and distributors that wheelchairs made in
Cambodia, by Cambodians, for Cambodian conditions are the most suitable. Import
of wheelchairs from other countries is discouraged. To date very few users are
able to afford the US$75 to pay for a wheelchair, however many users have made
small donations toward the cost of wheelchair production in Cambodia.
Vocational Training and Socio-economic Reintegration
As the number of disabled in Cambodia is so large, vocational training
centers which give preference to the disabled have been essential. The number of
disabled who meet entrance criteria or policy standards for other vocational
centers is extremely small. However, vocational training centers are certainly
not the answer for all disabled to attain income generating skills. Most are
better empowered in their own localities with agricultural skills or family
income possibilities.
The following organizations operate vocational and skills training
centers:
Association to Aid Refugees--Japan; Catholic Office for Emergency Relief and
Refugees; Cambodian War Amputees Rehab. Social; Jesuit Refugee Service Cambodia;
Maryknoll; Rehab Craft Cambodia; United Committee of Cambodia; Marist Mission
Australia; International Labor Organization; Ministry of Social Affairs Labor
and Veterans Affairs.
Socio-economic reintegration attempts to address psycho-social, economic,
cultural, religious and educational needs at the village level. It is often done
informally by the village community itself. Development activities in
mine-affected communities are also vital in addressing these needs. A survey to
determine the socio-economic situation of people disabled by landmines is
currently underway. To date, no estimates of the cost of socio-economic
reintegration are available.
The following organizations perform community-based work with disabled people
in Cambodia: Action on Disability and Development (ADD); American Friends
Service Cambodia; National Center for Disabled People; Social Services for
Cambodia (SSC); Handicap International (HI); Servants; Veterans International;
Jesuit Refugee Service Cambodia. Other organizations working with the disabled
include the Disability Action Council and the Cambodian Disabled People’s
Organization.
Disability Law
The “Draft Law to Protect the Rights of Persons with
Disabilities” has been completed, but has not yet been submitted to the
National Assembly. A report on the Draft Law stated:
The draft law is designed to be sort of a set of practical approaches to deal
with some of the numerous problems facing people with disabilities in Cambodia.
There are many other provisions that could have been included here, such as
accessibility requirements for transportation systems and telecommunications
systems. .... this law is but a first step in a long term process of developing
a law that fits the current situation in the country, and can serve as a solid
foundation for change.[78]
Note to Readers: A much longer country report on Cambodia has been
prepared for Landmine Monitor which could not be used in full due to space
considerations. It contains much greater detail on the landmine problem,
casualties, clearance, and survivor assistance programs. The full report is
available upon request. The full Cambodia country report also contains these
appendices:
One--Draft Law on the Ban of Antipersonnel Landmines
Two--Cambodian Returnees Joint Press Statement, 15 February 1999
Three--Draft Law to Protect People with Disabilities
[1] Royal Kingdom of
Cambodia, Constitution, 1993.
[2] Landmine Monitor
Interview with CMAC Chairman, His Excellency Ieng Mouly, Phnom Penh, 1 February
1999.
[3] Norodom Sihanouk,
Declaration of King of Cambodia, Siem Reap Peace March, 14 August 1998.
[4] Landmine Monitor
Interview with CMAC Director General, His Excellency Sam Sotha, Phnom Penh, 16
February 1999.
[5] Norodom Sihanouk,
Declaration of King of Cambodia, Beijing, 2 October, 1994.
[6] Landmine Monitor
Interview with CMAC Director General Sam Sotha, Phnom Penh, 16 February
1999.
[7] Human Rights Watch,
Cambodia at War (New York: Human Rights Watch, March 1995), p. 100.
[8]“ ”Mouly
Reveals Plans to Outlaw Mines,” Phnom Penh Post, August
26-September 8, 1994.
[9] International Committee
of the Red Cross, “States and International Organizations Supporting A
Total Prohibition of Antipersonnel Landmines,” 18 April 1996.
[10] Chea Sim, High
Representative of His Majesty the King, Speech made to the International
Landmine Conference on the Human and Socio-economic Impact of Landmines, Phnom
Penh, 1995.
[11] Tea Banh, Co-Minister of
Defense, Speech made to International Landmine Conference on the Human and
Socio-economic Impact of Landmines, Phnom Penh, 1995.
[12] Hun Sen, Second Prime
Minister of the Royal Government of Cambodia, Welcoming Speech to the
International Forum on De-mining and Victim Assistance, Phnom Penh, 26-28
October 1998.
[13] Ieng Mouly, CMAC
Chairman, Statement to the International Forum on De-mining and Victim
Assistance, Phnom Penh, 26-28 October 1998.
[14] International Committee
Red Cross, 1980 Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW), 8 January 1998.
[15] Landmine Monitor
Interview with CMAC Chairman Ieng Mouly, Phnom Penh, 1 February 1999.
[16] Landmine Monitor
Interview with CMAC Chairman Ieng Mouly, Phnom Penh, 1 February 1999.
[17] U.S. Department of
Defense Humanitarian Demining Program, Mine Facts CD Rom, version 1.2.
[18] Reuters, “Hunters
using landmines to kill Cambodian tigers,” 27 January 1999 and Compton,
J., “ Action promised to Save tigers from Poachers mines,” South
China Morning Post, 10 February 1999.
[19] Interview, 24 February
1999, Source Confidential.
[28] See for example, Human
Rights Watch, Cambodia at War, 1995, p. 100.
[29] Landmine Monitor
Interview with CMAC Chairman Ieng Mouly, Phnom Penh, 1 February 1999.
[30] Landmine Monitor
Interview with Lt. Gen. Pol Saroeun, Phnom Penh, 17 February 1999.
[31] Interview, 17 February
1999, Source Confidential.
[32] Handicap International,
Cambodian Red Cross, United Nations Children’s Fund, Mines Advisory Group,
Cambodia Mine Incident Report, Mine Incident Database Project, December
1998.
[33] Landmine Monitor
Interview with Lt. Gen. Pol Saroeun, 17 February 1999.
[34] Moser-Puangsuwan,
“Non-State/Quasi State Armed Forces in Cambodia using, holding or
producing landmines,” Nonviolence International SE Asia Office, 1
September 1998.
[37] Speech of H.E. Mr. Ung
Huot, Minister of Foreign Affairs, at the Antipersonnel Mine Convention Signing
Ceremony, Ottawa, Canada, 2-4 December 1997, p. 4.
[38] United Nations Center
for Human Rights – Confidential Source
[39] “Hunters using
landmines to kill Cambodian tigers,” Reuters Phnom Penh, 27
January 1999 and Compton, J., “Action promised to save tigers from
poachers’ mines,” South China Morning Post, 10 February
1999.
[40] U.S. Department of
Defense, Mine Facts CD Rom, version 1.2.
[41] Handicap International,
Cambodian Red Cross, United Nations Children’s Fund, Mines Advisory Group,
Cambodia Mine Incident Report, Mine Incident Database Project, December
1998.
[42] U.S. Department of
State, Hidden Killers, September 1998, p. 64.
[43] CMAC, Response to the
Landmines Monitor Questions, Phnom Penh, 16 December 1998.
[45] CMAC, Response to the
Landmines Monitor Questions, Phnom Penh, 16 December 1998.
[46] CMAC, Letter to Cambodia
Campaign to Ban Landmines, Phnom Penh, 25 August 1998 and CMAC, Memorandum
– Questionnaire for Monitoring Treaty, Phnom Penh, 14 August 1998.
[47] Landmine Monitor
Interview with CMAC Director General Sam Sotha, Phnom Penh, 16 February
1999.
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