Thailand
Cambodia: The cost of a mine-free nation is more than a human benefit
Fresh from recent rounds of multimillion-dollar cash donations from large foreign donors, Cambodia’s demining sector has been reiterating its target of a “mine-free” Cambodia by 2025.
However, as development organisations and foreign embassies echo the renewed date to both local and international media – only one year into a five-year funding programme – the sector is already stating it will struggle to meet this target.
If true, this will mark the third “deadline” missed by Cambodia’s demining sector, first set for 2010 and then 2020, with the 26-year programme so far clearing only half of Cambodia’s known minefields.
Approximately 1,900 square kilometres of land has been declared mine-free, resulting in casualties being brought down from 4,320 per year in 1996 to an annual average around 100 a year over the last five years.
Much of the remaining 1,970 square kilometres remains spread in the Kingdom’s northwestern region after landmines were laid during Cambodia’s civil war in the 1970s and 1980s.
Progress has, so far, been achieved predominately through large foreign donations from Japan, USA, Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, Finland, Germany and Switzerland. Also, the Cambodian Government annually contributes around 10 percent of international contributions.
A combined annual price tag of approximately $30 million a year, is stated in the 2016 “Finishing the Job” report commissioned by the UN Development Programme (UNDP), which, according to the Council for Development of Cambodia, represented demining funding at almost 10 percent of Cambodia’s total annual aid grants between 2013 and 2015.
Despite this, last year, the Cambodia Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authorities (CMAA) stated more than $400 million was still required to remove another estimated 1,800 square kilometres of land in rough geography.
These figures have some in the industry asking whether foreign donors will be able to continue the apparent never-ending cycle of grant funding to programmes that h
ave consistently failed to achieve their stated goals.
This sentiment was backed by a key recommendation in the same 2016 report that, “Cambodia has only a few years to address the remaining landmine contamination and the sector has to demonstrate how it will finish the job by 2025.”
CMAA Vice-President Ly Thuch said his organisation is confident it will be able to achieve its stated goals – if the required funding levels are met and the military is properly utilised.
“The Royal Cambodian Government and the international community need to provide financial support of $50 million a year to the sector, as stated in the National Mine Action Strategy 2018-2025, as well as training and deploying an additional 2,000 deminers from the Royal Cambodian Army,” Thuch said.
He added that if Cambodia did not meet its 2025 target it is still obliged under international agreements to remove all landmines.
“As a state party to anti-personnel mine ban convention, Cambodia is obliged to clear all known mined areas (or minefields) from Cambodia. The CMAA and key stakeholders are continuously monitoring the implementation of the strategy and raising funds to support the effort,” he said.
UNDP Resident Representative Nick Beresford admitted that 2025 is an ambitious target for Cambodia, but, with additional support, it can achieve this goal.
“The National Mine Action Strategy 2018-2025 has the goal of a mine-free Cambodia by 2025, which reflects the commitment made by the Royal Government at the Maputo Review Conference on a Mine-Free World,” Beresford said.
“UNPD believes a mine-free Cambodia by 2025 is an achievable target if the right conditions are in place. These conditions include the support of donors, good coordination with CMAA and the deployment of additional deminers from the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces,” he added.
Beresford, however, did not believe that if the target was not met for a third time that a strategy rethink would be required, nor should donors implement consequences for the organisations that undertake the work.
“We do not think there is a need nor would it be helpful to design alternative goals or strategies at this stage,” he said.
One of Cambodia’s major demining donors, the Australian embassy, which has given more tha AUD$100 million ($71 million) in funding since 1994, said that it also acknowledges the 2025 target will be difficult.
It added, however, the current demining actions are saving countless lives and releasing land for agriculture – a particularly important legacy given COVID-19 and the increase in the relative importance of the agricultural sector for many Cambodians.
“Cambodia has been making meaningful progress towards the target and has been attempting in good faith to comply with its obligations under the Convention,” the embassy said.
“We have been impressed with the leadership of the CMAA and note that the Cambodian Government has recently made a financial commitment from its budget to the UN’s Clearing for Results initiative in Cambodia,” the embassy added.
“As such, and given our long term commitment to this cause, and the clear and ongoing benefits that arise from demining action, Australia is likely to be favourably disposed to any further requests for assistance in the sector,” they said.
Recent border clashes between Cambodia and Thailand have also complicated overall demining efforts. In 2011 a border skirmish over a disputed area near the Preah Vihear temple in Preah Vihear province killed at least six soldiers and civilians.
Because both Cambodia and Thailand had not acceded to the Convention on Cluster Munitions, Thailand admitted using Dual-Purpose Improved Conventional Munition during the clash, a type of cluster munition.
These munitions contain up to hundreds of small grenades (“bomblets”) that scatter over vast areas and are banned by the majority of countries under the Convention on Cluster Munitions.
While this type of munition is not technically under the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention, “Thailand and Cambodia have agreed to pilot mine action projects along their shared border, helping progress towards the 2025 goal,” Beresford said.
The Australian embassy also said, “While Australia would be pleased to see both Cambodia and Thailand accede to the Convention on Cluster Munitions, we hope that Cambodia’s unhappy history and experience with the lingering effects of these weapons proves to be a powerful inhibitor for Cambodia to avoid repeating the tragic mistakes of the past.”
Source: https://www.khmertimeskh.com/50757915/the-cost-of-a-mine-free-nation-is-more-than-a-human-benefit/