Cambodia clears 75,000ha of landmines in six months
COMMUNITY
Cambodia continues to make progress clearing the country of landmines. Between January and June this year, the Cambodian Mine Action Centre (CMAC) cleared more than 75,000 hectares of land contaminated by landmines, cluster munitions and unexploded ordnance, reaching an impressive 82% of its annual target.
CMAC reports its de-miners located and destroyed 20,861 explosive remnants of war during the six-month period and responded to 4,023 emergency requests from the public. The centre also conducted 14,477 mine risk education sessions, reaching 1.37 million people — more than half its annual target.
CMAC’s work centred on surveying and clearance operations in six border provinces affected by the 2025 Thai military attacks. Survey teams assessed 335 of 349 affected villages, covering nearly 387,000 hectares. They destroyed more than 8,400 items of unexploded ordnance, including 4,400 cluster munitions.
Clearing mines has allowed almost 6000 households to safely return home, 87 schools to reopen along with 20 health centres, six pagodas and 114 infrastructure projects.
Senior Minister Ly Thuch, First Vice-President of the Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority, says Cambodia’s mine action program receives just 30% of its funding from the government; the rest coming from international partners, the private sector and philanthropists. About US$1 billion has been raised since 1992.
Thuch says that partnership has helped Cambodia become one of the world’s leading mine-clearing success stories. Over the past three decades, the country has cleared more than 3,500 square kilometres of contaminated land, destroyed more than 1.2 million landmines and removed more than three million items of unexploded ordnance.
Annual mine casualties have declined from more than 4,000 in the 1990s to fewer than 100 a year over the past decade, while enabling millions of Cambodians to live, farm and travel safely.
So far, Phnom Penh and 14 provinces have been declared mine-free, as Cambodia continues to eliminate the legacy of war and promote safe development.
ABOVE A de-mining expert deactivates an armed suicide drone, a remnant from the border clash in 2025
PHOTO CMAC
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