Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09PHNOMPENH336
2009-05-26 09:35:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Phnom Penh
Cable title:  

CAMBODIA CONTINUES TO BATTLE PHYSICAL REMINDERS OF

Tags:  PGOV PREL EAID MOPS CB 
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VZCZCXRO2561
PP RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM RUEHNH
DE RUEHPF #0336/01 1460935
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 260935Z MAY 09
FM AMEMBASSY PHNOM PENH
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0737
INFO RUCNASE/ASEAN MEMBER COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PHNOM PENH 000336 

SIPDIS

STATE PASS TO EAP/MLS AND PM/WRA CHARLIE STONECIPHER

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL EAID MOPS CB
SUBJECT: CAMBODIA CONTINUES TO BATTLE PHYSICAL REMINDERS OF
WAR

PHNOM PENH 00000336 001.2 OF 002


UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PHNOM PENH 000336

SIPDIS

STATE PASS TO EAP/MLS AND PM/WRA CHARLIE STONECIPHER

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL EAID MOPS CB
SUBJECT: CAMBODIA CONTINUES TO BATTLE PHYSICAL REMINDERS OF
WAR

PHNOM PENH 00000336 001.2 OF 002



1. Summary: Nearly three decades of war and civil unrest have
left Cambodia as one of the most heavily mined and explosive
remnants of war (ERW) contaminated countries in the world.
In addition to landmines, contamination includes cluster
submunitions as well as abandoned explosive ordnance dropped
by the United States during the secret bombing of Cambodia
between 1969 and 1973. Over fifteen years of humanitarian
demining has significantly reduced casualties due to mine and
ERW accidents as well as the amount of contaminated and
suspect land. However, some landmine experts estimate that
roughly 700-1000 square kilometers are still heavily mined,
creating a significant obstacle to post-conflict
rehabilitation, poverty reduction, investment and long-term
development. The international community will need to
support humanitarian mine action activities at a sustained
rate for several years before success is in sight. End
Summary.

Troubled History
--------------


2. According to the Cambodian Mine Action Center (CMAC),the
North Vietnamese army laid the first landmines in Cambodia in
1967 and continued to do so throughout the Vietnamese War.
The United States then began covert carpet-bombing operations
in the late sixties. In the seventies, the Khmer Rouge as
well as the Lon Nol regime used landmines to protect
defensive perimeters and block borders. The Vietnamese
invasion into Cambodia on January 7, 1979 did not end the
conflict, with fighting continuing into the early nineties.
The Vietnamese-backed government conscripted hundreds of
thousands of Cambodians for perilous labor such as land
clearance and mining through the Kor Pram project, better
known as K5. Beginning in 1985, millions of mines were laid
along the K5 mine belt ) n approximately 700 kilometer
barrier along the western and northern border with Thailand.
United Nations deminers began the slow and dangerous task of
clearing this area of mines beginning in 1992.

Addressing the Problem
--------------


3. Currently, three main humanitarian mine action (HMA) NGOs
focus their efforts on the K5 mine belt in northwestern

Cambodia, which has the greatest concentration of mines in
the country. HALO Trust, Mines Advisory Group (MAG),and
CMAC each fulfill a specific niche in the ongoing struggle to
rid Cambodia of landmines. HALO is an expert in the field,
and is known for its methodical and professional approach to
landmine clearance. HALO focuses on the most densely mined
areas, much of which is located in uninhabited forested areas
of the border, and consistently has the highest numbers of
mines cleared (per clearance worker and per unit area). Some
observers, however, believe that more of an emphasis should
be placed on the social-economic aspects of landmine and ERW
contamination. This is where MAG and CMAC's expertise come
into play. Both NGOs work with the provincial Mine Action
Planning Units (MAPUs) to select clearance areas based on
social-economic impact to include land release, which
ultimately frees land for farming and other productive use.
MAG and CMAC also promote gender equality with females making
up over 30 percent of their deminers. However, by
concentrating on poverty alleviation and land release, MAG
and CMAC end up clearing large swaths of land which may or
may not have landmines, lowering their overall clearance
productivity statistics.

Battle Area Clearance
--------------


4. During the secret bombing campaign of Cambodia from
1969-1973, the U.S. is reported to have dropped approximately
half a million tons of bombs, littering the ground with over
26 million submunitions. Most were dropped in the eastern
provinces where the Ho Chi Minh trail wound through Laos and
Cambodia and into southern Vietnam. According to Handicap
International, close to one third of these submunitions
failed to explode, resulting in more than 8.5 million
explosives scattered throughout the eastern portion of
Cambodia. These unexploded remnants kill or injure more
Cambodians annually than landmines. Poverty, the
construction of highways and roads, and land migration has
put more people on a collision path with ERW in these areas.
Many villagers know where the ERW are and stay away,
preventing them from safely using the land for agriculture or
infrastructure. Poverty has forced others to take a chance,
often farming the contaminated areas or collecting scrap
metal and explosives from the submunitions to sell.
Recently, CMAC has taken the lead to remove explosives in the
eastern provinces and depending on funding, deploys one to

PHNOM PENH 00000336 002 OF 002


ten units to clear the former battle areas.

Exporting Expertise
--------------


5. Since the beginning of the UNTAC period over 1 million
mines and approximately 500 square kilometers have been
cleared. After years of trial and error, Cambodia's demining
expertise is now benefiting others worldwide. Last year,
Afghan deminers spent several months in Cambodia, working
side by side with trained HALO deminers to learn new
techniques. In 2007, 135 Cambodian troops were sent to Sudan
on a United Nations Peace Keeping Operation (PKO).
Additional troops have rotated through on a yearly basis and
several hundred others stand ready for emergency peacekeeping
and demining missions.

Victims of Their Own Success
--------------


6. A new baseline survey will be conducted this year to
better determine the extent of existing land contaminated by
landmines and set area priorities for clearance. It is
roughly estimated that approximately 700-1000 square
kilometers of heavily contaminated land remains to be cleared
(current rate of clearance is around 36 square kilometers per
year). Landmine and ERW casualties have dramatically
decreased from over 2000 annually in the early 1990's to 266
in 2008. However, it appears that the decrease in casualty
numbers will be accompanied by a decrease in funding for HMA
in Cambodia. International mine action funding to Cambodia
was over $30 million in 2007, with the U.S. State Department
contributing approximately $4 million. Poloff's discussion
with other donors, including Japan, Australia, Germany and
Canada, reveals that funding will begin to decrease and
eventually phase out beginning in 2010. U.S. State
Department funding will drop by over $1 million in FY2010. A
representative from the United Nations Development Program,
which funds an oversight group for HMA activities in
Cambodia, recently stated that Cambodia will "require
sustained external funding into the medium term" to overcome
its landmine problem.

Vigilance
--------------


7. Even after 15 years of demining, Cambodia remains one of
the most heavily mined countries in the world along with
Afghanistan and Angola. A recent government survey found
that over forty percent of the villages in Cambodia have a
mine problem. Landmine and ERW accidents occur almost daily
in a country where more than 40,000 people have lost limbs
due to mine and ERW accidents. Cambodia suffers from one of
the highest physical disability rates in the world and has no
legislation to protect the rights of persons with
disabilities. Mine and ERW survivors face economic hardships
as a result of their disabilities, and tend to be among the
poorest of the poor. Livelihood activities make up the
majority of reasons causing the casualties, with young males
and boys representing the group most affected. Although mine
risk education is widespread, competition for land has become
fierce. Landmines and ERW impede access to resources,
including water and land for agriculture. Furthermore, they
block access to roads, markets and basic social services such
as schools and health clinics.


8. Comment: The above challenges will not disappear by 2010.
The international mine action donor community will need to
continue to support HMA at a sustained rate for the next
several years to free Cambodia from the negative humanitarian
and social-economic impacts of landmines and ERW. The
Cambodian government and NGOs have endeavored to keep HMA in
the spotlight to include several press articles and even a
spot on the popular U.S. reality television show, In Harm's
Way, late last year. In this context, post will continue to
seek additional funding sources to augment the HMA budget for
Cambodia. The Embassy hopes to secure similar funding in
future years. Although a good deal of progress has been
made, much more remains to be done. End Comment.

RODLEY