Still Digging Up UXOs in Cambodia

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Re: Still Digging Up UXOs in Cambodia

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Cambodia reports 55 landmine/UXO casualties in 9 months, down 17 pct
Xinhua 04/10/2020 12:02 PM

PHNOM PENH-- Cambodia reported 55 landmine and unexploded ordnance (UXO) casualties in the first nine months of 2020, down 17 percent compared with 66 over the same period last year, said an official report on Thursday.

During the January-September period this year, 16 people were killed, up from 11 deaths over the same period last year, said the report released by the Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authorities (CMAA).

It added that 39 others were either injured or amputated during the period this year, down from 55 over the same period last year.
https://cambodianess.com/article/cambod ... own-17-pct
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Re: Still Digging Up UXOs in Cambodia

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ATTENTION: Warning message.
Image
Phnom Penh, Cambodia News: As floods strike the provinces, the Mine Authority has issued instructions to all relevant authorities to increase vigilance and disseminate information to local people about the dangers of UXOs that might be released from the soil by the flood waters. Local authorities must immediately place markers in areas suspected of having landmines or unexploded ordnance, and should prevent people from approaching the suspected area.
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Re: Still Digging Up UXOs in Cambodia

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Villager loses leg in landmine explosion
published : 18 Oct 2020 at 17:03
writer: Sermpong Thongsamrit

SI SA KET: A villager lost his right leg in a landmine explosion on the border with Cambodia in Kantharalak district on Sunday while foraging for mushrooms, a military source said.

The incident occurred at about 10am while Thanat Khamphidchu, 25, from Moo 5 village in tambon Khanun, and his relatives were picking mushrooms in a forest near the Thai-Cambodian border in tambon Sao Thong Chai.

Mr Thanat accidentally stepped on a landmine, and the blast severed the lower part of his right leg.

Soldiers from the 12th Infantry Battalion of the Suranaree Force and rangers from the 23rd Ranger Regiment rushed to the spot on hearing the loud explosion.

They performed first aid treatment on Mr Thanat to stop the bleeding before taking him to Kantharalak Hospital in an ambulance.

People living along the Thai-Cambodian border, particularly in an area near the Khao Phra Viharn ruins, have been warned by authorities to be extremely careful to avoid landmines missed by earlier mine-clearing operations. Warning signs have been erected in areas where previous explosions have taken place.
https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/2004087/
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Re: Still Digging Up UXOs in Cambodia

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Cambodia Expects to be Landmine-Free Within 5 Years
Voice of America
25 Oct 2020, 22:35 GMT+10

PHNOM PENH - The Cambodian government will deploy 2,000 soldiers to train as deminers after Western nations, led by the United States, bolstered efforts to rid the country of landmines and other unexploded ordnance by 2025.

Children, curious or just scavenging for scrap metal, are often among the victims but it's a problem that afflicts the entire country and an economy in need of productive land for agriculture.

The economy has also been punished by the withdrawal of trade preferences by the European Union and the COVID-19 pandemic, which has ruined a once-thriving tourism sector and halted exports from the lucrative garment and textiles industry.

Observers said that has prompted the Cambodian government to shift its economic focus to agriculture, particularly rice cultivation.

A 30-year civil war left the country among the most heavily mined nations on earth, with an estimated 4 million to 6 million land mines and other munitions littered across the landscape.

In 1996 Cambodia recorded 4,320 people killed or wounded by landmines and other unexploded ordnance, according to the United Nations Development Program.

That figure fell to just 77 casualties last year, with 55 victims reported for the first nine months of this year amid a concerted international effort to rid the countryside of the scourge.

Ly Thuch, first vice president of the Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority, said he now needs about $377 million to finish the job.

According to Ly Thuch, "5.7 million people have access to safe land thanks to the mine-clearing operation in this country and the United States by far is one of the largest donors."

"UXOs still remain a threat for Cambodian people and an obstruction to the country's development," he said.

An original 2010 deadline for clearing all landmines and other unexploded ordnance was revised to 2020 amid a low-level border conflict with Thailand around the ancient temples at Preah Vihear.

Other issues causing delays include geography and "sloping," where clearance work must be done on by deminers on their hands and knees, crawling up steep slopes and wearing full protective gear.

Ly Thuch said annual floods and the current monsoon season, with the heaviest rainfall in a decade, were also creating problems for deminers.

"Landmines might be moved by strong flood undercurrents or are uncovered by landslides to prevent people from entering or passing through," he said, urging people to mark and report sighted landmines and other unexploded ordnance.

To date, just under half of the mined land, or 1,893 square kilometers, has been cleared but another 1,970 square kilometers remains contaminated.

Tong Try, a demining adviser with the UNDP, said an extra 2,000 deminers would enable the clearance of an extra 85 square kilometers a year.

He said they would be deployed mainly along the northwest Cambodian-Thai border, where the Khmer Rouge retreated following the 1979 Vietnamese incursion.
https://www.thecambodianews.net/news/26 ... in-5-years
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Re: Still Digging Up UXOs in Cambodia

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They need to train up more of those mine-sniffing rats.
You must walk in traffic to cross the road - Cambodian proverb
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Re: Still Digging Up UXOs in Cambodia

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Cambodia News, Kampong Chhnang: On 19 November 2020, officials from the Cambodian Mine Action Center (CMAC) in Kampong Chhnang province joined forces with the Kampong Leng District Police Force to collect unexploded ordnance for safekeeping. They went to collect and destroy them following reports from local police who were informed by the local population.
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The operation to collect unexploded ordnance was carried out in two communes of Kampong Leng district, where they found 3 in Trangel commune, 60 mm mortar shells, and in Samrong Sen commune, 1 round of B-40 bullets (B-40).

In the above activities, CMAC officials appealed to people everywhere in Kampong Chhnang province, if any unexploded ordnance is found, please do not touch it, and immediately report it to the local authority or the CMAC unit for retrieval or demolition.
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Re: Still Digging Up UXOs in Cambodia

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timmydownawell wrote:They need to train up more of those mine-sniffing rats.
They would want those rats for free. Plus rats need special breeding and training to identify explosives, neither of which Cambodia is going to bother to provide. Imagine how many luxury SUVs and Borey Villas would have to be sacrificed for rats!

Hence the request from donors countries (aka the UN) for only $400 million (roughly) more to train more locals. Locals are cheap. And currently unemployed.

I’ll put my tin foil hat back on, now.
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Re: Still Digging Up UXOs in Cambodia

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newkidontheblock wrote: Mon Nov 23, 2020 3:12 am
timmydownawell wrote:They need to train up more of those mine-sniffing rats.
They would want those rats for free. Plus rats need special breeding and training to identify explosives, neither of which Cambodia is going to bother to provide. Imagine how many luxury SUVs and Borey Villas would have to be sacrificed for rats!

Hence the request from donors countries (aka the UN) for only $400 million (roughly) more to train more locals. Locals are cheap. And currently unemployed.

I’ll put my tin foil hat back on, now.
So many countries have been, and are still mainly deeply involved in helping Cambodia to clear the unbelievable amount of explosive devices that mainly lay unnoticed, buried underfoot. Such destructive weaponry were laid at the time, with the sole intentions of severely injuring or killing that of the enemy, slowing their advance or even confinement at the time of unrest and civil war, the purpose of this type of weapon was indeed proved to be very effective in its uses. So good at what it was meant to do it still does the same today, but now it is slowing progress in agriculture and advancements in areas of the country, but the war is long time over, but the weapons from the time are now miming and killing "brothers and sisters", in true words "that of the innocent", the civilian casualties, but we still see and read of their numbers and misfortunes.
I have the highest level of respect for the people who work in the field clearing the mines, the ones I once had been lucky to meet over past years have skills in what they do, but overall they show ability, commitment and dedication in their daily dangerous work. I would add they show compassion and willingness to aid their people the freedom to now wander without fear or harm over lands that were once that of no go areas.
There is one thing more that comes to mind! Every time I see an article or thread of on this subject, it's unfortunately of someone being injured or killed in an explosion, next it's who like newkid refers too, who or what outsiders are doing, than that of the official "hand" needing more monies, of course in the way of outside donations once again. But let’s face the facts that the countries whom are involved in the task of seeing the country of Cambodia mine free and safe again once more for the people, be it government's or charity organisations and that of individual donations, have been funding towards the aim for many years, and still have the same commitment and purpose today.
Always "hope" but never "expect".
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Re: Still Digging Up UXOs in Cambodia

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Image
Cambodia News, (Banteay Meanchey Province): CMAC (Cambodia Mine Action Centre) forces in Banteay Meanchey province on the afternoon of November 26, 2020, went to search for unexploded ordnance left over from the war on a plot of land in Phnom Chhang village.

Colonel Meas Bothy, Preah Net Preah District Police Inspector, said that the owner of the plot, Lay Pich, a 55-year-old man, lives in the village and is a retired police officer.
Image
The inspector confirmed that two to three months ago, there was an explosion at the site and the local police force sealed off the property and enclosed the land in that area to prevent any accidents. It was reported to the CMAC officers, who said they would come later to search the site for more ammunition.
Image
Finally, on November 26, 2020, CMAC officials came down to search the area for explosives, and they found some bullets and unexploded ordnance: 120 remnants of wartime ammunition and 120 rounds of small arms bullets weighing 60 kilograms. All were removed from the site and were later destroyed by the CMAC officials.
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Re: Still Digging Up UXOs in Cambodia

Post by newkidontheblock »

I agree with AndyKK. Those that do the dangerous job should be applauded. It’s an ongoing national priority. What confuses me, is why isn’t it part of the national budget? Government projected to collect 16 Billion in taxes. Lots of soldiers available. Bodies otherwise growing crops for military bases (at least on the videos in Facebook), that could be trained to do vital work. If the government invests into becoming a mine clearing powerhouse, instead of relying on CMAC, it would have an exportable expertise. A new export industry with a worldwide demand.

Instead of a local charity donation to buy military trucks.

(Hangs head)

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