MAG Cambodia achieves significant landmine clearance
Updated
Cambodia is one of the most heavily mined countries in the world and as a result, has a high number of people with missing limbs. Most of the people in Cambodia work on the land, putting them in direct danger of the mines left behind by three decades of civil war. UK-based non-government organisation MAG, or Mines Advisory Group, works around the world to clear former conflict zones of the remnants of war.
Presenter: Sen Lam
Speaker: Jamie Franklin, Cambodia programme director, MAG Cambodia
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FRANKLIN: Yes I mean over the last 17 years significant clearance has been achieved in Cambodia by MAG and the other operators operating here in Cambodia. So over the last 17 years approximately or actually over 800,000 anti-personnel mines and over 19,000 anti-tank mines have been cleared from the rural areas of Cambodia.
LAM: So have there been fewer accidents then?
FRANKLIN: Accidents are decreasing. Last year between January and November there were 217 landmine and UXO casualties in the country, which is down from a high of 4,320 in 1996. So there's been a significant reduction in casualties, however there are still a high level of casualties on an annual basis, without ongoing clearance efforts and maintaining the work we're doing on the ground there is a risk that the reduction in the casualty rates and the improvements that have been made will be reversed.
LAM: Jamies when I visited MAG in Phnom Penh three years ago you were training local to de-mine. How's that going?
FRANKLIN: Yes that's still ongoing and the majority of our staff are Cambodian nationals. At the current time we have approximately 300 national staff in the program and just four international staff on our humanitarian mine action programs. And we have national staff all the way through into senior positions.
LAM: Are there advantages in having local Cambodians do the job?
FRANKLIN: Well it provides employment, it provides other benefits in terms of income generation that are additional to the clearance work that we're doing, and it's also building the capacity within Cambodia to clear the contamination and preparing for a time in the future perhaps when the international organisations are no longer here and Cambodia is clearing the remaining impact of the contamination on their own. It also provides, enables individuals to take part in the clearance of the contamination in their country and in their communities.
LAM: Jamie, we've heard that there's new focus on the border with Thailand ahead of planned military towns. Have you heard anything about this and are any of your MAG Cambodian people there helping?
FRANKLIN: We haven't heard anything about planned military towns. There is increased clearance in Preah Vihear province in areas in proximity to the border, however unlikely to be on the border areas. But that increase in de-mining in that area is the focus of the Cambodian Mine Action Centre at the request of the government. So I'm not sure what affect that's having on capacities elsewhere myself. We are working in proximity to the Thai border in other areas where we are clearing where there isn't a dispute over the border area, and where we're just providing our ongoing support to communities clearing contaminated land for their productive use for agriculture, water sanitation, housing etc.
