Logo of Phnom Penh Post newspaper Phnom Penh Post - UK commits to mine-free goal

UK commits to mine-free goal

Content image - Phnom Penh Post
British Ambassador Tina Redshaw (left) is briefed by a HALO de-mining team during a mine clearance operation. Photo supplied

UK commits to mine-free goal

Last week I had the privilege of spending time with world-class UK demining organisation the HALO Trust in Oddar Meanchey province, observing first-hand the patient and time-consuming work of HALO’s teams of highly skilled de-miners.

To date, under the leadership and coordination of the Cambodian Mine Action Authority, HALO and other international operators, and the national mine clearance organisations CMAC and the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces, over 50 per cent of Cambodia’s minefields have been cleared.

With UK support, HALO specifically have cleared nearly 4,000 minefields of over 291,000 landmines and released this land for safe agriculture, housing, development and transit, benefiting nearly a million Cambodians.

As part of my visit I also watched a mine risk awareness lesson in a local school and met a woman farmer who has benefited directly from UK-funded mine clearance and now runs a successful duck farm on land that was previously littered with mines. The farmer’s elderly mother described to me how she had lived for many years in their home on the land surrounded by mines, using just a small path to walk to the main road.

In Cambodia, as elsewhere, it will be welcome news that the UK is stepping up vital demining work to protect hundreds of thousands of people globally from the continuing lethal threat of these “barbaric relics” of war and conflict, as announced by the UK’s International Development Secretary Penny Mordaunt on September 6.

A new allocation of £46million under the Global Mine Action Programme is being made to demining work in Africa and Asia, with approximately £7.5 million to be spent in Cambodia.

Cambodia has one of the world’s largest landmine and explosive remnants of war (ERW) contaminations in the world, and while, thankfully, casualty rates have decreased substantially over recent years, the 218 mine-related casualties and 331 ERW casualties between 2013 and this year are 549 casualties too many. Just in the past week there have been two further reports of injuries from unexploded ordnance and an anti-personnel mine in rural provinces.

The new funding will enable the HALO Trust, working together with MAG (another UK de-mining organisation with a long history of working in Cambodia), to expand their mine clearance programmes. Harnessing sector-leading expertise and ingenuity, they will clear areas along the border of both anti-personnel landmines and anti-tank mines, maximising the benefits for the most marginalised and vulnerable communities. This work will also support and facilitate significant development projects being implemented by the Royal Government of Cambodia.

The organisations recruit and train women and men from local communities where alternative job opportunities are severely limited, and will be deploying even more teams to this important and urgent task. For example 50 per cent of HALO’s deminers are women.

In addition to skills training in landmine clearance, recruits are also trained in vehicle mechanics, logistics and paramedic first aid, all transferable skills when the land is free of mines.

HALO is the largest demining organisation in the world and was the first organisation to operate in Cambodia, starting in 1991. They currently have over 1,100 national staff working in Battambang, Banteay Meanchey, Oddar Meanchey, Siem Reap, Preah Vihear, Pursat, Koh Kong and Pailin provinces.

The government of Cambodia is aiming for the country to be mine-free by 2025, and the UK’s new package of funding is proof that we are committed to helping achieve this goal.

For all Cambodians to enjoy peace, development and growing prosperity, they must be able to live in the secure knowledge that the land they call home is safe and completely free of contamination.

Mine risk awareness education is also a vital part of the work of our organisations, with professional trainers conducting sessions in schools and with local community groups.

Communities across the country also call upon the expertise of explosive ordnance teams, with HALO teams alone destroying over 194,000 items of unexploded ordnance. Almost a million people have benefitted from HALO’s work in Cambodia. HALO and MAG work in close coordination with the Cambodian Mine Action Authority (CMAA), and NPA will continue to provide Capacity Development for CMAA personnel.

Finally, it is crucial that we remember that none of the progress I have touched on above would be possible without the dedication and bravery of Cambodian demining teams who risk their lives every day for the benefit of all Cambodians.

Having seen some of them at work in the field, I must humbly offer those individuals my sincere respect and gratitude for all they do.

Tina Redshaw is the British Ambassador to Cambodia

MOST VIEWED

  • Joy as Koh Ker Temple registered by UNESCO

    Cambodia's Koh Ker Temple archaeological site has been officially added to UNESCO’s World Heritage List, during the 45th session of the World Heritage Committee held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on September 17. The ancient temple, also known as Lingapura or Chok Gargyar, is located in

  • Famed US collector family return artefacts to Cambodia

    In the latest repatriation of ancient artefacts from the US, a total of 33 pieces of Khmer cultural heritage will soon return home, according to the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts. In a September 12 press statement, it said the US Attorney’s Office for the

  • Tina rebuffs ‘false claims’ over falling paddy price

    Agriculture minister Dith Tina has shed light on the trade of paddy rice in Battambang – Cambodia’s leading rice-producing province – in a bid to curb what he dubs a “social media fact distortion campaign” to destabilise the market. While acknowledging that the prices of paddy

  • Cambodia set to celebrate Koh Ker UNESCO listing

    To celebrate the inscription of the Koh Ker archaeological site on UNESCO’s World Heritage List, the Ministry of Cults and Religion has appealed to pagodas and places of worship to celebrate the achievement by ringing bells, shaking rattles and banging gongs on September 20. Venerable

  • Kampot curfew imposed to curb ‘gang’ violence

    Kampot provincial police have announced measures to contain a recent spike in antisocial behaviour by “unruly’ youth. Officials say the province has been plagued by recent violence among so-called “gang members”, who often fight with weapons such as knives and machetes. Several social observers have

  • PM outlines plans to discuss trade, policy during US visit

    Prime Minister Hun Manet is set to meet with senior US officials and business leaders during his upcoming visit to the US for the UN General Assembly (UNGA), scheduled for September 20. While addressing nearly 20,000 workers in Kampong Speu province, Manet said he aims to affirm