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Cambodia to Hold International Land
- Subject: Cambodia to Hold International Land
- From: suriya@xxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 26 Oct 1998 01:40:00
Subject: Cambodia to Hold International Landmine Meeting
Asia:Cambodia
Cambodia to Hold International
Landmine Meeting
Reuters
25-OCT-98
PHNOM PENH, Oct 25 (Reuters) - Cambodia will explain its
success in
tackling the scourge of landmines this week at a conference
to be attended by
delegates from other mine-scarred countries such as
Afghanistan, Angola,
Bosnia and Laos.
The three-day conference beginning on Monday is being
organised by the
Cambodian Mine Action Centre (CMAC) which leads and coordinates
mine-clearing and education efforts in Cambodia.
About 250 delegates will attend.
"This is one of the things where Cambodia is a leader in the
world, a model to be
emulated by other countries," U.S. ambassador to Cambodia
Kenneth Quinn
told Reuters.
"In de-mining, the world will be focused on Cambodia."
The main thrust of the conference will be the aim of
reducing victims of the
deadly devices to zero, CMAC director Sam Sotha told
reporters on Friday.
"People say that you cannot (hope for) zero victims, that's
unbelieveable, but
based on the fact that in some areas our staff are working
on mine awareness
(and) our staff are working on mine marking, there are no
accidents," Sam Sotha
said.
Sam Sotha said the number of Cambodians killed and maimed by
landmines had
fallen to between 100 and 150 a month from around 500 a
month in the early
1990s, largely due to the identification of mined areas and
education.
"That is the way I will present it to the group," he said.
"Come to Cambodia and
see the reality."
Cambodia, with four to six million landmines buried in its
soil, is one of the
world's most heavily mined countries.
Some 40,000 people, or one person in 250, have lost limbs to
mines, giving the
country one of the highest ratios of amputees per head of
population in the
world.
Sam Sotha said that since CMAC was set up in 1993 it had
cleared 88,646
anti-personnel mines, 958 anti-tank mines and 451,000 pieces
of unexploded
ordnance.
So far almost 200 minefields in the Cambodian countryside
have been cleared
but several thousand other sites, confirmed as minefields or
suspected to be
mined, remain to be dealt with.
Sam Sotha said hopes were high that with the help of new
techniques, including
mine-sniffing dogs, all productive land in Cambodia could be
cleared of mines
within 20 to 30 years. Previous estimates suggested the task
would take much
longer.
CMAC expects international assistance worth up to $13
million in its fight to rid
the country of mines next year, a similar amount to this
year's budget, officials
said last week.
A new scheme expected to be discussed at this week's meeting
is an "adopt a
minefield" programme whereby communities in rich countries
would sponsor a
community in a landmine-affected area and help pay for the
clearing of its mines.
Representatives of some 24 donor countries will also attend
the conference
which premier Hun Sen is to open on Monday.
Japanese deputy foreign minister Nobutaka Machimura will
also attend. Japan is
funding the meeting.
Most landmines in Cambodia were laid between the early 1980s
and the early
1990s when a guerrilla alliance fought a Vietnamese army of
occupation and the
Hanoi-backed government in Phnom Penh.
Cambodia was one of 121 nations to sign a treaty to ban
anti-personnel
landmines late last year but more of the weapons have been
laid in factional
fighting in the country's northwest.
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