Cambodia on track to achieving mine-free goal​

                            Land mines and other UXO’s unearthed                           (Photo: khmertimeskh.com)

Hanoi (VNA) - Cambodia is making good progress towards achieving its self-imposed mine-free goal by 2025, the country's Prime Minister, Hun Manet, said on October 30.

Speaking in Kampong Speu province, the PM emphasised that so far, 13 out of 25 provinces in Cambodia have been declared mine-free, and Cambodia is on track to achieving the mine-free target by 2025.

Kampong Speu is the latest province declared mine free. Twelve others are capital Phnom Penh, Stung Treng, Kep, Prey Veng, Preah Sihanouk, Tbong Khmum, Kampong Cham, Svay Rieng, Kampong Chhnang, Kandal, Takeo and Kampot.

PM Hun Manet also appealed to the international community and donors to continue assisting the Southeast Asian country to realize this mine-free vision.

Cambodia is one of the countries worst affected by landmines and explosive remnants of war (ERWs). An estimated four million to six million landmines and other munitions had been left over from three decades of war and conflicts that ended in 1998.

Ly Thuch, first vice-president of the Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority (CMAA), said from 1979 to August 2023, landmine and ERW explosions had killed 19,822 people and either injured or amputated 45,209 others, making Cambodia one of the countries with the highest number of casualties.

He said since 1992 to date, an area of 2,795 square kilometers had been cleared of landmines and ERWs, benefiting approximately 11 million people.

Thuch added that Cambodia still needs to clear the remaining 538 square kilometers of land contaminated by mines by 2025.

Currently, some 1.1 million people still live in areas suspiciously contaminated by mines and ERWs, he noted./.