Phnom Penh: Cambodia recorded 49 landmines and explosive remnant of war (ERW) casualties in 2024, up 53 per cent from 32 in the year before, a spokesperson said on Wednesday.
“Twelve people were killed, 29 injured, and eight amputated due to landmine and ERW explosions last year,” Lang Kosal, a spokesperson for the Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority (CMAA), told Xinhua.
He added that the victims were 30 men, 11 boys, three women, and five girls.
According to Kosal, from 1979 to 2024, landmine and ERW explosions had claimed 19,834 lives and either injured or amputated 45,252 others.
Cambodia is one of the countries most affected by landmines and ERWs. An estimated four million to six million landmines and other munitions had been left over from three decades of war and internal conflicts that ended in 1998.
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet said in a public speech last November that although Cambodia achieved full peace in 1998, the shadow of landmines continued to loom large and posed a dire threat to human lives and post-war recovery.
He said Cambodia has so far cleared over 3,000 square km of landmines, destroying over one million anti-personnel mines and three million ERWs.
“We have declared 15 of the 25 capital cities and provinces as mine free,” Manet told Xinhua news agency.
“Nevertheless, our journey is far from over. We still have over 1,600 square km of contaminated land and is affecting lives of approximately 1 million people.”
The Siem Reap-Angkor Summit on a Mine-Free World held in northwest Cambodia’s Siem Reap province discussed actions to build a safer and more peaceful world from mines and brought together delegates from more than 150 countries, which are state parties to the Mine-Ban Convention, known as the “Ottawa Treaty”.
Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana, Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Secretary of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), also said that the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) will remain out of reach for affected communities if the landmine threat is not fully addressed.
“In the face of new and ongoing conflicts, we must ensure that our commitments translate into practical, sustained support for countries in need,” she said.
Alisjahbana said the United Nations stands ready to reinforce and expand its support to mine-affected countries.
“Together, we can achieve a world free from landmines and a prosperous future for generations to come,” she added.
(IANS)
