Latest news with #CambodianMineActionCentre
The Star
13-05-2025
- General
- The Star
Cambodian Mine Action Centre destroys 120 cluster bomblets in Ratanakiri controlled explosion
The Cambodian Mine Action Centre (CMAC) destroyed more than 100 cluster munitions in Ratanakiri province on May 12. - Photo: CMAC PHNOM PENH: A total of 120 cluster munitions, remnants from previous wars in the Kingdom, were destroyed in a controlled explosion by experts from the Cambodian Mine Action Centre (CMAC) in Ratanakiri province's O'Chum district on Monday (May 12). The 'bomblets' were destroyed in a cashew plantation in Kamen Thom village, in Samakki commune. According to CMAC, the cluster munitions were from a CBU-25/A air-dropped bomb, typically containing 132 bomblets. During Monday's operation, 120 of them were determined to remain capable of exploding. CMAC reported that a farmer discovered the munitions buried approximately one metre deep on his farm, and informed the centre immediately. 'Due to the unsafe condition of the bomblets, which could not be safely defused or transported, the only option was to destroy them on-site. This on-site destruction caused some damage to a number of cashew trees, but the plantation owner can now enjoy peace and safety, free from the ongoing threat of these munitions,' said CMAC, in a social media post. The 120 cluster munitions were likely all from a single CBU-25/A bomb, dropped from a US aircraft. - Photo: CMAC The demining unit expressed gratitude to the owner of the cashew plantation for their full cooperation. Between the early 1960s and the mid-1970s, Cambodia was subjected to heavy bombing, with more tonnage dropped by the US than by the allies' combined efforts in World War Two. According to CMAC director-general Heng Ratana, it is estimated that during this period, some three million tonnes of bombs, including approximately 30 million cluster munitions, were dropped on more than 10,000 targets across the Kingdom. - The Phnom Penh Post/ANN
Khaleej Times
24-02-2025
- Politics
- Khaleej Times
Two Cambodian toddlers killed in old grenade blast
Two Cambodian toddlers died when a rocket-propelled grenade believed buried since the country's civil war blew up near their homes, an official said on Sunday. The explosion happened on Saturday in a remote village in northwestern Siem Reap province that was once a battle site for Cambodian government soldiers and Khmer Rouge fighters in the 1980s and 1990s. The children who died were cousins — a boy and a girl who were both two years old. "According to an investigation report, the two toddlers were playing on the ground, digging the soil and may have hit (the grenade) with an object that caused the explosion," Heng Ratana, director general of the government's Cambodian Mine Action Centre (CMAC), told AFP. He said one child was killed instantly while another died in hospital. "The war has completely ended and there has been peace for more than 25 years, but the blood of Cambodian people continues to flow because of landmines and the remnants of war," Heng Ratana added. The accident comes after Cambodia was forced to partially suspend demining operations for several weeks when Washington suddenly halted funding following President Donald Trump's order to freeze foreign aid for 90 days. But on Friday, Cambodian officials said deminers were to resume clearing unexploded munitions, after the United States granted a waiver to keep funding the work in the country. The Southeast Asian nation remains littered with discarded ammunition and arms from decades of war starting in the 1960s. After more than 30 years of civil war ended in 1998, Cambodia was left as one of the most heavily mined countries in the world. Deaths from mines and unexploded ordnance are still common, with around 20,000 fatalities since 1979, and twice that number wounded. Last month, two Cambodian deminers were killed while trying to remove a decades-old anti-tank mine from a rice field and a villager died in a landmine blast on his farm. More than 1,600 sqkm of contaminated land still needs to be cleared which leaves approximately a million Cambodians affected by war remnants. Cambodia had aimed to be mine-free by 2025, but the government pushed the deadline back by five years because of funding challenges and new landmine fields found along the Thai border.
Yahoo
21-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Cambodia to resume demining after US aid waiver
Cambodian deminers are to resume operations to clear unexploded munitions, after the United States granted a waiver to keep funding the work in the country, officials said on Friday. Cambodia remains littered with unexploded bombs, many of which were dropped by American forces during the Vietnam War. Cambodia was forced to partially suspend demining operations from late January after Washington suddenly halted funding following President Donald Trump's order to freeze foreign aid for 90 days. Heng Ratana, director general of the Cambodian Mine Action Centre (CMAC), told AFP on Friday that the US had granted a conditional waiver for funding to partner organisations supporting Cambodia's demining projects. He said he had sent deminers, who had been standing down for the past several weeks, back to the field and that operations to clear unexploded munitions would resume on Monday. "We are happy to resume our mission to save lives," Keo Sarath, manager of CMAC's demining unit 5 headquarters, which is responsible for clearing along eastern provinces bordering Vietnam. The United States has been a "key partner" and provided around $10 million a year to fund mine clearance in Cambodia. Ly Thuch, a senior government minister and leading official in Cambodia's Mine Action Authority, confirmed the US embassy had informed the foreign ministry about the continuation of demining funding. He said deminers would soon be able to resume full-scale operations. During the Vietnam War, then-US president Richard Nixon ordered a clandestine bombing campaign over large swathes of Laos and Cambodia, which helped fuel the rise of the Khmer Rouge. After more than 30 years of civil war ended in 1998, Cambodia was left as one of the most heavily mined countries in the world. Deaths from the war remnants are still common, with around 20,000 people killed since 1979, and twice that number wounded. More than 1,600 square kilometres (620 square miles) of contaminated land still needs to be cleared in Cambodia. Cambodia had aimed to be mine-free by 2025, but the government pushed the deadline back by five years because of funding challenges and new landmine fields found along the Thai border. suy/pdw/fox
Yahoo
20-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Cambodian farmers risk lives for rice as US freezes demining aid
Eleven-year-old Yeat Saly lies in a hospital bed, a piece of shrapnel lodged in his forehead -- one of the many injuries inflicted by an old mortar he found near his village in Cambodia. Parts of the kingdom are still littered with unexploded ordnance from decades of conflict, but US President Donald Trump's decision to freeze virtually all American aid has forced many long-running projects to clear the deadly debris to grind a halt. Villagers now fear for themselves and their children unless a way is found to keep removing the leftover landmines, mortars and other lethal munitions scattered across the countryside. Yeat Saly was herding his cows outside his village in Tboung Khmum province on February 5 when he found a metal object by a rubber tree. "I thought it was just a piece of metal. I threw it, then it exploded into a ball of flame," he told AFP from a hospital bed. "A piece of shrapnel is still in here," he said, touching his forehead. He is receiving treatment for injuries to both his legs and body at a hospital in Tboung Khmum. "I was so frightened, my ears could not hear anything. Blood was spraying from my forehead, and I rode a motorbike (back home) with one hand blocking the blood," he said. - Deadly US legacy - Much of Cambodia's unexploded ordnance is a legacy of US operations during the Vietnam War. Then-president Richard Nixon ordered a clandestine bombing campaign over swathes of Laos and Cambodia, which helped fuel the rise of the Khmer Rouge. After more than 30 years of civil war ended in 1998, Cambodia was left as one of the most heavily mined countries in the world. Injuries and deaths from war remnants are still common, with around 65,000 casualties, including 20,000 people killed, since 1979. The annual additions to that count have fallen dramatically in recent years thanks to clearance programs, but more than 1,600 square kilometres (620 square miles) of contaminated land still need to be demined. In recognition of American responsibility for causing the problem, Washington has been a key partner in Cambodia's mine clearance, providing around $10 million a year in funding. But Trump's 90-day freeze on virtually all foreign aid has forced many demining operations in Cambodia to stop, according to officials. Deminers in eastern Cambodia have suspended work to clear UXOs and cluster bombs, even as requests for removals have grown. "We have received a pile of requests, and we could not respond to them. We are so upset," Moch Sokheang, who has been a deminer for 16 years. "We worry that when villagers go into the forests, dig land to grow their crops, they may trigger explosions or children may play with them when they go herding cows," the 36-year-old added. Cambodian demining authorities say more than 1,000 deminers and experts have been affected by the aid freeze. Days after Trump's announcement, China -- Cambodia's close ally -- pledged $4.4 million to fund mine clearance activities. But the Cambodian Mine Action Centre (CMAC) said that aid was "not a substitute" for US funding. - 'So worried' - Farmers in eastern Svay Reing province told AFP they must keep working their fields despite the risks. Mao Saroeun said he was "unhappy" that deminers had been forced to suspend a search in his rice field where many US bombs fell. "I know (about UXOs) but our livelihood is poor so we keep farming rice in UXO fields," Mao Saroeun said. Cambodia had aimed to be mine-free by 2025, but the government pushed the deadline back by five years because of funding challenges and new landmine fields found along the Thai border. The loss of US funding is a further setback. "The aid freeze will cause more accidents... A lot of UXOs are still littered around," Keo Sarath, manager of the Cambodian Mine Action Centre's demining unit 5 headquarters, told AFP. In Banteay Kraing village in Svay Rieng province, AFP journalists saw a rusty mortar left between tree trunks with police tape around the site to warn people away. Villager Som Khatna told AFP that her husband unearthed the bomb last month when he dug a pit to lay the foundation for a house. "I am so worried that children would come and play with it," said the 59-year-old grandmother. suy/pdw/lb
Zawya
11-02-2025
- Business
- Zawya
U.S aid freeze risks handing influence to China in Beijing's backyard
After U.S. President Donald Trump's administration froze donations in January to Cambodia's largest demining organization, which works to clear the countryside of deadly remnants of Washington's past wars in Southeast Asia, the group announced new funding - from China. Beijing has doubled its contributions over the past three years to the Cambodian Mine Action Centre (CMAC), which helps clear millions of unexploded munitions, said Heng Ratana, who leads the group. On Feb. 5, CMAC said it had received a pledge from Beijing to contribute $4.4 million - surpassing the $2 million donated by the U.S. last year. Ratana said China understands that such support helps "build up people-to-people networks" and generates economic returns. Beijing invests heavily in its neighboring countries and has recently focused on building soft power through goodwill exchanges and diplomatic engagement, according to the Lowy Institute in Sydney, which studies Asia-Pacific geopolitics. But it does not provide traditional aid on the same scale as Western democratic nations. China also has little experience providing the specialist assistance - from combating disease outbreaks to distributing humanitarian aid in conflicts zones - that the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Washington's main vehicle for delivering such support, is known for. Trump has halted most U.S. government-funded aid globally for 90 days, while moving to dismantle USAID, which he accused of being run "by a bunch of radical lunatics." The move is part of an effort by his administration to slash the federal government workforce and curb spending it considers wasteful. While the administration has said some funds may be released when the pause expires, a lack of clarity around what could be restored has prompted scores of groups across Asia to abruptly stop work or lay off staff. The U.S. provided over $894 million in assistance to Southeast Asia in 2023, the latest year for which official data is available. The freeze will hobble humanitarian work and human rights at a time of a tussle with China for influence over the region, said Joshua Kurlantzick, an analyst at the Council on Foreign Relations think-tank in New York. "The overall shift will be toward China and away from the U.S. as the U.S. squanders its soft power," he said, adding that the combination of Beijing providing more assistance and Washington retreating from funding civil society programs "crushes democratic potential in virtually every country in the region." China has not publicly commented about the U.S. suspending development assistance and its Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not respond to Reuters' questions. The U.S. State Department, whose top diplomat Marco Rubio is now USAID's acting administrator, also did not respond to a request for comment. CHINA UNLIKELY TO MATCH U.S. China, which has its economic troubles at home, is unlikely to match the generosity of the U.S., the world's largest aid donor. Instead, Beijing prizes "large-scale infrastructure and investment programs" that are a hallmark of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), said Derek Grossman, an analyst at the RAND Corporation think-tank. The BRI is China's $1 trillion infrastructure assistance program, which envisions ports and railroads connecting Asia, Europe and Africa. The ISEAS-Yusof Ishak think-tank's annual poll of Southeast Asian decision-makers in 2024 found that China for the first time had "edged past the U.S." as their preferred partner, a finding attributed in part to pro-China sentiments among Beijing's BRI partners in Southeast Asia. China says BRI boosts the economies of developing nations and brings needed modern infrastructure, but it has been accused by critics of lacking transparency, burdening countries with heavy debts, and serving primarily as a tool to expand Chinese economic influence. Among those who have most enthusiastically embraced BRI is impoverished Laos, which borrowed heavily to finance railways, highways and hydroelectric dams, but has a public debt burden the World Bank considers "unsustainable." BLOW TO DISSIDENTS President John F. Kennedy, who spearheaded the creation of USAID during the Cold War, saw it as a "powerful source" through which the U.S could "exert influence for the maintenance of freedom." Similar sentiments were previously echoed by Republican internationalists like Rubio. Now, among the groups that stand to lose vital funding because of the U.S. suspension are those focused on causes that Beijing considers hostile, such as supporting Uyghur Muslims in China, as well as dissidents from Myanmar and North Korea. In Myanmar, the Chin Human Rights Organization, which employs health professionals who went on strike following the military's seizure of power in 2021, has laid off 30 percent of its workforce since the freeze. USAID's stop-work order has also halted programs including HIV prevention for women, skills training, and scholarships for future leaders in "what we hope will one day be a democratically elected government," said former U.K ambassador to Myanmar Vicky Bowman, who now campaigns for transparency and human rights in business. The freeze has "undermined faith that the USA is a reliable friend of those in Asia who are fighting for equitable development, democracy, and human rights," she said. With South Korean governments alternating between engaging and isolating Pyongyang, U.S. funding had also been a lone source of stability for North Korea-focused issues, said Hanna Song, executive director of the Seoul-based Database Center for North Korean Human Rights. Most North Korea-related funding is disseminated through a State Department office that had a budget of about $5 million per year for such projects, Song said. That, too, has been paused. China-focused nonprofits that track alleged rights abuses also face an "extinction event," said Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian, a China expert at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute think-tank in a post on X. She declined to name specific groups in a subsequent ASPI article, saying some feared retribution by Beijing. The Tibet Fund nonprofit that supports Tibetan communities in exile on Saturday said that several of its programs were at "immediate risk." "Now we worry not just about the short-term operations but the long-term effects on autocratic states," Song said. Beijing has a mixed record of selling itself as a reliable partner: Xi offered a vigorous defense of globalization ahead of Trump's first term, only to turn to confrontational "wolf warrior" diplomacy, or aggressively defending China against foreign parties that Beijing believed were hostile. But the U.S aid freeze, coupled with the targeting of Canada and Mexico for tariffs, was a warning to U.S. partners "of the capriciousness they'll face over the next four years," said Greg Poling, an expert on Southeast Asia at the Center for Strategic and International Studies think-tank in Washington.
