Cambodia

Mine Action

Last updated: 23 November 2015

Mine Ban Treaty Article 5 deadline: 1 January 2020
(Not on track to meet the deadline)

State not party to the Convention on Cluster Munitions

The Kingdom of Cambodia continues to more precisely define the extent of its mine and explosive remnants of war (ERW) problem, including cluster munition remnants, but analysis of progress is hampered by persistent information management weaknesses. Cambodia also lacks a coherent strategic mine action plan based on up-to-date information.

Recommendations for action

  • Cambodia should provide an assessment of how much land may be released in the remaining five years of its current Mine Ban Treaty Article 5 extension period.
  • Cambodia should present a national strategic mine action plan, setting out priorities, targets, and clear objectives for humanitarian, commercial, and developmental clearance.
  • The Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority (CMAA) should work with operators to address information management challenges, including delays and accuracy of reporting survey, clearance, and explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) results.
  • Clearance by the Cambodian army’s National Centre for Peace Keeping Forces, Mine and ERW Clearance (NPMEC)for government infrastructure or development should be subject to quality control by the CMAA to address enduring concerns about the quality of their operations and provide a record of areas on which it has worked.

Contamination

Cambodia is affected by mines and ERW, including cluster munition remnants, left by 30 years of conflict that ended in the 1990s.

Mine contamination

Its antipersonnel mine problem is concentrated in, but not limited to, 21 north-western districts along the border with Thailand that account for the great majority of mine casualties. Contamination includes the remains of the 1,046km-long K5 mine belt, which was installed along the border with Thailand in the mid-1980s in a bid to block insurgent infiltration, and ranks among the densest contamination in the world with, reportedly, up to 2,400 mines per linear kilometre.[1] 

A baseline survey (BLS) of Cambodia’s 139 most mine-affected districts completed in 2013 estimated total mine and ERW contamination at 1,915km². The BLS identified 12,982 polygons or hazardous areas affected to some degree by mines, covering a total of more than 1,111km², of which 1,043km2 were affected by antipersonnel mines. This included some 73km2 of dense contamination but most, covering 892km², contained “scattered or nuisance” antipersonnel and antivehicle mines.[2] The survey was extended in 2013 to cover another 51 districts contaminated mainly by unexploded ordnance (UXO).

In April 2015, the CMAA reported that although total antipersonnel mine contamination in the 124 districts had fallen to less than 983km2, the amount of dense antipersonnel mine contamination had increased by more than half to 99.75km2 (see table below). This is mainly a result of survey of parts of the K5 that were inaccessible during the BLS.[3] No information was available on areas previously identified as affected by antivehicle mines.[4] 

Baseline survey (BLS) result for 139 districts[5]

Contamination classification

Area (m²)
May 2013

Area (m²)
2014

A1 Dense antipersonnel mines

63,894,629

99,750,628

A2 Mixed antipersonnel and antivehicle mines

78,601,787

N/R

A2.1 Mixed dense antipersonnel and antivehicle mines

9,154,925

N/R

A2.2 Mixed scattered antipersonnel and antivehicle mines

216,840,425

N/R

A2 Total

304,597,137

255,370,490

A3 antivehicle mines

68,187,332

N/R

A4 Scattered or nuisance mines

674,882,897

627,720,309

Total

1,111,561,995

982,841,427

Note: N/R = Not reported

A land reclamation non-technical survey started in March 2015 to determine the extent of BLS polygons for land reclaimed and in use by local residents. By June, the survey had covered almost 264km2 across three western provinces, releasing a total of almost 29km2, but adding new polygons for contamination covering 49km2.[6] 

Antivehicle mines present a particular problem for Cambodia, killing more people than antipersonnel mines, often on paths or tracks regularly used by local inhabitants for years. The mines are typically detonated by heavier farm vehicles and tractors.[7] A number of incidents have occurred outside BLS polygons. The CMAA has called on local mine action planning units to pay attention to areas such as old road alignments that may have antivehicle mines.[8]

Cluster munition and other explosive remnants of war contamination

The exact extent of contamination from cluster munition remnants in Cambodia is not known. Contamination resulting from intensive bombing by the United States (US) during the Vietnam War is concentrated in northeastern provinces along the borders with Lao PDR and Vietnam. The US air force dropped at least 26 million explosive submunitions, between 1.9 million and 5.8 million of which are estimated to have not exploded. Unexploded submunitions include BLU-24, BLU-26, BLU-36, BLU-42, BLU-43, BLU-49, and BLU-61.[9]

A baseline survey of seven eastern provinces[10] started in 2012 had, by April 2015, identified 1,336 areas of suspected ERW contamination totaling almost 349km2. This included 433 areas suspected to be contaminated with cluster munition remnants, covering almost 217km2, of which almost half was located in Stung Treng province.[11] The survey was expected to be completed by the end of 2015.[12]

Program Management

The CMAA regulates and coordinates all activities relating to survey and clearance of ERW, including cluster munition remnants.[13] The CMAA’s responsibilities include regulation and accreditation of all operators, preparing strategic plans, managing data, conducting quality control, and coordinating risk education and victim assistance.[14]

Prime Minister Hun Sen is the CMAA President. The Minister of Post and Telecommunication, Prak Sokhonn, who is CMAA’s vice-president, leads dialogue with donors as the chair of a Joint Government-Development Partners’ Mine Action Technical Working Group.[15]

Information management

An information management assessment conducted for the CMAA in 2015 observed that “data flow from CMAC [Cambodian Mine Action Center]which is the main national operator to the CMAA Database unit is still a big challenge which hampers the overall performance of the information management in the sector.”[16] The CMAA engaged with operators to address information management weaknesses and proposed introducing a one-month deadline for operators to submit reports after task completion.[17]

Mines: planning, operators, and land release

Strategic planning (mines)

A draft national strategic plan produced by a consultant in 2014 observed that Cambodia’s mine action has moved from an emergency phase to a development phase and proposed that “much of the remaining contamination will be dealt with” within the present Article 5 deadline extension request. It identified casualty reduction as the priority for mine action but stated that most resources should be allocated to supporting development and poverty reduction. As of June 2015, the draft plan was still under review by the CMAA.[18] 

Workplans (mines) 

The CMAA identifies priority communes for clearance on the basis of casualty data. Mine Action Planning Units (MAPUs) in the eight most mine-affected western provinces and seven mainly ERW-affected eastern provinces are responsible for preparing annual clearance task lists, working in consultation with operators and local authorities to identify community priorities. The task lists are reviewed and approved by Provincial Mine Action Committees (PMAC) and the CMAA. In provinces without MAPUs, mine action is coordinated with provincial authorities. MAPUs also conduct land use checks at least six months after clearance is completed. However, MAPUs continue to be acutely short of resources, from computers to vehicles, which delays the release of land on which survey or clearance has been completed.[19]

Operators (mines)

Mine clearance is undertaken mainly by the national operator, CMAC, and two international mine action NGOs, HALO Trust and Mines Advisory Group (MAG). CMAC’s Demining Unit 6, based in Siem Reap, came under operational management of APOPO in 2014. A national NGO, Cambodian Self-help Demining (CSHD), has been active since 2011. At the start of 2014, three commercial companies active on a small scale were BACTEC, Viking, and D&Y.[20] NPMEC had 13 demining platoons and two EOD teams accredited with the CMAA in 2014.[21] 

UNDP has supported the CMAA through a “Clearing for Results (CFR)” program since 2006. The first phase under UNDP management ended in March 2010 and a second phase (CFR II; see table below), advised by UNDP but managed by the CMAA, started in January 2011 and was due to finish at the end of 2015. The program introduced a process of awarding contracts for clearance by competitive bidding, although, in practice, international NGOs have felt unable to compete with the square meter clearance costs bid by national operators—CMAC and NPMEC—that have lower equipment and personnel overheads, and have largely stayed out of the bidding.[22] 

For the period from May 2014 to the end of January 2015, the CFR program awarded three contracts. Two, with a combined value of $3.2 million, went to CMAC for survey and clearance of 12.1km2 in Battambang and for 6.2km2 of Banteay Meanchey, respectively, while the third contract was to NPMEC for $0.86 million to tackle 4.4km2 of contamination in Pailin.[23] Completion of those contracts brought the total area released under the first four years of CFR II to 72.9km, well past the target of 35km2. The program expected to release a further 57.7km2 of land in 2015, including 27.7km2 through clearance and 30km2 cancelled by non-technical survey.[24] 

CFR II Contracts and Land Release[25]

Contract period

Contract value (US$)

Land released (m2)

May 2011–April 2012

2,381,616

10,349,648

February 2012–January 2013

2,883,034

15,013,587

February 2013–April 2014

4,193,647

22,983,035

May 2014–January 2015

4,056,170

24,579,096

Total

13,514,467

72,925,366

 

Land Release (mines) 

In its 2015 Article 7 report the CMAA, Cambodia stated it had released a total of 182km2 in 2014 through a combination of non-technical and technical survey and full clearance but provided no details.[26] However, the CMAA clarified that its database had recorded only release of 96.22km2 representing BLS polygons (see table below). The remaining 85.78km2 involved land not identified as contaminated by the BLS, including land cleared or verified to support infrastructure development.[27]

Land release in 2014

BLS polygons released

Area cancelled by non-technical survey (m2)

Area reduced by technical survey (m2)

Area cleared (m2)

Total

1,255

22,209,069

23,767,375

50,238,572

96,215,016

 

Preliminary results of land release in 2013 indicated operators had released about 109km2, but data available from the CMAA’s Information Management System for Mine Action (IMSMA) database in May 2015 recorded only some 45km2.[28]

The lack of up-to-date data was partly a result of work in progress uploading and quality assuring historical data into the CMAA’s IMSMA New Generation/Version 6 database. However, it also reflected deep-rooted problems with Cambodia’s mine action information management, including incompatibility between the reporting formats of some operators, notably CMAC and the CMAA database, and delays in some operator reporting. Moreover, in a bid to keep operations focused on evidence-based clearance, the CMAA only reports release of polygons identified by the BLS. Discrepancies in results reported by the CMAA and some operators, particularly CMAC, may reflect the inclusion in operator data of land outside BLS polygons.[29]

Survey in 2014 (mines)

In March 2015, the CMAA issued one contract to HALO and two to CMAC to conduct follow-up non-technical survey of areas covered by the BLS with a view to establishing the extent of BLS polygons cancelled as a result of land reclamation by local inhabitants. The survey was intended to avoid more time-consuming technical survey and default clearance of land already in use. Results of what CMAA called the land reclamation survey were expected in the last quarter of 2015. HALO Trust reported that its resurvey of minefields under this initiative resulted in release of 560 areas covering almost 21.6km2.[30]

CMAC questions whether non-technical survey provides a sufficiently thorough investigation or safe basis for releasing land and said that it only conducted full technical survey in 2014, releasing 20.5km2.[31] The CMAA reported that CMAC released 21.5km2 through technical survey.[32] 

Clearance in 2014 (mines)

Results compiled by Norwegian People's Aid (NPA) from operator data suggest they released more land through full clearance in 2014 than the previous year, but substantial inconsistencies with data provided by CMAA prevent a clear determination of the results. The table below details the best available information on clearance in 2014. 

CMAC, much the biggest operator with around 1,700 staff in 2014, reported releasing almost 35km2 of mine-affected land by full clearance in 2014, destroying 13,847 antipersonnel mines, although it did not disaggregate mines tackled through clearance of mined and battle areas.[33] The CMAA’s database, as of May 2015, reported that CMAC had cleared some 28km2 and destroyed 5,221 antipersonnel mines, acknowledging that as a result of delays quality assuring clearance reports, its data was not complete.[34]

In addition to humanitarian clearance, CMAC undertook tasks in support of development projects, working on a number of road projects in Battambang with NGOs from Japan, its principal source of funding, and putting greater emphasis on land release linked to broader community engagement. CMAC’s Siem Reap-based Demining Unit 6, under operational management of APOPO since the start of 2014, released 4.85km2 through clearance and reduced another 1.67km2 through technical survey in 2014, and in 2015 brought in mine detection rats from Mozambique to try to raise productivity. It expected to start testing them around mid-year and to develop standards in cooperation with CMAA.[35] 

Of the two international operators, HALO Trust expanded in the second half of 2014, boosted by a three-year grant from the UK Department for International Development, closing the year working with around 1,200 personnel, including 990 deminers. It reported a slight increase in area cleared and items destroyed. In the past two years, HALO committed more assets to tackling antivehicle mines, but in 2014, it was also able to return to parts of the K5 mine belt in Banteay Meanchey where it had to suspend operations in 2009. It gained access for the first time to parts of the mine K5 belt in southern Pailin.[36] 

MAG started 2014 with 430 staff but experienced a severe drop in its funding in mid-2014 and at year end had a total staff of 108 staff, including 71 deminers. With new funding coming on stream in 2015, MAG expected to bring several teams back into service, conducting both mine clearance in the north west and cluster munition clearance in north eastern Ratanakiri province.[37] 

CMAA recorded clearance by NPMEC that was more than double the area it reported in 2014, partly as a result of work undertaken on government development projects in the eastern provinces of Kratie and Stung Treng, although the number of antipersonnel mines it destroyed was a little over half the previous year’s number. CMAA only reports and quality assures clearance conducted on BLS polygons. NPMEC also cleared areas for the government on government infrastructure or development tasks outside BLS polygons.[38] Details of such operations appear to be unrecorded, and anecdotal accounts of its work raise questions about the quality of clearance. The tasks are not subject to quality management by the CMAA; as a result, the substance of such accounts cannot be upheld or discounted. 

Mine and battle area clearance in 2014[39]

Operator

Mined area cleared (km2)

BAC (km2)

Antipersonnel mines destroyed

Antivehicle mines destroyed

Submunitions destroyed

UXO destroyed

CMAC[40]

34.67

25.41

13,847

346

N/R

98,267

CSHD

0.26

0

19

0

0

157

HALO[41]

11.95

0

5,209

116

0

303

MAG[42]

0.76

0

536

0

103

32

NPMEC

6.74

0

868

0

0

1,168

Total

54.38

25.41

20,479

462

103

99,927

Note: N/R = not reported.

Cluster munition remnants: operators and land release

Operators (cluster munition remnants)

Survey and clearance of cluster munition remnants in eastern Cambodia are undertaken mainly by CMAC, which has the most assets deployed for BAC, and Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA). MAG revived two EOD teams working in Ratanakiri province in 2014, which had previously been stood down due to lack of funding. These also tackle cluster munition remnants. 

Land Release (cluster munition remnants)

In 2014, CMAC conducted a baseline survey of ERW, including cluster munition remnants, in eastern provinces. The survey is expected to be completed by the end of 2015. By April 2015, it had surveyed 217km2 of areas suspected to be contaminated with cluster munition remnants. 

In 2014, CMAC reported releasing 25.4km2 through BAC, one-third more than the previous year, but its data did not disaggregate items destroyed through mine clearance and BAC or the number of submunitions among items of UXO destroyed.[43]

NPA provided administrative and technical support for CMAC teams conducting the baseline survey and developing land release methods, resulting in a sharp increase in productivity. In the 11 months from June 2014 to April 2015, NPA with CMAC reported releasing 54km2 through cluster munition remnants survey (CMRS), integrating elements of non-technical survey and technical survey.[44]

From mid-2013, NPA also worked in Ratanakiri province with its own multi-task teams and four explosive dog detection (EDD) teams applying the CMRS methodology. In 2014, teams surveyed 43 suspected hazardous areas covering 13.8km2, reducing these to 13 confirmed hazardous areas totaling 1.38km2. The EDD teams released almost 2.9km2 of land between June 2014 and April 2015, locating and destroying 606 submunitions and 193 other UXO items.[45]

MAG worked with one BAC team in Ratanakiri as part of a US Department of Defense Humanitarian Demining Research and Development project. In 2014, it cleared 103,595m2 (0.1km2) of cluster munition-contaminated areas, destroying 43 submunitions. MAG reported that, as a research project, productivity was not as high as would normally be expected, but this was expected to rise with the team’s experience.[46]

Mine Ban Treaty Article 5 Compliance

Under Article 5 of the Mine Ban Treaty (and in accordance with the 10-year extension granted by States Parties in 2009), Cambodia is required to destroy all antipersonnel mines in mined areas under its jurisdiction or control as soon as possible, but not later than 1 January 2020. It is not on track to meet this deadline.

Cambodia’s revised Article 5 extension request, submitted in September 2009, is obsolete as a reference point for assessing the progress of mine action. Its estimate of remaining contamination (almost 649km2) has been overtaken by the results of the BLS and the land reclamation resurvey. Moreover, the extension request’s projected clearance rates (ranging from 38km2 in 2009 to 47km2 in 2019) have been overtaken by the higher productivity achieved with the land release methodology applied increasingly since 2012 (see table below).

Weaknesses in Cambodia’s mine action information management, however, also complicate attempts to assess progress towards its Article 5 obligations. The CMAA reported release of a total of 182km2 in 2014 in a submission to the Committee on Article 5 Implementation but acknowledged close to half of this (85.78km2) was on land that had not been identified by survey as contaminated. The committee observed “that progress in implementation could be significantly clarified if Cambodia presented information in such a way that it could be compared with information previously provided by Cambodia and disaggregated according to land that is cancelled, reduced or cleared.”[47]

Five-year summary of release of mined areas (km2)[48]

Year

Area cleared

Area cancelled or reduced by survey

Total area released

2014[49]

54.38

42.08

96.46

2013

45.59

21.46

67.05

2012

45.96

6.62

52.58

2011

37.85

N/R

37.85

2010

29.69

N/R

29.69

Total

213.47

70.16

283.63

 

Cambodia did not expect to complete clearance of 649km2 by 2020 and, despite the faster pace of land release in the last three years, it appears unlikely to finish clearance of the much wider contamination identified by the BLS within its current extension. End of 2014 estimates of total antipersonnel mine contamination show a net reduction of 60.5km2 from the estimates a year earlier, despite a 56% rise in the estimate of dense (A1) antipersonnel mine contamination, but the clearance target is shifting as survey continues to add new polygons to the database of contamination.



[1] HALO Trust, “Mine clearance in Cambodia–2009,” January 2009, p. 8.

[2] Revised BLS data presented in statement of Cambodia to the Standing Committee on Mine Clearance, Geneva, 10 April 2014.

[3] Interview with Prum Sophakmonkol, Secretary General, CMAA, Phnom Penh, 4 May 2015.

[4] Statement of Cambodia, Standing Committee on Mine Clearance, Geneva, 11 April 2014; Minutes of BLS Phase II Meeting, 5 May 2014.

[5] Data received by email from CMAA, 4 May 2015, and presented by Cambodia to the Mine Ban Treaty Intersessional Meetings, Standing Committee on Mine Clearance, Geneva, 11 April 2014.

[6] Telephone interview with David Horrocks, Mine Action Advisor, UN Development Programme (UNDP), 22 July 2015; and email, 23 July 2015.

[7] Data received by email from Eang Kamrang, Database Manager, CMAA, 11 April 2013.

[8] See Casualties country profile for details.

[9] South East Asia Air Sortie Database, cited in D. McCracken, “National Explosive Remnants of War Study, Cambodia,” Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA) in collaboration with CMAA, Phnom Penh, March 2006, p. 15; Human Rights Watch (HRW), “Cluster Munitions in the Asia-Pacific Region,” April 2008; and Handicap International (HI), Fatal Footprint: The Global Human Impact of Cluster Munitions (HI, Brussels, November 2006), p. 11.

[10] The provinces are Kampong Cham, Kratie, Mondul Kiri, Prey Veng, Ratanakiri, Stung Treng, and Svay Rieng.

[11] NPA Cambodia, PowerPoint Presentation, undated but May 2015, received by email from Jan Erik Stoa, Programme Manager, NPA, 1 June 2015.

[12] Telephone interview with Jan Erik Stoa, NPA, 11 June 2015.

[13] CMAC is the leading national demining operator, but does not exercise the wider responsibilities associated with the term “center.” Set up in 1992, CMAC was assigned the role of coordinator in the mid-1990s. It surrendered this function in a restructuring of mine action in 2000 that separated the roles of regulator and implementing agency and led to the creation of the CMAA.

[14] Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD), “A Study of the Development of National Mine Action Legislation,” November 2004, pp. 64–66.

[15] Email from Prum Sophamonkol, Deputy Secretary-General, CMAA, 10 October 2013.

[16] GICHD, “Information Management Capacity Assessment,” 2015.

[17] Interviews with CMAA and mine action operators in Cambodia, 4−8 May 2015.

[18] CMAA, “National Strategic Plan for Mine Action in Cambodia,” Draft, January 2014, pp. 10 and 18; and email from Prum Sophakmonkol, CMAA, 22 May 2015.

[19] Interviews with mine action operators in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap, 10−14 March 2014.

[20] Information provided by the CMAA in response to Monitor questionnaire, 13 March 2014.

[21] Email from CMAA, 5 May 2015.

[22] Interviews with Cameron Imber, Programme Manager, HALO Trust, Siem Reap, 22 March 2013; and Alastair Moyer, Country Programme Manager, MAG, 14 March 2013.

[23] UNDP, “Clearing for Results Phase II, Annual Report 2014,” undated but 2015, p. 17.

[24] Ibid, p. 18.

[25] Ibid., pp. 18−19.

[26] Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report 2015, Form F; and, “Cambodian clarifications on the Article 5 Committee observations, Geneva 25−26 June 2015,” received by email from Prum Sophakmonkol, CMAA, 30 July 2015.

[27] Email from Prum Sophakmonkol, CMAA, 31 July 2015.

[28] See ICBL-CMC, “Country Profile: Cambodia: Mine Action Profile,” 14 August 2014; and email from CMAA, 22 May 2015.

[29] Interviews with the CMAA and mine action operators in Cambodia, 4−8 May 2015.

[30] Email from Adam Jasinski, Programme Manager, HALO Trust, 28 March 2015.

[31] Interview with Heng Rattana, Director General, CMAC, Phnom Penh, 4 May 2015; and CMAC, “Operational Summary Progress Report, 1992 up to March 2015,” provided on 4 May 2015.

[32] Data provided by CMAA Database Unit, 4 May 2015.

[33] CMAC, “Operational Summary Progress Report, 1992 up to March 2015,” provided on 4 May 2015; and CMAC, “Integrated Work Plan 2015,” undated but 2015, p. 7.

[34] Data provided by CMAA Database Unit, 4 May 2015.

[35] Interview with Kim Warren, Country Programme Director, APOPO, Siem Reap, 7 May 2015.

[36] Email from Adam Jasinski, HALO Trust, 28 March 2015; and interview, in Siem Reap, 7 May 2015.

[37] Interview with Greg Crowther, Regional Director, South and South East Asia, and Nick Guest, Technical Operations Manager, MAG, in Phnom Penh, 6 May 2015; and emails from Greg Crowther, 22 May 2015, and 17 August 2015.

[38] Data provided by CMAA Database Unit, 4 May 2015; and interview with Prum Sophakmonkol, CMAA, 23 June 2015.

[39] Compiled from data provided by the CMAA and operators, May 2015. Operator data shows a higher mined area cleared (54.4km2) than the CMAA (50.2km2), suggesting some operator results include land outside BLS polygons.

[40] CMAC, “Operational Summary Progress Report, 1992 up to March 2015,” provided 4 May 2015.

[41] Email from Adam Jasinski, HALO Trust, 28 March 2015.

[42] MAG reported releasing a total of 1.53km2 through manual clearance and technical survey. Emails from Greg Crowther, MAG, 22 May 2015, and 17 August 2015.

[43] “CMAC operational summary progress report,” CMAC, undated but April 2015.

[44] NPA Cambodia, PowerPoint presentation, undated but May 2015.

[45] Telephone interview with Jan Erik Stoa, NPA, 11 June 2015; emails from Bunhok Hy, Information Management Officer, and Phillip Fouche, Technical Field Manager, NPA, 13 June 2015; and NPA Cambodia, PowerPoint presentation, undated but May 2015.

[46] Interview with Greg Crowther, Regional Director, South and South East Asia, and Nick Guest, Technical Operations Manager, MAG, Phnom Penh, 6 May 2015; and email from Greg Crowther, 22 May 2015.

[47] Email from Prum Sohakmonkol, CMAA, 31 July 2015; “Cambodian clarifications on the Article 5 Committee observations, Geneva 25−26 June 2015,” received by email from Prum Sophakmonkol, CMAA, 30 July 2015.

[48] Compiled by NPA from data provided by the CMAA and operators, May 2015.

[49] CMAA data reported release of 96.2km2 in 2014, including 50.2km2 released by full clearance and 46km2 cancelled or reduced by survey.