Cambodia

Cluster Munition Ban Policy

Last updated: 11 July 2017

Summary: Non-signatory Cambodia has expressed its support for the convention, but has not taken any steps to join it. Cambodia has participated in most of the convention’s meetings, most recently in 2015. Cambodia is not known to have ever produced, used, or exported cluster munitions. It has not disclosed the size or precise content of its cluster munition stockpile. Cambodia’s cluster munition contamination dates from the 1960s and 1970s, when the United States (US) extensively bombed the country in air attacks. More recently, in 2011, Thailand fired cluster munitions into Cambodian territory.

Policy

The Kingdom of Cambodia has not acceded to the Convention on Cluster Munitions.

In March 2017, a Cambodian official told the Cluster Munition Coalition (CMC) that the government views the convention positively and intends to accede, but cautioned the process could take time.[1] Previously, in 2013 and 2014, Cambodia stated that it was studying the convention with stakeholders and not prepared to decide on accession until those consultations concluded.[2]

In December 2016, Cambodia was absent from the vote on the first UN General Assembly (UNGA) resolution on the Convention on Cluster Munitions, which urges states outside the convention to “join as soon as possible.”[3] It was also absent from the vote on the first UNGA resolution on the convention in December 2015.[4]

Cambodia was an early, prominent, and influential supporter of the Oslo Process that produced the Convention on Cluster Munitions and hosted the first regional forum on cluster munitions in Phnom Penh in March 2007. It advocated forcefully for the most comprehensive and immediate ban possible and joined in the consensus adoption of the convention at the conclusion of the Dublin negotiations in May 2008. Yet, despite this extensive and positive leadership role, Cambodia attended the Convention on Cluster Munitions Signing Conference in Oslo on 3 December 2008 only as an observer and did not sign, stating at the time that due to “recent security developments” in the region, it needed more time to study the security implications of joining.[5]

Cambodia has cited several reasons for not joining the Convention on Cluster Munitions, most of them security-related. [6] The Ministry of Defense has raised questions including how to destroy stockpiled cluster munitions and how to replenish defense capabilities after their destruction.[7] Cambodia has also long emphasized the need for its neighboring states, particularly Thailand, to accede to the convention.[8] In 2011, Thailand fired cluster munitions into Cambodian territory, killing two men and injuring seven.[9]

Despite not joining, Cambodia has participated in every Meeting of States Parties of the convention, except in 2014 and 2016, as well as the First Review Conference in September 2015, and intersessional meetings in Geneva in 2011–2015. It has participated in regional workshops on the convention, most recently in Bangkok, Thailand, in March 2017.[10]

Cambodia has condemned the use of cluster munitions.[11]

The Cambodia Campaign to Ban Landmines and Cluster Bombs continues to call for the government to accede to the Convention on Cluster Munitions.[12]

Cambodia is a State Party to the Mine Ban Treaty. It is also party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons.

Use, production, and transfer

Cambodia is not known to have used, produced, or exported cluster munitions.

The US used some 80,000 air-dropped cluster munitions containing 26 million submunitions on Cambodia in the 1960s and 1970s during the Vietnam War, mostly in the east and northeast of the country.

After Thailand fired cluster munitions into Cambodian territory in June 2011, Cambodian officials informed a meeting of the convention that, “Despite being confronted and threatened by forces, so far we have refrained from employing cluster munitions in our response.”[13]

Stockpiling

The types and quantities in Cambodia’s stockpile of cluster munitions is not known. In December 2008, a Ministry of Defense official said that Cambodia has “some missile launchers that use cluster munitions that weigh more than 20 kg” and that there were also stockpiles of cluster munitions weighing 250kg left over from the 1980s that Cambodia intends to destroy.[14] Weapons with submunitions that weigh more than 20kg each are not defined as cluster munitions by the Convention on Cluster Munitions and are thus not prohibited.[15] However, it is unclear if Cambodian officials are referring to the total weight of the warhead or the individual submunitions the warhead contains.

According to standard international reference publications, Cambodia also possesses BM-21 Grad 122mm surface-to-surface rocket launchers, but it is not known if the ammunition for these weapons includes versions with submunition payloads.[16] Cambodian officials have sought clarification from States Parties and NGOs as to whether BM-21 multi-barrel rocket launchers are banned under the convention. The launchers are capable of firing rockets with a variety of warheads, one of which is a cargo warhead containing explosive submunitions. The CMC has informed Cambodia that the rocket delivery system itself is not prohibited by the convention, and the convention would allow use of the BM-21 with unitary munitions. However, under the terms of the convention, a BM-21 rocket launcher could not be used to deliver rockets containing explosive submunitions.[17]



[1] CMC notes by Director Megan Burke from the meeting. See also, Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority (CMAA), “H.E. Senior Minister Serei Kosal, CMAA’s 1st Vice President met Ms. Megan Burke, Director of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines,” 14 March 2017.

[2] In April 2014, an official said the convention’s “lack of clearly defined definition of cluster munitions” requires Cambodia to undertake “a much more vigorous study among key national technical stakeholders…to explore technical matters and to seek a possible consensus.” He said Cambodia will consider accession to the convention when it “concludes all relevant assessments.” Statement of Cambodia, Convention on Cluster Munitions Intersessional Meetings, Geneva, 7 April 2014. See also, statement of Cambodia, Convention on Cluster Munitions Fourth Meeting of States Parties, Lusaka, 10 September 2013.

[3]Implementation of the Convention on Cluster Munitions,” UNGA Resolution 71/45, 5 December 2016. It was absent during the first round of voting on draft resolution A/C.1/71/L.22 in the UNGA First Committee on Disarmament and International Security on 31 October 2016.

[4]  “Implementation of the Convention on Cluster Munitions,” UNGA Resolution 70/54, 7 December 2015. It was absent during the first round of voting on the draft resolution in the UNGA First Committee on Disarmament and International Security on 4 November 2015. “Implementation of the Convention on Cluster Munitions,” UNGA Resolution AC.1/70/L.49/Rev.1, 4 November 2015.

[5] For details on Cambodia’s policy and practice regarding cluster munitions through early 2009, see Human Rights Watch and Landmine Action, Banning Cluster Munitions: Government Policy and Practice (Ottawa: Mines Action Canada, May 2009), pp. 193–195.

[6] See ICBL, Cluster Munition Monitor 2010 (Ottawa: Mines Action Canada, October 2010), p. 201.

[7] Peter Sombor, “Cambodia Still Undecided About Signing Cluster Munitions Treaty,” The Cambodia Daily, 9 September 2013; and ICBL, Cluster Munition Monitor 2010 – Cambodia ban policy update, 21 October 2010.

[9] At the convention’s first intersessional meetings in June 2011, Cambodia said its accession was “just a matter of time.” Statement of Cambodia, Convention on Cluster Munitions Intersessional Meetings, Geneva, 27 June 2011.

[10] Final Report of the South East Asia Regional Seminar, “Cooperating to implement the Convention on Cluster Munitions: the country coalition concept,” Bangkok, 16–17 March 2017; and EU Nonproliferation Consortium, “Cooperating to implement the Convention on Cluster Munitions: the country coalition concept,” UNESCAP, Bangkok, 16–17 March 2017.

[11] In 2014, Cambodia condemned reported use of cluster munitions in South Sudan. Statement of Cambodia, Convention on Cluster Munitions Intersessional Meetings, Geneva, April 2014.

[13] Statement of Cambodia, Convention on Cluster Munitions Intersessional Meetings, Geneva, 27 June 2011.

[14] The official was Chau Phirun of the Ministry of Defense. Lea Radick and Neou Vannarin, “No Rush to Sign Cluster Munition Ban: Gov’t,” The Cambodia Daily, 5 December 2008.

[15] Article 2.2 states: “‘Cluster munition’ means a conventional munition that is designed to disperse or release explosive submunitions each weighing less than 20 kilograms, and includes those explosive submunitions.”

[16] International Institute for Strategic Studies, The Military Balance 2011 (London: Routledge, 2011), p. 229; and Colin King, ed., Jane’s Explosive Ordnance Disposal 2008, CD-edition, 3 December 2007 (Surrey, UK: Jane’s Information Group Limited, 2008).

[17] Letter to Prime Minister Hun Sen from Steve Goose, CMC, 30 November 2011.


Mine Ban Policy

Last updated: 28 October 2014

Policy

The Kingdom of Cambodia signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 3 December 1997 and ratified on 28 July 1999, becoming a State Party on 1 January 2000. Domestic implementation legislation—the Law to Prohibit the Use of Anti-personnel Mines—took effect on 28 May 1999.[1] In 2013, Cambodia submitted its 15th Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 report, covering calendar year 2013.[2]

Cambodia has attended all of the Mine Ban Treaty’s Review Conferences held in 2004, 2009, and 2014 as well as most of the treaty’s Meetings of States Parties and many of the intersessional meetings held in Geneva, including in April 2014. It hosted the Mine Ban Treaty’s Eleventh Meeting of States Parties in December 2011.[3]

Cambodia is party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) and its Amended Protocol II on landmines.

Use

There were no allegations of new use of antipersonnel mines on the Cambodian border with Thailand in the second half of 2013 or first half of 2014.

Previously, in March 2013, three Thai soldiers were injured by what the Thai military described as newly planted mines near the Ta Kwai Temple in Phanom Dong Rak district. Cambodia investigated and in its report to States Parties found the mines were old, dating from the Cambodian civil war.[4] Cambodia provided a copy of its investigation report to the Mine Ban Treaty Implementation Support Unit and the ICBL at the May 2013 intersessional meetings, and to the government of Thailand through diplomatic channels.[5]

Other allegations made by Thailand of Cambodian use of antipersonnel mines on the Cambodian-Thai border in 2008 and 2009 were never resolved.[6]

Production, transfer, stockpile destruction, and retention

Previously, the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces (RCAF) destroyed its declared stockpile of 71,991 antipersonnel mines between 1994 and 1998, and in February 1999 the RCAF Deputy Commander in Chief formally stated that the RCAF no longer had stockpiles of antipersonnel mines.[7] In 2000, Cambodia reported an additional stockpile of 2,035 antipersonnel mines held by the national police that were subsequently destroyed.[8] In 2013, Cambodia reported that while there have been no antipersonnel mine stockpiles in the country since 2001, “police and military units are still finding and collecting weapons, ammunitions and mines from various sources, locations and caches.”[9] Discovered mines are supposed to be reported to the Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority (CMAA) and handed over to the Cambodian Mine Action Center (CMAC) for destruction.[10] A Cambodian official has previously stated that newly discovered stocks are destroyed immediately.[11]

Previous Article 7 reports document a total of 133,478 stockpiled antipersonnel mines that were found and destroyed from 2000 to 2008, including 13,665 in 2008; this included 9,698 by CMAC, 2,713 by HALO Trust, and 1,254 by Mines Advisory Group (MAG). Cambodia stated that these mines were “reported by local communities.”[12] It is not clear why significant numbers of stockpiled mines were discovered each year through 2008, but none have been discovered since.

Cambodia has each year reported transfer of mines removed from mined areas to the CMAC training center and other operators for training purposes.[13] In June 2011, the deputy secretary general of the CMAA told the Monitor that all mines held by Cambodia are fuzeless and that Cambodia retains no live mines for training.[14] In its 2014 Article 7 report, Cambodia reported the transfer of 60 inert antipersonnel mines for use to train animals in landmine detection.[15]

 



[1] The law bans the production, use, possession, transfer, trade, sale, import, and export of antipersonnel mines. It provides for criminal penalties, including fines and imprisonment for offenses committed by civilians or members of the police and the armed forces. It also provides for the destruction of mine stockpiles.

[2]Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report, undated, covering the period of 1 January 2013 to 31 December 2013. Previous reports were submitted in 2013 (for calendar year 2012), 2012 (for calendar year 2011), 2011 (for calendar year 2010), May 2010 (for calendar year 2009), April 2009 (for calendar year 2008), in 2008 (for calendar year 2007), on 27 April 2007, 11 May 2006, 22 April 2005, 30 April 2004, 15 April 2003, 19 April 2002, 30 June 2001, and 26 June 2000.

[3] Prak Sokhonn, Minister Attached to the Prime Minister and Vice-Chair of the Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority (CMAA), was elected president of the Eleventh Meeting of States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty, which Cambodia hosted in Phnom Penh in November–December 2011 at Vimean Santepheap (the Peace Palace).

[4] See Landmine Monitor 2013, Thailand Mine Ban Policy profile. According to a request made by the ICBL, Cambodia conducted a fact-finding mission to the site from 10–12 May 2013 that determined the Thai solders were injured by mines laid during the Cambodian civil war. It said its soldiers found indications of the incident on the same day, and recorded a GPS reference that differed from the reference declared by the Thai military. Cambodia stated that the incident took place to the side of, not on, a specially cleared path used for military-to-military meetings between the Thai and Cambodian military in the area. The Cambodian delegation provided copies of the report at the May 2013 intersessional meeting in Geneva.

[5] Statement of Cambodia, Mine Ban Treaty Standing Committee on Compliance, Geneva, 30 May 2013. Notes by the ICBL; and Investigation Report on Thailand’s Allegation of New Mines Laid by Cambodia, 17 May 2013. Report copy provided to ICBL at the Mine Ban Treaty intersessional meeting, 31 May 2013. Report prepared by a five-person team from the Cambodian Mine Action Authority and the Cambodian National Center for Peacekeeping Forces and ERW Clearance.

[6] In October 2008, two Thai soldiers stepped on antipersonnel mines while on patrol in disputed territory between Thailand and Cambodia, near the World Heritage Site of Preah Vihear. Thai authorities maintained that the area was previously clear of mines and that the mines had been newly placed by Cambodian forces. Cambodia denied the charges and stated that the Thai soldiers had entered Cambodian territory in an area known to contain antipersonnel mines and were injured by mines laid during previous armed conflicts. In April 2009, another Thai soldier was reportedly wounded by an antipersonnel mine at the same location during further armed conflict between the two countries. In September 2009, Commander in Chief of the Royal Thai Army, Gen. Anupong Paochinda, stated that Cambodian troops were laying fresh mines along the disputed areas and close to routes where Thai soldiers make regular patrols. See Landmine Monitor Report 2009, pp. 243–244, 719–720; and also ICBL-CMC, “Country Profile: Cambodia: Mine Ban Policy,” 6 August 2010.

[8] Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report, Form B, 26 June 2000.

[10] Ibid.

[12]Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report (for calendar year 2008), Form G (1). Mines destroyed in previous years included: 8,739 in 2000; 7,357 in 2001; 13,509 in 2002; 9,207 in 2003; 15,446 in 2004; 16,878 in 2005; 23,409 in 2006; and 20,268 in 2007.

[13] Cambodia reported in 2012 that 1,190 mines were transferred for development and training. See Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report (for calendar year 2012), Form D (2). Cambodia has reported a total of 7,679 mines transferred for training purposes from 1998–2010. All of the mines that are transferred each year are apparently consumed (destroyed) during training activities.

[14] Interview with Sophakmonkol Prum, Deputy Secretary General, CMAA, in Geneva, 24 June 2011.

[15] Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report, April 2014, Form D.


Mine Action

Last updated: 11 December 2017

Contaminated by: landmines (massive contamination), cluster munition remnants (heavy contamination), and other unexploded ordnance (UXO).

Article 5 deadline: 1 January 2020
(Not on track to meet deadline)

Non-signatory to the Convention on Cluster Munitions

At the end of 2016, the Kingdom of Cambodia had an estimated 897km2 of mine-contaminated land, of which over 100km2 had dense antipersonnel mine contamination. In 2016, Cambodia released a total of 68.7km2, a significant decrease from the 147km2 released in 2015. A total of 28.93km2 was canceled by non-technical survey, 14.48km2 was reduced by technical survey, and 25.33km2 was cleared.

Cambodia also has heavy contamination from cluster munition remnants but the extent is not known. As of May 2017, Cambodia estimated the amount of land contaminated by cluster munition remnants to be almost 365km2. Land release results were significantly higher in 2016 than the year before. In 2016, Cambodia reported the clearance of 22.38km2 of cluster munition-contaminated land, a remarkable increase on the 0.77km2 reported for 2015. A total area of 2.85km2 was canceled by non-technical survey, and 3.19km2 was reduced by technical survey. A total of 8,852 submunitions were destroyed. A total of 86.57km2 was confirmed through survey.

Cambodia also has almost 105km2 of other unexploded ordnance contamination.

Recommendations for action

  • Cambodia should finalize the 2017–2025 National Mine Action Strategy, including plans for completion of Mine Ban Treaty Article 5 obligations, as soon as possible.
  • The Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority (CMAA) should accelerate clearance of dense (category A1) antipersonnel mine contamination.
  • Clearance should only be conducted of land where there is firm evidence of contamination.
  • Adopt standards for survey and clearance appropriate for dealing with cluster munitions.
  • Set strategic goals for clearance of explosive remnants of war (ERW), giving priority to cluster munition remnants in the most affected provinces.
  • Centralize data management to produce comprehensive and disaggregateddata on survey and clearance of mined areas, cluster munition remnants, and battle area contaminated with other ERW. Present this data in an annual report summarizing progress towards strategic targets.
  • The Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority (CMAA) and mine action stakeholders should review land release planning, prioritization, and tasking to ensure assets are used to maximum effect.

Mine Contamination (see below for ERW, including cluster munition remnants)

Cambodia is affected by mines and ERW left by 30 years of conflict that ended in the 1990s.Itsantipersonnel mine problem is concentrated in, but not limited to, 21 northwestern districts along the border with Thailand that account for the great majority of mine casualties. The K5 mine belt, which was installed along the border with Thailand in the mid-1980s in an effort to block insurgent infiltration, ranks among the densest contamination in the world.[1]

After 25 years of mine action in Cambodia, estimates of the extent of mine contamination continue to fluctuate. 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 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 areas, covering 892km², contained “scattered or nuisance” antipersonnel and antivehicle mines.[2] (See section below on cluster munition remnants and other ERW contamination.)

At the end of 2016, the CMAA estimate of dense antipersonnel mine contamination had risen to more than 100km2 and the estimate of total mine contamination was 4% higher at 897km2, reflecting mainly increased estimates of scattered/nuisance mines and antivehicle mines (see table below).[3] The reason for the higher level of contamination has not been explained but the CMAA acknowledges that mined areas continue to be found outside the polygons identified in the BLS.[4] As an example, Mines Advisory Group (MAG) reported it found 16 minefields in Rattanakiri province in 2016 that had not been captured in previous survey.[5]

Mine contamination based on BLS and additional survey results for 139 districts[6]

Contamination classification

Area (m²)
May 2013

Area (m²)
End 2014

Area (m2)
End 2015

Area (m2)
End 2016

A1 Dense AP mines

63,894,629

99,750,628

99,490,452

100,778,056

         

A2 Mixed AP and AV mines

78,601,787

N/R

40,064,014

36,361,353

A2.1 Mixed dense AP/AV mines

9,154,925

N/R

6,561,919

7,090,672

A2.2 Mixed scattered AP/ AV mines

216,840,425

N/R

173,915,747

168,694,189

A2 Total

304,597,137

255,370,490

220,541,680

212,146,214

A3 AV mines

68,187,332

N/R

31,510,235

47,082,941

         

A4 Scattered or nuisance mines

674,882,897

627,720,309

508,247,851

537,184,712

Total

1,111,561,995

982,841,427

859,790,218

897,191,923

Note: AP = antipersonnel; AV = antivehicle; and N/R = not reported.

A draft national mine action strategy for 2017–2025 said that as of March 2017, Cambodia had 946km2 of mine contamination, including 103km2 of A1 category dense antipersonnel mine contamination, 220km2 of A2 category (mixed antipersonnel and antivehicle mines), and 544km2 of A4 category (scattered mines).[7]

ERW, including cluster munition contamination

Cambodia has extensive contamination from cluster munition remnants but the full extent is not known. Contamination resulted from intensive bombing by the United States (US) during the Vietnam War, 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.[8]

The CMAA estimated the area affected by cluster munition remnants as of May 2017 at almost 365km2, 30km2 more than at the end of 2015 andrepresenting more than three-quarters of total ERW contamination. The estimate was based on a BLS conducted in eight eastern provinces between 2012 and 2015 and continuing survey by operators. Two provinces, Kratie and Stung Treng, accounted for more than half the total (see table below).[9]

ERW survey of eight eastern provinces[10]

Province

Cluster munition remnants (m2)

Other UXO (m2)

Kampong Cham

22,978,978

12,782,696

Kratie

96,733,733

15,906,744

Mondolkiri

18,648,563

10,375,597

Prey Veng

31,560,602

19,123,571

Rattanakiri

39,284,290

1,275,231

Stung Treng

107,021,757

26,363,551

Svay Rieng

32,923,833

12,287,556

Tboung Khmum

15,798,656

6,749,549

Total

364,950,412

104,864,495

 

However, the accuracy of the estimate has been called into question by some operators. The BLS employed a landmine survey methodology, resulting in hugely exaggerated and inaccurate polygons. Operators continue to receive information about contamination in areas already covered by the BLS and find contamination outside BLS polygons. CMAA reporting forms are formatted to record mine clearance and do not capture the results of cluster munition survey.[11] A draft National Mine Action Strategy circulating in May 2017 further underscored the weakness of understanding of the extent of the problem, reporting that Cambodia has 645km2 of area contaminated by cluster munition remnants.[12]

Much of Cambodia’s cluster munition contamination lies in areas that are heavily forested and which have been sparsely populated. The CMAA did not record any cluster munition incidents in 2016. However, demand for land and the large numbers of people moving into the northern provinces raise the threat of casualties while also generating more evidence of the scale of contamination.[13]

Program Management

The CMAA, set up in September 2000, regulates and coordinates mine action, responsibilities previously assigned to the Cambodian Mine Action Center (CMAC).[14] 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.[15]

Prime Minister Hun Sen is the CMAA president, and he made several senior management changes in 2016. In April 2016, he appointed a senior official, Serei Kosal, as first vice president, replacing a senior government minister, Prak Sokhonn, who became foreign minister. In May 2016, he also replaced the CMAA’s Secretary General, Prum Sophakmonkol, with another senior minister, Ly Thuch.[16] In October 2016, Hun Sen also appointed Lieutenant-General Sem Sovanny, Director General of the National Center for Peacekeeping Forces, Mines and ERW Clearance (NPMEC), as a second vice-president of the CMAA.

The CMAA identifies priority communes for clearance on the basis of casualty data, while provincial-level Mine Action Planning Units (MAPUs) are responsible for preparing annual clearance task lists, working in consultation with local authorities to identify community priorities and with operators, taking account of donor funding and objectives. Task lists are reviewed and approved by Provincial Mine Action Committees (PMACs) and the CMAA. Reviews of the system in 2015 identified weaknesses, notably in reconciling local-level priorities with wider strategic goals,[17] and CMAA management acknowledged a need to review the criteria for prioritizing clearance in discussions on a new mine action strategy.[18]

The UNDP has supported the CMAA through a “Clearing for Results” (CFR) program since 2006, awarding contracts funded by international donors through a process of competitive bidding. The first two phases from 2006 to the end of 2015 resulted in release of 167km2 at a cost of $37 million.[19]

Strategic planning

As of September 2017, the CMAA was in the process of developing a draft National Mine Action Strategy 2017–2025, in discussion between CMAA, operators, and other stakeholders, which operators hoped would invigorate donor support. The CMAA had intended to complete it that year but progress was held back by the CMAA’s management reshuffle and wider political developments in the build-up to national elections. One proposal under consideration was to present it at the Mine Ban Treaty Sixteenth Meeting of States Parties in December 2017.[20]

The draft plan called for a Cambodia that “is mine free and the threat from explosive remnants of war is minimized and human and socio-economic development takes place safely.”[21]

The draft plan set eight goals and 27 objectives. The goals were:

  • Release all known mined areas by 2025.
  • Release prioritized cluster munition-contaminated areas by 2025.
  • Address the threats from ERW.
  • Minimize mine/ERW (including cluster munition remnants) casualties and improve survivors’ livelihoods.
  • Contribute to economic growth and poverty reduction.
  • Promote regional and international disarmament and cooperation in mine action.
  • Establish a sustainable national capacity to address residual mine/ERW contamination after 2025.
  • Ensure mine action activities are supported by enhanced quality management systems, effective information management, and are gender- and environment-sensitive.

The draft said total known mine contamination amounted to 946km2. It said Cambodia had released an average of 94km2 a year for the last three years and at this rate would need 10 years to complete the release of all known mine-contaminated areas. To meet the goals of the Maputo Declaration and achieve completion by 2025, Cambodia would need to increase productivity by 22% to release 115km2 a year.[22]

An initial draft of the plan had observed that demining operations in 2014–2015 had released mainly A4 and A2 land and very little A1 dense contamination and called for more balance in the categories of land prioritized for clearance, signaling the need to accelerate clearance of A1 land.[23]

The initial draft plan also acknowledged that “a significant number” of mined areas cleared in 2016 either did not contain any mines or only contained mine types that experience showed had degraded and no longer functioned.[24] The observation echoed a finding by the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD) in a 2016 report, citing official data that almost half the land released by full clearance or reduced by technical survey in 2015 contained no mines (26%) or very few devices (23%). It also found that dense antipersonnel mine contamination accounted for 7% of land released by full clearance in 2015 and 3.5% of land cleared in 2010–2015. Land contaminated by nuisance or scattered mines accounted for almost half the area released in 2010–2015.[25]

The draft strategy said planning and prioritization should take device types into consideration and that clearance tasks should be prioritized on the basis of effective re-survey (non-technical survey) that identified areas with clear evidence of the presence of mines. It said planning and prioritization should respond to the needs of communities on its border and that donor funding should be directed to priority areas where communities are impacted by high-risk mine types that are likely to function.[26]

The HALO Trust had previously pointed to the need to avoid clearing areas about to reach the status of reclaimed land (after three years’ cultivation without mines being encountered). It also argued for more clearance of land with highly functional mine types (such as PMN, PPM-2, and 72 Alpha antipersonnel and antivehicle mines) rather than areas with mine types known by local communities to be particularly prone to degrading (Type 69, PMD 60, POM).[27]

A Concept Paper on resource mobilization released by the CMAA in early 2016 said Cambodia would need almost US$340 million to deal with contamination totaling 1,638km2, of which some 930km2 was mined area and 707km2 was battle area. It said Cambodia would be able to release 1,545km2 (94% of the total) by 2025 through technical survey and clearance but warned that mine action targets were “seriously threatened” by lack of funding.[28] The CMAA believed Cambodia would need around $400 million to tackle 1,970km2 of mine and ERW contamination by 2025.[29]

Operators

Mine clearance is undertaken mainly by the national operator, CMAC, and two international mine action NGOs, The HALO Trust and MAG. A national NGO, Cambodian Self-help Demining (CSHD), has been active since 2011. The NPMECalso conducted mine clearance.[30]

Survey and clearance of cluster munition remnants in eastern Cambodia are also undertaken mainly by CMAC, as well as MAG and NPA. The Royal Cambodian Armed Forces and the NPMEChave conducted clearance in cluster munition-affected areas, but the extent and results of their operations have not been made public.

CMAC is the biggest operator with more than 1,200 personnel. This was a decrease on the 1,700 the previous year, due to funding cuts.[31] The NPMEC had 13 demining and four explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) teams accredited with the CMAA in 2016, an increase of two EOD teams compared to the start of 2015. In 2017, it reported only 10 NPMEC units accredited with the CMAA.[32]

MAG had eight mine action teams and a total of 128 deminers operating in 2016 in Battambang and Pailin of a total of 228 staff that included BAC, EOD, community liaison, and mechanical clearance teams. HALO continued to operate with 1,100 personnel in five western and northern provinces in 2016.[33] Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA) had 36 staff.[34]

In 2017, three commercial companies were accredited to operate in 2017, BACTEC, D&Y, and MUCC.[35]

Information management

The CMAA uses Information Management System for Mine Action (IMSMA) New Generation.

The GICHD reported in 2016 that the Database Unit staff “possesses the skills and knowledge to realize solutions to the increasing analysis and reporting requirement of the CMAA management” and demonstrated a strong commitment to improving the quality of data.[36] In 2017, however, the CMAA still struggled to produce consistent, disaggregated data detailing the progress of survey and clearance (see section on land release).

Land Release (mines)

The CMAA reported release of a total of 68.7km2 of mined area through survey and clearance in 2016 but inconsistencies in the CMAA’s data as well as between CMAA data and results reported by operators meant this was an approximate figure.[37] Even with this caveat, it was clear that the pace of land release had decreased sharply from 2015, when Cambodia appeared to have released a total of approximately 147km2.[38]

The slowdown had been expected as operators completed the survey of areas reclaimed by local communities that had started in 2015 and produced a spike in the amount of land canceled by non-technical survey. The result underscored that land release in future would increasingly require technical survey and/or full clearance, further slowing progress towards completion, particularly as operators are tasked onto more A1 densely contaminated areas.[39]

Land release in 2016 by land classification and methodology (m2)[40]

 

Area canceled by Non-Technical Survey

Area reduced by Technical Survey

Area cleared

Total

Antipersonnel mines destroyed

Antivehicle mines destroyed

ERW destroyed

A1 Dense AP mines

202,428

59,992

699,774

962,194

1,698

0

44

A2 Mixed AP and AV mines

301,648

324,412

1,319,324

1,945,384

130

8

279

A2.1 Mixed dense AP/AV mines

70,020

62,785

240,287

373,092

560

6

5,713

A2.2 Mixed scattered AP/AV mines

6,932,983

6,528,992

9,055,794

22,517,769

2,774

45

1,267

A3 AV mines

189,996

22,530

6,654,607

6,867,133

93

56

249

A4 Scattered or nuisance mines

17,792,584

6,121,746

6,279,342

30,193,672

2,166

38

975

B2

3,437,406

1,359,510

1,078,636

5,875,552

157

0

493

Total

28,927,065

14,479,967

25,327,764

68,734,796

7,578

153

9,020

Note: AP = antipersonnel; AV = antivehicle.

Survey in 2016 (mines)

The CMAA reported release of 43.41km2 through cancelation by non-technical survey and reduction through technical survey in 2016 (see table below) but its figures differed significantly from those reported by operators.

Land released by survey in 2016 (m2)[41]

Operator

Area canceled by NTS

Area reduced by TS

Total release by survey

CMAC

17,010

12,438,399

12,455,409

CSHD

0

43,254

43,254

MAG[42]

1,265,770

1,302,961

2,568,731

NPMEC

0

451,161

451,161

HALO

27,644,284

244,192

27,888,476

Total

28,927,064

14,479,967

43,407,031

Note: NTS = non-technical survey; TS = technical survey.

Clearance in 2016 (mines)

The amount of land released through clearance fell sharply in 2016, though data inconsistencies make it difficult to determine results precisely.

The CMAA reported two different totals for the amount of area cleared in 2016. In the table above, “Land release in 2016 by land classification and methodology (m2)” it reported 25,327,764m2 cleared. In the table below, “Mine clearance in 2016” it reported 26,655,461m2 cleared.

Mine clearance in 2016[43]

Operator

Areas cleared

Area cleared (m2)

Antipersonnel mines destroyed

Antivehicle mines destroyed

Submunitions destroyed

UXO destroyed

CMAC[44]

230

13,739,804

3,038

32

3

1,692

CSHD

23

434,075

139

2

0

174

HALO

232

11,268,298

3,248

97

0

6,079

MAG[45]

9

151,908

314

0

0

153

NPMEC

18

1,061,376

610

17

0

524

Total

512

26,655,461

7,349

148

3

8,622

 

In 2016, HALO continued to work on clearing parts of the K5 mine belt and expanded its presence in Prey Vihear province but faced restrictions on access to some areas close to disputed parts of Cambodia’s border with Thailand. In 2017, it deployed teams for the first time to Koh Kong province, an area starting to attract large numbers of settlers but left out of survey and clearance.[46]

Land Release (cluster munition remnants)

Cambodia greatly increased the release of land contaminated with cluster munition remnants in 2016 compared to the previous year, with clearance output exceeding 22km2; 3.19km2 of land was reduced through technical survey, and 2.85km2 was canceled through non-technical survey.

Survey in 2016 (cluster munition remnants)

In 2016, survey was conducted by CMAC and NPA. NPA used its Cluster Munition Remnants Survey (CMRS) methodology.

NPA completed its non-technical survey of Rattanakiri province in 2016, confirming 20 hazardous areas (CHAs) covering 1.8km2 and in the process canceling nearly 3km2 from the baseline survey of contamination.[47]

CMAC’s survey of suspected hazardous areas (SHAs) in eastern provinces in 2016 confirmed cluster munition contamination in 455 areas covering 84.73km2. Of this, CMAC confirmed 145 areas covering 34km2 in southeastern Svay Rieng, 115 covering 21.29km2 in the neighboring province of Prey Veng, and 29.44km2 in seven other provinces.[48] CMAC reported the reduction of 3.19km2 through technical survey.[49]

Cluster munition survey[50]

Operator

Area surveyed (m2)

CHAs identified

Area confirmed (m2)

Area cancelled from BLS (m2)

Area reduced (m2)

NPA

4,687,500

20

1,840,521

2,846,979

N/A

CMAC

Not known

455

84,730,000

N/A

3,187,271

Total

 

477

86,570,521

2,846,979

3,187,271

Note: N/A = not applicable.

Clearance in 2016 (cluster munition remnants)

Operators reported clearing a total of 22.38km2 of cluster munition-contaminated areas in 2016, a huge increase on the previous year. According to the data available, CMAC accounted for more than 90% of the area cleared in 2016, most of it in Kampong Cham (9.1km2) and Kratie (6.4km2).[51] Clearance results were not provided for the armed forces and NPMEC.

MAG increased the number of its battle area clearance (BAC) teams from three to four, and tripled the amount of cluster munition-affected area it cleared in 2016 compared with the previous year, destroying four times the number of submunitions. MAG said use of advanced Scorpion detectors and better use of historical data in selecting tasks had contributed to higher productivity. MAG almost doubled the number of roving tasks undertaken in 2016, although this resulted in a sharp increase in the number of items of UXO destroyed, this included fewer submunitions than in 2015.[52]

NPA, focused mainly on survey, cleared slightly more area than it did in 2015, although the number of submunitions destroyed more than doubled.[53]

Clearance of cluster munition-contaminated areas in 2016[54]

Operator

Areas cleared

Area cleared (m²)

Submunitions destroyed

Other UXO destroyed

CMAC

147

20,381,947

3,471

1,171

MAG

N/R

1,724,547

868

79

NPA[55]

5

276,430

583

26

Total

152

22,382,924

4,922

1,276

Note: N/R = not recorded.

Spot/roving clearance and EOD in 2016

Operator

Roving tasks

Submunitions destroyed

UXO destroyed

CMAC

2,618

974

18,445

MAG

2,170

2,892

6,772

NPA

82

64

20

Total

4,870

3,930

25,237

 

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 draft mine action strategy for 2017–2025 sets a target of completing clearance of known mine contaminated areas by 2025 but makes clear this is dependent on a attracting donor support of around $400 million, averaging more than $40 million a year, a much higher level than achieved in recent years.

Release of mined areas in 2012–2016 (km2)[56]

Year

Area cleared

Area released by survey

Total area released

2016

25.33

43.41

68.73

2015

46.47

100.49

146.96

2014

50.24

45.98

96.22

2013

45.59

21.46

67.05

2012

45.96

6.62

52.58

Total

217.73

214.06

431.78

 

 

The Monitor acknowledges the contributions of the Mine Action Review (www.mineactionreview.org), which has conducted the mine action research in 2017, including on survey and clearance, and shared all its resulting landmine and cluster munition reports with the Monitor. The Monitor is responsible for the findings presented online and in its print publications.



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

[2] Revised BLS data presented in statement of Cambodia, Mine Ban Treaty Intersessional Meetings, Standing Committee on Mine Clearance, Geneva, 10 April 2014.

[3] Email from the CMAA, 2 May 2017.

[4] Cambodia’s Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 report for 2016, Form D, identified only 81.83km2 of antipersonnel mine contamination, compared with the 646km2 reported by Cambodia in its Article 7 report for 2015, Form C.

[5] Interview with Greg Crowther, Regional Director, South and South East Asia, Mines Advisory Group (MAG), Phnom Penh, 1 May 2017.

[6] Data received by email from CMAA, 2 May 2017.

[7] CMAA, “National Mine Action Strategy 2017–2025,” Draft, 2017, pp. 16–17.

[8] South East Asia Air Sortie Database, cited in D. McCracken, “National Explosive Remnants of War Study, Cambodia,” NPA in collaboration with CMAA, Phnom Penh, March 2006, p. 15; Human Rights Watch, “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.

[9] Data received from CMAA, 2 May 2017.

[10] Email from Prom Serey Audom, Assistant to the Secretary General, CMAA, 2 May 2017.

[11] Interviews with Aksel Steen-Nilsen, Country Director, NPA, and Greg Crowther, Regional Director, South and South East Asia, MAG, in Phnom Penh, 1 May 2017.

[12] CMAA, “National Mine Action Strategy 2017–2025,” Draft, 2017, p. 17, fig. 3.

[13] Casualty data received by email from Nguon Monoketya, Deputy Director, Socio-Economic Planning and Database Management Department, CMAA, 17 February 2017.

[14] 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.

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

[16] Interviews with Prum Sophakmonkol, Secretary General, CMAA, Phnom Penh, 11 May 2016; and with operators, Phnom Penh, 9–11 May 2016.

[17] Interview with Prum Sophakmonkol, CMAA, Phnom Penh, 11 May 2016; and “Review of MAPU-led prioritization decisions in CFRII target provinces, western Cambodia,” Draft Report, 24 January 2016, pp. 4 and 47.

[18] Interview with Ly Thuch, Secretary General, CMAA, Phnom Penh, 2 May 2017.

[19] UNDP, “Clearing for Results Phase II, Annual Report 2014,” undated but 2015, pp. 18–19. Results included contracts awarded in 2015 for release of 54.1km2 at a cost of $4.9 million.

[20] Email from Edwin Faigmane, Chief Technical Adviser, UNDP, 21 September 2017.

[21] CMAA, “National Mine Action Strategy 2017–2025,” Draft 02, 2017, p. 12.

[22] Ibid., p. 15.

[23] CMAA, “National Mine Action Strategy 2017–2025,” Version 26.4, 2017, pp. 17–18.

[24] Ibid., pp. 18–19.

[25] GICHD, “‘Finishing the Job,’ an independent review of Cambodia’s mine action sector,” Geneva, 30 April 2016, pp. 41–42.

[26] CMAA, “National Mine Action Strategy 2017–2025,” Draft, 2017, p 35.

[27] Interview with Matthew Hovell, Programme Manager, HALO Trust, Siem Reap, 12 May 2016.

[28] CMAA, “Concept Paper: Cambodian Mine Action Resources Mobilisation,” undated but 2016.

[29] Interview with Ly Thuch, CMAA, Phnom Penh, 2 May 2017; and CMAA, “National Mine Action Strategy 2017–2025,” Draft, 2017, pp. 7 and 18.

[30] Email from CMAA, 2 May 2017.

[31] Email from Rath Pottana, CMAC, 9 May 2017.

[32] Emails from CMAA, 18 April 2016, and 2 May 2017.

[33] Interview with Matthew Hovell, HALO Trust, Siem Reap, 12 May 2016; and email from CMAA, 2 May 2017.

[34] Emails from Rath Pottana, Information Officer, CMAC, 9 May 2017; from Greg Crowther, MAG, 4 April 2017; and from Aksel Steen-Nilsen, NPA, 31 March 2017.

[35] Email from CMAA, 2 May 2017.

[36] GICHD, “‘Finishing the Job,’ an independent review of Cambodia’s mine action sector,” Geneva, 30 April 2016, p. 58

[37] Email from CMAA, 2 May 2017.

[38] Ibid.; and 2016 data compiled from results reported by the CMAA and operators.

[39] Interviews with Greg Crowther, MAG, Phnom Penh, 1 May 2017; and with Matthew Hovell, HALO Trust, Siem Reap, 4 May 2017.

[40] Emails from CMAA, 2 May and 7 June 2017.

[41] Email from CMAA, 2 May 2017.

[42] MAG reported that it canceled 1.68km2 through non-technical survey in 2016 and reduced 0.8km2 as part of its technical survey. Email from Greg Crowther, MAG, 4 April 2017.

[43] Email from CMAA, 2 May 2017.

[44] CMAC reported that it cleared 17.5km2 in 2016. Interview with Heng Rattana, Director, CMAC, Phnom Penh, 2 May 2017; and email, 9 May 2017.

[45] MAG reported clearance of 1,971,204m2 and destroying 830 antipersonnel mines.

[46] Interview with Matthew Hovell, HALO Trust, Siem Reap, 12 May 2016; and email from CMAA, 2 May 2017.

[47] Interview with Aksel Steen-Nilsen, NPA, in Phnom Penh, 1 May 2017.

[48] The seven provinces were: Kampong Cham, Kampong Thom, Kratie, Rattanakiri, Stung Treng, Takeo, and Tboung Khmum.

[49] Email from Rath Pottana, CMAC, 9 May 2017.

[50] Emails from Aksel Steen-Nilsen, NPA, 27 April 2016; and from Zlatko Vezilic, NPA, 7 July 2017. Submunitions cleared during the course of technical survey are reported in table on Clearance of cluster munition-contaminated areas in 2016.

[51] Email from Rath Pottana, CMAC, 9 May 2017; and from CMAA, 30 May 2016.

[52] Email from Greg Crowther, MAG, 4 April 2017; and interview, in Phnom Penh, 1 May 2017.

[53] Email from Aksel Steen-Nilsen, NPA, 31 March 2017; and interview, in Phnom Penh, 1 May 2017.

[54] Emails from Rath Pottana CMAC, 9 May 2017; from Greg Crowther, MAG, 10 May 2016; and from Aksel Steen-Nilsen, NPA, 27 April 2016.

[55] The total of 583 submunitions destroyed includes 349 destroyed in clearance and 234 destroyed during technical survey. Emails from Zlatko Vezilic, NPA, 18 and 19 July 2017.

[56] Compiled by data provided by the CMAA and operators.


Support for Mine Action

Last updated: 12 November 2017

In 2016, the Kingdom of Cambodia received US$35.9 million in international assistance from 10 donors; this represents an increase of $5.8 million from 2015.[1]

The largest contributions came from Japan ($16.5 million), the United States (US) ($7.7 million), and Australia ($4.8 million) toward clearance, victim assistance, and risk education activities.

International contributions: 2016[2]

Donor

Sector

Amount (national currency)

Amount (US$)

Japan

Clearance and victim assistance

¥1,787,950,860

16,454,545

US

 

$7,741,000

7,741,000

Australia

Clearance and victim assistance

A$6,476,000

4,821,382

United Kingdom

Clearance and risk education

£2,169,476

2,940,725

Germany

Clearance

€1,193,723

1,321,690

Norway

Clearance

NOK9,120,000

1,086,542

Switzerland

Clearance

CHF798,000

810,317

Ireland

Clearance and risk education

€500,000

553,600

Netherlands

Clearance and risk education

€113,342

125,492

Liechtenstein

Clearance

CHF40,000

40,617

Total

   

35,895,910

 

Since 2012, international contributions to mine action in Cambodia totaled more than $148 million, and averaged about $30 million per year. The national strategy estimated that more than $175 million would be needed for activities in 2015–2019.

Summary of international contributions: 2012–2016[3]

Year

International contributions (US$)

2016

35,895,910

2015

30,132,471

2014

28,559,799

2013

32,585,155

2012

21,532,980

Total

148,706,315

 



[1] Australia, Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report, Form J, 30 April 2017; Germany, CCW Amended Protocol II Annual Report, Form E, and Annex, 31 March 2017; Ireland, CCW Amended Protocol II Annual Report, Form E, and Annex 1, 30 March 2017; Japan, Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report, Form I, April 2017; Liechtenstein, Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report, Form I, 21 March 2017; response to Monitor questionnaire by Olivia Douwes, Policy Officer, Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 16 June 2017; email from Ingrid Schoyen, Senior Adviser, Section for Humanitarian Affairs, Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 31 May 2017; Switzerland, Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report, Form I, 28 April 2017; United Kingdom, Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report, Form J, 30 April 2017; and email from Steve Costner, Deputy Office Director, Weapons Removal and Abatement, US Department of State, 30 October 2017.

[2] Average exchange rate for 2016: A$1=US$0.7445; €1=US$1.1072; ¥108.66=US$1; NOK8.3936=US$1; CHF0.9848=US$1; £1=US$1.3555. US Federal Reserve, “List of Exchange Rates (Annual),” 4 January 2017.

[3] See previous Monitor reports. Totals for international support in 2015 and 2014 have been rectified as a result of revised funding data reported by Canada and the US. Total for 2012 has also been rectified as a result of database clean-up.


Casualties

Last updated: 27 July 2017

Casualties Overview

All known mine/ERW casualties by end 2016

64,662 (19,748 killed; 44,914 injured) since 1979

Casualties occurring in 2016

83 (2015: 111)

2016 casualties by survival outcome

25 killed; 58 injured (2015: 18 killed; 93 injured)

2016 casualties by device type

26 antipersonnel mines; 16 antivehicle mines; 41 explosive remnants of war (ERW)

 

Details and trends

In 2016 the Cambodia Mine/Unexploded Ordnance Victim Information System (CMVIS) recorded 83 casualties from mines/ERW in the Kingdom of Cambodia. Of the total, 76 casualties were civilian, four were demining personnel, and three were military. Adults made up 63 of the casualties (59 men and four women) and children (20; 16 boys and four girls) made up 24% of civilian casualties.[1]

The 83 mine/ERW casualties in 2016 marked a 25% decrease from the 2015 total. It also marked the first time that the total annual casualty figure was less than 100 people.[2] In 2015, CMVIS recorded 111 casualties from mines, ERW, and unexploded submunitions. Of the total, 100 casualties were civilian, 10 were military, and one was a deminer.[3] There were six deminer casualties in 2014. CMVIS recorded 154 mine/ERW casualties in 2014,[4] which represented an irregularity from the continuing trend of significant decreases in the number of annual casualties: 111 recorded in 2013, 186 in 2012, 211 in 2011, and 286 in 2010.

In 2015, 31 casualties (31% of civilian casualties) were children, including seven girls and 24 boys. This marked an increase in the percentage of civilian casualties, but a slight decrease in real terms from 21% (33) in 2014, 26% in 2013, and 35% in 2012.

As in recent years, most casualties were caused by ERW. There was a change in the trend, since 2010, of antivehicle mines causing a significant proportion of casualties comparable to antipersonnel mines; with 16 antivehicle mine casualties in 2016, compared to 26 from antipersonnel mines.

As of the end of 2016, CMVIS reported at least 64,662 mine/ERW casualties in Cambodia: 19,748 people killed and another 44,914 injured since 1979. Among the survivors injured, 9,008 people (14%) had amputations. Of the total casualties, 51,040 (79%) were caused by mines and 13,622 (21%) by ERW, including unexploded submunitions.[5]

Cluster munition casualties

For the first time since 2009, Cambodia did not report any cluster munition casualties in 2016. Two casualties from unexploded submunitions were recorded in 2015 and one in 2014. For the period from 1998 to the end of 2015, 197 cluster munition remnant casualties were reported in Cambodia.[6] Data collection on cluster munition casualties has been limited and the total number, although not known, is thought to be much higher than reported. Cambodia is considered to be among the states “worst affected” by cluster munitions, with responsibility for significant numbers of cluster munition victims.[7]



[1] Monitor analysis of CMVIS casualty data provided by email from Nguon Monoketya, CMVIS Officer, Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority (CMAA), 22 February 2017.

[2]Landmine casualties drop by 25 percent,” Khmer Times, 20 January 2017.

[3] Monitor analysis of CMVIS casualty data provided by email from Nguon Monoketya, CMVIS Officer, Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority (CMAA), 25 January 2015.

[4] Ibid., 30 January 2014.

[5] CMAA, “CMVIS Monthly Report December 2016,” undated.

[6] For the period 2005 to the end of 2012, 120 cluster munition remnant casualties were identified by CMVIS. Another 83 casualties, which occurred prior to 2005, were reported in Handicap International (HI), Circle of Impact: The Fatal Footprint of Cluster Munitions on People and Communities (HI: Brussels, May 2007), pp. 23 and 26; and Monitor analysis of CMVIS casualty data provided by email from Nguon Monoketya, CMAA, 14 March 2013. See also previous Cambodia country profiles available on the Monitor website. Prior to 2006, cluster munition remnant incidents were not differentiated from other ERW incidents in data.

[7]Draft Beirut Progress Report,” CCM/MSP/2011/WP.5, 25 August 2011, pp. 10–11. The definition of a cluster munition victim encompasses the individuals, their families, and affected communities.


Victim Assistance

Last updated: 04 December 2017

Action points based on findings

  • Devote resources to reach survivors where they live, as survivors in remote and rural areas continue to face obstacles to access adequate assistance.
  • Standardize management systems and improve sustainability and accessibility of the physical rehabilitation sector.
  • Increase economic opportunities for survivors and persons with disabilities and develop education and training opportunities that are appropriate for survivors and other persons with disabilities and many survivors who lack education and literacy and have no work or land from which to make a living.
  • Improve the physical accessibility of living and working environments.
  • Provide quality psychological support services.

Victim assistance commitments

The Kingdom of Cambodia is responsible for significant numbers of landmine survivors, cluster munition victims, and survivors of other explosive remnants of war (ERW) who are in need. Cambodia has made commitments to provide victim assistance through the Mine Ban Treaty.

Cambodia ratified the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) on 20 December 2012.

Victim Assistance

The total number of survivors in Cambodia is not known. At least 44,856 people have been reported to have been injured by mines/ERW.[1]

Victim assistance since 2015

In 2014, the Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority (CMAA) made an assessment of progress in implementing victim assistance under the Mine Ban Treaty Cartagena Action Plan 2010–2014. At the Mine Ban Treaty Third Review Conference in June 2014, Cambodia stated that it had faced many challenges in providing victim assistance under the action plan, including limited financial support and limited human and technical resources for the implementation of both international and national obligations for persons with disabilities, including mine survivors.[2] The CMAA also carried out an impact assessment of the living conditions of deminer survivors injured during clearance in 2014.

The CMAA had its legally-mandated responsibility for the coordination of victim assistance delegated to the Ministry of Social Affairs, Veterans and Youth Rehabilitation (MoSVY) and its support mechanism, the Disability Action Council (DAC). However, the CMAA maintains oversight of victim assistance activities and implementation, including survey and reporting. The MOSVY/DAC has oversight of broader disability issues, with little indication reported of how victim assistance for mine/ERW survivors has been included in overall disability programing and implementation.

Physical rehabilitation services have been available throughout the country from both government agencies and NGOs. Within the MoSVY, the Persons with Disabilities Foundation (PWDF) was created by sub-decree in 2011 as a public institution responsible for the management of physical rehabilitation centers under the supervision of the MoSVY and the Ministry of Economy and Finance. However, since the handover of the physical rehabilitation centers to the MoSVY started, there has been a reduction in available services and in some cases, persons with disabilities or NGOs assisting them are being asked to pay for assistive devices. Services for people with physical disabilities offered through the physical rehabilitation centers were inadequate to meet demand. Furthermore, financing mechanisms for rehabilitation services, including funding pathways, were unclear. A lack of a standardized information system for the rehabilitation sector in Cambodia makes it difficult to monitor the total numbers of people receiving services.[3] The MoSVY implemented the Patient Management System as a common rehabilitation center management tool, with the financial and technical support of the ICRC.[4] However this was not universally adopted by service providers.

A national workshop to review the implementation of National Disability Strategic Plan (NDSP) was heldin December 2015, and later another in August 2017. Government agencies, NGOs, and private sector actors shared their progress in implementation of the plan, the Law on the Protection and the Promotion of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and the CRPD. It was also apparent that some ministries were not aware of, or did not yet understand well, disability-related legislation, policies, and guidelines and that more awareness-raising was needed.[5]

Assessing victim assistance needs

Throughout 2016, the Jesuit Refugee Services(JRS)/Cambodia Campaign to Ban Landmines (CCBL) and the CMAA continued to undertake the “Survey on the Quality of Life for Landmine/ERW survivors” (Quality of Life Survey, QLS), which was begun in 2013. QLS survey teams organized home visits to understand the situation of respondents and provided peer counseling, raised awareness on the rights and needs of persons with disabilities including survivors, and engaged local authorities and service providers to support and promote the rights and dignity of landmine/ERW survivors. Information and recommendations from the QLS were shared for the development of the NDSP.

The JRS/CCBL Survivor Network Team continued to implement Quality of Life measures and work to uphold rights of survivors and persons with disabilities in remote areas through 1,004 peer counselling visits (to the same number of people), the building of houses (14), and toilets (27), providing wheelchairs (34), income generation grants (18), and emergency food packs for the most vulnerable (56), as well as scholarships for children with disabilities (15).[6]

In 2016, the CMAA QLS teams visited some 50 additional villages, reaching 860 more persons with disabilities. Overall the CMAA survey reached 850 villages, 163 communes, 54 districts in 25 provinces, and 7,860 persons with disabilities (2,362 of which were women), including 1,815 landmine/ERW survivors (133 women) through direct interview.[7]

The CMVIS provided ongoing systematic data collection of mine/ERW casualties, including numbers of survivors and referrals to services.[8]

A working group for monitoring data on services received by mine/ERW victims was established in May 2015. It is led by the CMAA, and members also included the MoSAVY, the DAC, and physical rehabilitation centers.[9]

Victim assistance coordination

Government coordinating body/focal point

CMAA, the MoSVY, PWDF, and the DAC

Coordinating mechanism

DAC/MoSVY

Plan

National Disability Strategic Plan 2014–2018

 

Cambodia reports that the government delegated the responsibility for victim assistance to the MoSVY/PWDF, “where it is most appropriately addressed.”[10] The DAC Secretariat supports the MoSVY in the area of general disabilities. The CMAA Department of Victim Assistance conducts the QLS as implemented by CMAA volunteer survivor networks across the country. The CMAA works with the MoSVY, People with Disability Foundation, and DAC in order to obtain information on services provided to landmine/ERW victims. These organizations work according to the National Disability Strategy Plan 2014–2018 (NDSP).[11] However, the CMAA does not have a specific mandated role within the strategy, an omission for integrating victim assistance into disability rights frameworks that could be addressed in subsequent strategic planning.

The DAC, established in 2009, is a governmental agency attached to the MoSVY that provides it with technical, coordination, and advisory services. The Persons with Disabilities Foundation, an institution created under the MoSVY, has a mandate to provide rehabilitation services for persons with disabilities, manage the rehabilitation centers, provide funds for implementing various projects, such as support for education and vocational training, manage job placement services, and prepare policies for assisting and supporting persons with disabilities.[12]

At a more local level, relevant actors include a wide range of the Provincial and District Offices’ of Social Affairs, Veterans and Youth Rehabilitation (PoSVY/DoSVY) and of PWDF; provincial, district, and commune bodies; and village chiefs. In some specific areas, there are Commune Disability Committees, supported by NGOs.[13]

The NDSP 2014–2018 was developed by the DAC in cooperation with the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP), the Asia and Pacific Centre for Development (APCD), the Australian Agency for International Development/the Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in Cambodia, and other national and international organizations.[14] The plan contains four goals and 10 key objectives, all of which are relevant to addressing the rights and needs of survivors.[15] The NDSP itself notes that it represents a continuation of the implementation of the National Plan of Action for Persons with Disabilities, including Landmine and ERW Survivors 2009–2011, which had remained in place by extension through 2013.[16]

The DAC is responsible for monitoring and reporting on the progress of implementation of the NDSP to government as well as proposing revisions to the plan in order to respond to the needs of persons with disabilities according to the resources available.[17]

The NDSP is the basis of enforcement of Cambodia’s core legal commitments to disability rights: the Law on the Protection and the Promotion of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities; the CRPD; and the Decade of Persons with Disabilities in Asia and the Pacific 2013–2022, Incheon Strategy: Make the Right Real.[18] Disability advocates expressed concern that, if the new strategic disability plan lacked a corresponding state-allocated budget and was based on limited existing human resources, its goals could not be adequately implemented.[19]

The mid-term progress report in 2015 reported that no institutional and financial arrangements had been made for the implementation of the NDSP. Furthermore, the relevant ministries and agencies had no developed prioritized action plans, and such inaction “might eventually result in NDSP remaining as an aspirational document with no concrete action to improve the quality of life for persons with disabilities.”[20]

Cambodia has a relatively complex governmental structure for implementing the rights of persons with disabilities. In addition to the MoSVY, DAC, and NDCC, the DAC Secretariat, the Department of Welfare of Persons, and the Persons with Disabilities Foundation have specific roles and there were also many committees, sub-committees, and working groups. Due to overlapping functions of the various institutions, in practice accountability was often ambiguous. Most did not meet regularly and their effectiveness was reported to be “questionable.”[21] The joint project document for the UNDP Disability Rights Initiative Cambodia 2014, listed the following key challenges facing the government’s implementation of the CRPD overall:[22]

  • The lack of clear division of roles and responsibilities for the multiple government units with disability responsibilities;
  • Low levels of knowledge and experience within these government units;
  • Limited commitment to ensure the meaningful participation of disabled people’s organizations (DPOs) and civil society organizations;
  • Challenges facing the MoSVY in facilitating coordination with other ministries;
  • Relatively low levels of government funding for government units with disability responsibilities; and
  • A lack of reliable data on disability.[23]

The NDSP contains many goals and objectives relevant to mine/ERW survivors, including implementing the national disability strategy for 2014–2018, “including people with disabilities by mines” as well as implementing the national policy on disability through the Disability Action Council; strengthening the implementation of the Law on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities; promoting enhancement of rights and welfare of the disabled according to the CRPD; improving the quality and efficiency of the disability fund; enhancing welfare for persons with disabilities; supporting poor people with disabilities with availability of funds; continuing implementation of community-based services; and providing employment opportunities.[24]

The MoSVY has core responsibility for disability issues and rehabilitation services. Several other ministries were involved in disability issues, including the Ministry of Health, which promoted physiotherapy services; the Ministry of Economy and Finance; the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports, with a Special Education Office responsible for promoting inclusive education for children with disabilities; the Ministry of Public Works and Transport; and the Ministry of National Defense.[25]

The Disability Rights Initiative Cambodia (DRIC), is a five-year, Australian-funded program, launched in July 2014.[26] The DRIC was aimed at ensuring that persons with disabilities have increased opportunities for participation in social, economic, cultural, and political life through effective implementation of the NDSP. The main goals include to support Cambodia’s coordination of the NDSP, strengthen the capacity of DPOs, improve physical rehabilitation centers, and work with provincial and commune officials to promote disability inclusiveness.[27]

Carrying out the DRIC is a joint program of the UNDP, WHO, and UNICEF, through four components:

  • Component 1 (UNDP): Supporting government implementation of the CRPD.
  • Component 2 (UNDP): Supporting DPOs to raise the voice and protect the rights of persons with disabilities.
  • Component 3 (WHO): Supporting rehabilitation systems strengthening.
  • Component 4 (UNICEF): Inclusive governance and inclusive community development.

The DRIC (US$10.4 million 2014–2018) is managed by a UNDP Multi-Partner Trust Fund, which engages the UNDP, UNICEF, and WHO, as well as NGOs through grant funding. Australia chose this model to consolidate its previous program of disability support with a view to engaging in high-level policy and leverage additional technical and financial resources from the UN. However, Australia found that “this modality has also not proven to be the most effective or efficient due to issues with coordination, communication and synergy across the components, external communication and advocacy.”[28]

In 2016, it was reported that the DRIC was “largely on track in achieving the stated outputs, with the exception of component 3 which is the most complex and challenging.”[29] Through component 3 of the DRIC, the WHO was supporting the development of the Cambodian government’s ability to manage the rehabilitation sector by building the capacity of key rehabilitation sector stakeholders, increasing government involvement and rehabilitation sector leadership, and establishing a coordination mechanism.[30]

The Cambodia Disability Inclusive Development Fund (CDIDF), managed by UNICEF, is part of the broader DRIC program. In order to achieve the rights of persons with disabilities, the fund aims to increase capacity of and collaboration between decision makers, civil society, and communities by providing funding through international and national NGOs and community-based organizations.[31] It applies only to certain geographic focus areas in about half of Cambodia’s provinces.[32] In 2015, six NGOs had grants approved through the CDIDF: Caritas Cambodia, Handicap International (HI), Komar Pikar Foundation, Krousar Thmey, Capacity Building for Disability Cooperation (CABDICO), and Phnom Penh Center for Independent Living.[33]

Cambodia provided an update on victim assistance at the Mine Ban Treaty Fifteenth Meeting of States Parties in 2016.[34] Cambodia also included updates on physical rehabilitation and medical services provided to persons with disabilities in 2015 in its Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 report.[35]

Inclusion and participation in victim assistance

JRS and the CMAA developed a survivor network in provinces in Cambodia, encouraging persons with disabilities to understand their legal and human rights and to take action to access those rights.[36]

Many organizations included survivors and persons with disabilities in the provision of services.

Service accessibility and effectiveness

Victim assistance activities

Organization

Type

Activities

MoSVY

Government

Rehabilitation services; gradual assumption of responsibilities for funding and management of the rehabilitation sector through PWDF

CMAA/CMVIS

Government

Survey and data collection, referrals, training on disability rights, included providing emergency food aid, house repair, funeral costs, and referrals, as well as disability awareness-raising

Angkor Association for the Disabled

National NGO

Education for persons with disabilities near Siem Reap

Arrupe Outreach Center Battambang

National NGO

Wheelchair classes for children, economic inclusion through loans and grants, youth peer support, awareness-raising, inclusive dance

Buddhism for Development

National NGO

Assisting commune leaders to integrate persons with disabilities into existing programs, including loans and conflict negotiation in Pailin and Battambang

Cambodian Development Mission for Disability (CDMD)

National NGO

Comprehensive community-based rehabilitation; referrals, loans, specific services to address visual impairments

Capacity Building of People with Disabilities in Community Organizations (CABDICO)

National NGO

 

Referrals, awareness, and educational support in Kep provinces; capacity-building for self-help groups; economic inclusion

Cambodian Disabled People’s Organization (CDPO)

National DPO

National coordination, mainstreaming disability into development, advocacy (rights monitoring, awareness-raising), and rights training for relevant ministries

Disability Development Services Program (DDSP: formerly Disability Development Services Pursat)

National NGO

Self-help groups, economic inclusion, referral, and community-based rehabilitation

National Center for Disabled Persons (NCDP)

National NGO

Referral, education, awareness, and self-help groups

Opération Enfants du Cambodge (OEC)

National NGO

Home-based physical rehabilitation and referrals, education, and economic inclusion, and emergency support to new mine survivors

Association for Aid and Relief (AAR) - Wheel Chairs for Development (WCD)

National NGO

Wheelchair production and production of assistive mobility devices

Veterans International-Cambodia Rehabilitation Project (VIC)

National NGO

Physical rehabilitation, prosthetics, self-help groups, community-based rehabilitation, and economic inclusion

ADD Cambodia

International NGO

Capacity-building of national DPOs; community-based rehabilitation

Exceed Worldwide (Cambodia Trust)

International NGO

Physical rehabilitation, prosthetic devices, training, and economic inclusion

Handicap International (HI)

International NGO

Support to national NGOs for economic inclusion; physical rehabilitation, disability mainstreaming activities, referrals

ICRC

International organization

Physical rehabilitation, outreach, referrals

Japan Cambodia Interactive Association (JCIA)

International Organization

Vocational training

JRS/Jesuit Service Cambodia (JSC)

International organization/national NGO

Economic inclusion, rehabilitation, peer support, awareness, material support (housing and well grants), referral, wheelchair production; hearing aids and ear service, psychosocial support visits to rural survivors, advocacy with cluster munition and mine/ERW survivors

New Humanity

International NGO

Community-based rehabilitation

 

Emergency and continuing medical care

No significant improvements to healthcare services available to survivors were reported. Less than 1% of the population had voluntary health insurance. Some NGOs offered community-based health insurance.[37]

Physical rehabilitation, including prosthetics

The physical rehabilitation sector included 11 rehabilitation centers, three repair workshops; the Phnom Penh Component Factory, supported by the PWDF; the Faculty of Prosthetic & Orthotic Engineering (formerly, Cambodian School for Prosthetics and Orthotics, CSPO); and the Technical School for Medical Care.[38]

In 2016, 28,061 persons with disabilities, including mine/ERW survivors, received services from physical rehabilitation centers including prosthetics and other mobility devices and repairs for assistive devices.[39] In 2015, 26,662 persons with disabilities, including mine/ERW survivors, received such services.[40] Prior to 2015, Cambodia reported on the specific number of mine/ERW survivors receiving services among the total number of beneficiaries with disabilities recorded annually.[41]

The ICRC continued to improve the accessibility of rehabilitation services by providing direct support for the beneficiaries (reimbursing, together with the MoSVY, the cost of transport and of accommodation at the centers), as well as by supporting staff training, outreach programs, and networking between the rehabilitation centers and potential local partners. In 2016, the ICRC worked with local institutions to draft a curriculum for a physiotherapy school and developed a business model for the successful independence of the national orthopedic component factory. ICRC-assisted centers provided 1,223 prosthetists for mine/ERW survivors in 2016, and 1,224 in 2015.[42]

HI continued its project supporting the physical rehabilitation center of Kampong Cham. It focused on capacity-building for staff and improving the centers’ management systems in coordination with MoSAVY and PDWF, the Ministry of Health, and the ministries’ provincial counterparts.[43]

AAR, WCD, a national NGO, was forced to stop providing services, including wheelchairs and assistive devices, due to a lack of funding and donor constraints from July 2015 through May 2016. Both the production of wheelchairs and the geographical coverage of AAR, WDC decreased due to limited funding, and services focused on children with disabilities from 2016 through October 2017. Funding from AAR Japan supported the production of some 10 wheelchairs per month. The number of requests for wheelchairs and assistive devices from rural areas increased and new sources of donor funding were needed to meet the demand.[44]

Veterans International in Cambodia (VIC) reregistered as a local NGO in Cambodia in 2015. VIC supported the operation of the three physical rehabilitation centers in Kien Khleang, Prey Veng, and Kratie under co-management with the PWDF. VIC also continued to run a community-based rehabilitation program in Kandal, Prey Veng, Svay Rieng, Kratie, and Phnom Penh provinces.

VIC statistics for 2016 and 2017 indicated an increase in services provision, with more than 4,250 clients from the three centers receiving services in 2016, while in 2017, there was a slight increase in clients received services (4,440). VIC reported that several factors contributed to more beneficiaries being reached, including increased quality and speed of services and greater awareness of the availability of services through outreach done with authorities. VIC clients and their caregivers received financial support for transportation and food from the PWDF and, at the end of 2017, additional support from the WHO.[45]

VIC reported making concerted efforts to handover its three centers in collaboration with the PWDF as the coordination body under the MoSVY, following a joint workplan to ensure the handover at the end of 2018.[46]

Economic and social integration and psychological support

The prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder in Cambodia is substantially higher than global averages. It was reported that there was a lack of activity to address this challenge with “just 0.2 per cent of the total health budget spent on mental health and no planning for psychologists and social workers in health sector human resource planning (in addition to psychiatrists and psychiatric nurses).”[47] A lack of awareness, understanding, funding, human resources, and leadership, as well as poor coordination of groups working in mental health were reported to be among the biggest challenges to accessing adequate psychological support.[48]

There were only two functioning vocational training centers for persons with disabilities in Cambodia, the Panteay Prieb center operated by JSC and the Phnom Penh Thmey center supported by JCIA. In 2016, 54 people with disabilities, including mine/ERW survivors were recorded as having been trained at the vocational training centers, compared to 58 in 2015.[49]

The ICRC supported some 80 persons with disabilities with income-generating activities in 2016, some beneficiaries were able to pay off their debts with the income earned. The ICRC also provided financial assistance to children’s school education and referred adults for jobs or vocational training.[50] Some 40 female wheelchair basketball players continued their training for regional competitions with ICRC support.[51]

HI supported economic inclusion through livelihoods access for persons with disabilities. This included vocational training, access to wage employment, removing barriers to healthcare, training and other services in Siem Reap province in collaboration with CABDICO. HI also supported self-advocacy and local development at the commune-level. The target beneficiaries are 1,720 vulnerable persons, including persons with disabilities and relatives of persons with disabilities through CDPO and the Representative Self-help Disabilities Organization Bantheay District (RSDOB) in four districts in Kampong Cham and Tbong Khmum provinces.[52]

A joint-study of 230 participants in Kampong Cham and Tbong Khmum provinces by the NGO Louvain Cooperation and HI found that persons with disabilities and their families experience significant psychological distress, endure discrimination and stigma, and their rights “remain largely unrecognized.” The study found that the level of physical impairment is a principal factor in the degree of psychological distress; survivors lost confidence in themselves after becoming disabled due to mine/ERW incidents and road accidents. Social exclusion, stigma, and discrimination, as well as family conflict and a lack of employment were key concerns. One third of respondents reported feeling worried, regretful, upset, embarrassed, lonely, and angry.[53]

Laws and policies

The 2009 Law on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities prohibits discrimination against persons with disabilities. The law also requires that buildings and government services be accessible to persons with disabilities.However, no authority or mechanism was put in place for standardizing accessibility or enforcing the law. Inaccessibility to public buildings, transport, facilities, and referral systems continued to prevent persons with disabilities from actively participating in social and economic activities. The government continued efforts to implement the law.[54] Some key provisions of national legislation are not in accordance with the CRPD, and the national disability law has not been amended by the MoSVY to ensure it is compatible with the CRPD. Though this is clearly the role of the ministry, the DAC, in accordance with Article 6 of the National Disability Law, is responsible for proposing revision to the national law.[55] In 2016, the MoSVY and the Ministry for Urban Planning met with the DAC to discuss accessibility standards for public buildings in accordance with the law.[56]

A 2010 sub-decree to the Law on Protection and the Promotion of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities requires that persons with disabilities make up at least 2% of the public sector and government departments with more than 50 employees. Private businesses with more than 100 employees have a quota for employing persons with disabilities as 1% their staff according to the sub-decree. Both the public and private sector were expected to fulfil the quota by 2013; within three years from the adoption of the sub-decree. By 2016, there was still “no accurate data” on how many persons with disabilities were employed overall, but some 1.3% of civil servants in 40 government agencies were persons with disabilities.[57]



[1] Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority (CMAA), “CMVIS Monthly Report December 2015,” undated.

[2] Statement of Cambodia, Mine Ban Treaty Third Review Conference, Maputo, 24 June 2014.

[3] UNDP and Cambodia, “Disability Rights Initiative Cambodia: Joint Programme Document,” December 2013, p. 5.

[4] ICRC Physical Rehabilitation Programme (PRP), “Annual Report 2014,” Geneva, 2015, p. 52; and ICRC PRP, “Annual Report 2013,” Geneva, 2014.

[5] CCBL, Notes from National Workshop to Review the Implementation of the NDSP, Phnom Penh, 14 December 2015.

[6] JRS - Asia Pacific, “Annual Report 2016,” Bangkok, April 2017, p. 9.

[7] Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report (for calendar year 2016), Form G; and Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report (for calendar year 2015), Form J.

[8] Analysis of CMVIS Monthly Reports for calendar year 2016.

[9] Statement of Cambodia, Mine Ban Treaty Fourteenth Meeting of States Parties, Geneva, 2 December 2015.

[10] Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report (for calendar year 2016), Form G.

[11] Ibid.

[12] ICRC PRP, “Annual Report 2014,” Geneva, 2015, p. 52.

[13] Sheree Bailey and Sophak Kanika Nguon (Report Prepared for UNICEF Cambodia), “Situation Analysis for Disability-Inclusive Governance and Community Development in Cambodia,” July 2014, p. 12.

[14] Statement of Cambodia, Mine Ban Treaty Thirteenth Meeting of States Parties, Geneva, 3 December 2013.

[15] Statement of Cambodia, Mine Ban Treaty Third Review Conference, Maputo, 24 June 2014.

[16] National Disability Strategic Plan 2014.

[17] National Workshop to Review the Implementation of NDSP 2014–2018 and the Way Forward, Phnom Penh, 14–16 December 2015.

[18] Cambodia, “NDSP,” 2014.

[19] Holly Robertson and Khy Sovuthy, “Disability Initiatives Launched as Jobs Quota Not Met,” Cambodia Daily, 5 July 2014.

[21] SIDA, “Disability Rights in Cambodia,” January 2015.

[22] UNDP & Cambodia, “Disability Rights Initiative Cambodia: Joint Programme Document,” December 2013, p. 3; and DAC, “H.E Sem Sokha presided over the Launch of Disability Rights Initiative Cambodia,” 4 July 2014.

[23] UNDP & Cambodia, “Disability Rights Initiative Cambodia: Joint Programme Document,” December 2013, p. vi.

[24] Cambodia, “NDSP,” 2014.

[25] United States (US) Department of State, “2014 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Cambodia,” Washington, DC, 25 April 2015.

[27] Holly Robertson and Khy Sovuthy, “Disability Initiatives Launched as Jobs Quota Not Met,” Cambodia Daily, 5 July 2014.

[28] Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, “Investment Concept: Cambodia Vulnerable Peoples Support Program,” April 2017.

[29] Maya Thomas, “Mid-term Review of Disability Rights Initiative Cambodia,” May 2016, p. 34.

[31] CDIDF, “Call for Proposals 2014,” 30 September 2014; and “Call for Proposals 2015,” 30 April 2015.

[32] These were in the following provinces: Banteay Meanchey, Battambang, Pursat, Siem Reap, Kampong Thom, Kampong Cham, Kandal, Phnom Penh, Preah Sihanouk, Ratanakiri, Mondulkiri, Prey Veng, and Svay Rieng.

[34] Statement of Cambodia, Mine Ban Treaty Fifteenth Meeting of States Parties, Santiago, 29 November 2016.

[35] Statement of Cambodia, Mine Ban Treaty Third Review Conference, Maputo, 24 June 2014; and Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report (for calendar year 2015), Form J.

[36] Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report (for calendar year 2016), Form G; Notes from Monitor field mission, December 2014; and statement of Cambodia, Mine Ban Treaty Third Review Conference, Maputo, 24 June 2014.

[37] Presentation by Ros Chhung Eang, Ministry of Health, National Workshop to Review the Implementation of NDSP, Phnom Penh, 14 December 2015.

[38] ICRC PRP, “Annual Report 2014,” Geneva, 2015, p. 52.

[39] Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report (for calendar year 2016), Form G.

[40] Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report (for calendar year 2015), Form J.

[41] Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report (for calendar year 2014), Form J.

[42] The ICRC also provided 1,647 prostheses (81% for mine survivors) in 2014; and 1,597 prostheses (1,287 or 81% for mine survivors) in 2013. ICRC, “Annual Report 2016,” Geneva, 2017, p. 358; ICRC, “Annual Report 2015,” Geneva, 2016, p. 374; ICRC PRP, “Annual Report 2014,” Geneva, 2015, p. 52; and ICRC PRP, “Annual Report 2013,” Geneva, 2014.

[44] Email from Sar Sophano, Executive Director, AAR, WCD, 19 October 2017.

[45] Email from Sophall Phorn, Program Manager, VIC, 2 November 2017.

[46] Ibid.

[47] SIDA, “Disability Rights in Cambodia,” January 2015.

[48]Mental Health Care Cambodia,” Asia Life, 2 January 2013; “Analysis: What ails Cambodia's mental health system?” IRIN, 12 March 2012; and Denise Hruby, “Cambodia suffers from an appalling mental health crisis,” Global Post, 18 June 2014.

[49] Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report (for calendar year 2016), Form G; and Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report (for calendar year 2015), Form J.

[50] ICRC, Annual Report 2016,” Geneva 2017, p. 354.

[51] Ibid., p. 356.

[54] US Department of State, “2015 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Cambodia,” Washington, DC, 13 April 2016; and CCBL, Notes from National Workshop to Review the Implementation of NDSP, Phnom Penh, 14 December 2015.

[56] Andrew Nachemson, “Ministries discuss long-promised handicap accessibility,” Phnom Penh Post, 14 September 2016.

[57] David Hutt, “Failure to enforce jobs quota law shortchanges Cambodia’s disabled,” Southeast Asia Globe, 26 April 2016.