Notes: ERW = explosive remnants of war; BAC = battle area clearance; EOD = explosive ordnance disposal. 

The Kingdom of Cambodia has extensive contamination by mines and ERW) left by 30 years of conflict that ended in the 1990s.

Mine Contamination 

Cambodia’s antipersonnel mine problem is concentrated in, but not limited to, 21 northwestern districts along the border with Thailand, which 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 infiltration by armed opposition groups, ranks among the densest contamination in the world.[7]

After more than 25 years of mine clearance, 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. Areas affected to some degree by mines covered 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.[8] 

At the end of 2017, the CMAA estimated that dense antipersonnel mine contamination in the 136 districts covered by the BLS affected 101km², while mixed antipersonnel/antivehicle mined areas amounted to almost 250km² (see table below). Total antipersonnel and antivehicle mine contamination of 941km² was 5% higher than a year earlier.[9] That estimate is consistent with Cambodia’s in its Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 transparency report for 2017, which put total known or suspected antipersonnel mine contamination at 895km² (equivalent to A1+A2+A4 in the table below).[10] The CMAA acknowledges that much of the BLS data is imprecise, and believes further survey could reduce suspected mined area by one-third or more, but also expects it to capture new polygons that could add up to around 100km² to contamination estimates.[11] 

Mined area (in 136 districts) (m²)[12]

Note: AP = antipersonnel; AV = antivehicle. 

ERW, including cluster munition contamination 

Cambodia has extensive cluster munition contamination 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 the 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.[13]

Cambodia has sharply raised its estimate of cluster munition contamination in recent years, as a result of focusing more attention on the issue and implementing the national BLS, but it presents widely varying assessments of the extent of the problem. Cambodia’s Article 7 report provides an estimate of total cluster munition contamination in 18 provinces at 624km², but has not explained the basis for this figure.[14] However, its National Mine Action Strategy states known cluster munition contamination covers 645km² and believes the figure will rise as a result of future survey.[15] According to the National Mine Action Strategy, in 2017, Cambodia had around 379km² of ERW contamination apart from cluster munition remnants.[16] 

As of April 2018, the CMAA reported cluster munition contamination in the eight eastern provinces close to the border with Vietnam, which are believed to account for most of the problem, at 457km². This is an increase of one quarter from its estimate of 365km² a year earlier. Two provinces, Kratie and Stung Treng, accounted for more than half of the cluster munition total.[17] 

ERW Survey of Eight Eastern Provinces BLS in 2009–2017[18]

Note: CMR = cluster munition remnants; UXO = unexploded ordinance. 

However, the accuracy of the estimate has been called into question by some operators. The BLS employed a landmine survey methodology, resulting in exaggerated and inaccurate polygons, raising the likelihood that cluster munition contamination estimates will undergo significant revision as operators apply more accurate survey methods. Operators report that polygons are found to contain no cluster munition remnants and also find significant contamination outside BLS polygons. Operators have worked in Rattanakiri province for four years but were still identifying additional cluster munition hazardous areas in 2017 in areas not identified by the BLS as contaminated. Meanwhile CMAA reporting forms are formatted to record mine clearance and do not readily capture the results of cluster munition survey.[19]

Much of Cambodia’s cluster munition contamination lies in areas that are heavily forested and sparsely populated, limiting the community information available on affected areas. Demand for land and the large numbers of people moving into the northern provinces, raise the threat of increased casualties in the future, while also generating more evidence of the scale of contamination.[20] 

Program Management

The CMAA regulates and coordinates mine action, responsibilities previously assigned to the Cambodian Mine Action Center (CMAC).[21] Prime Minister Hun Sen is the CMAA president and Senior Miniter Ly Thuch its first vice-president overseeing the authority. In 2017, CMAA management underwent significant change for the second successive year. First Vice-President Serei Kosal, appointed in 2016, was moved out of the CMAA. Former CMAA Secretary-General, Prum Sophakmonkol, who was moved to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 2016, was reappointed to that position with effect from the start of January 2018. 

The CMAA pursues a national mine action policy that is said to be “people centered,” balancing top-down policy-making with community-up requirements.[22] 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. This is done by working in consultation with local authorities to identify community priorities as well as with mine action 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,[23] and CMAA management acknowledged a need to review the criteria for prioritizing clearance in discussions on a new mine action strategy.[24] 

The United Nations Development Programme (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.[25]

The CFR program issued two clearance contracts worth $2.18 million in 2017, both going to CMAC and resulting in reported clearance of 13.38km². It also awarded CMAC a further three contracts worth about $200,000 for baseline survey and non-technical survey of reclaimed areas, which resulted in release of a further 11.63km². The National Center for Peacekeeping Forces Management, Mines and Explosive Remnants of War Clearance (NPMEC), which was active in CFR in previous years, did not participate in 2017, citing pressures of United Nations (UN) peacekeeping deployments. In 2018, the CFR program issued four contracts worth a total of $1.43 million: three going to CMAC and one to HALO Trust. CMAC was also awarded land reclamation non-technical survey and baseline survey contracts worth about US$180,000.[26]

CFR results 2017[27]

Strategic planning 

Cambodia had intended to release a National Mine Action Strategy (NMAS) for 2017–2025 in 2016, but preparations stalled as a result of the CMAA’s management reshuffle and a lack of direction, which persisted in much of 2017. The management team put in place at the end of the year and with effect from the start of 2018 has, though, injected new momentum into the mine action sector with technical working group meetings on strategy and operations seeking to improve efficiency and accelerate land release. 

Cambodia’s new NMAS 2018–2025 was approved by the Prime Minister in December 2017 and officially launched at a national mine action conference in May 2018. The NMAS estimated that at the rate of progress achieved since 2014, Cambodia would need a little over 10 years to complete clearance of all known mined areas. It observed that to complete clearance of mineed areas in eight years would require release of 110km² a year.[28] 

The NMAS emphasizes the need for more efficient use of demining assets. An early draft 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.[29] 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 (one to three) explosive hazards (23%).[30]

The strategy said planning and prioritization should take device types into consideration, that clearance tasks should be prioritized on the basis of evidence from survey, and that donor funding should be directed to priority areas where communities are impacted by high-risk mine types that are likely to function.[31] 

Cambodia’s new strategy omitted many of the more critical assessments of progress included in the 2017 draft strategy but emphasized that “it is essential that clearance assets are only deployed in areas where there is clear evidence of mines,” reacting to a weakness in clearance operations in previous years. It said that, in future, clearance tasks should be prioritized on the basis of “effective” non-technical survey.[32] The strategy also seeks to ensure effective targeting of clearance assets by stipulating at least 75% of mine action funding should be allocated to communes selected by the CMAA as priority for clearance.[33] 

Other issues under consideration by the CMAA and operators include achieving a better balance in the class of contamination being cleared. Operators acknowledge that although some areas classified as A4 (with scattered or nuisance mines) have proved to be heavily mined, more attention should be paid to clearing A1 areas (with dense antipersonnel mine contamination that accounted for just 3% of land cleared in 2017.[34]

The CMAA also prepared a three-year workplan for 2018–2020 in which it set out more detailed land release objectives. The CMAA asked provincial MAPUs to identify priority villages for clearance over the next three years, using that as a starting point for identifying priority minefields. The three-year period also calls for completion of the baseline survey in 36 districts, a land reclamation study, and re-survey to identify mined areas that are in reclaimed land. Other goals include enhancing quality management by developing a performance monitoring system and developing a capacity for dealing with residual hazards after 2025.[35]

Legislation and standards 

Cambodia adopted a law prohibiting antipersonnel mines in May 1999 before ratifying the Mine Ban Treaty in July 1999 but does not have national mine action legislation. 

Mine action is conducted according to Cambodian Mine Action Standards (CMAS) that are consistent with International Mine Action Standards (IMAS). The National Mine Action Strategy calls for review, updating and developing standards on quality management, and developing a CMAS on environment in line with IMAS.[36]

Quality management 

The CMAA is responsible for quality management and in 2017 deployed eight quality assurance (QA)/quality control (QC) teams.[37] In 2017, with UNDP support, it prepared a Performance Monitoring System (PMS) that will track land use and socio-economic changes after release of mine/ERW contaminated land as well as monitor the implementation of NMAS as a management tool for the sector. The CMAA approved the performance matrix in December and planned to test the system in 2018, with a view to rolling it out in 2019.[38] 

Information management

The CMAA manages a database that upgraded to operating Information Management System for Mine Action (IMSMA) New Generation in 2014 and receives regular operational progress reports from operators.

The GICHD reported in 2016 that the Database Unit staff “possess 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.[39] However,reporting continues to be dogged by delays,andresults released by the CMAA and by operators continued to show significant discrepancies in 2017, highlighting persistent challenges with information management that made it difficult to measure Cambodia’s progress towards mine action targets.

Operators

Mine clearance is undertaken mainly by the national operator, CMAC, and two international mine action NGOs, HALO Trust and Mines Advisory Group (MAG). A second national NGO, Cambodian Self-help Demining (CSHD), has been active since 2011. The CMAA identified three commercial companies as accredited to operate in 2017, including BACTEC, D&Y, and MUCC.[40] 

National operator CMAC and international operators MAG and NPA all conducted cluster munition clearance in 2017.

The CMAA reported 10 NPMEC units accredited with the CMAA in 2017 but NPMEC withdrew from demining due to its international peacekeeping commitments.[41] 

Land Release (mines) 

Land release in 2015–2017 (km²)[42]

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

There are discrepancies between the three types of sources in the land release results for 2017: CMAA, operators, and the Article 7 report. CMAA reported total land release of 68.04km² in 2017, similar to the 68.7km² it reported in 2016. Two operators provided land release results that differed from those provided by the CMAA (see below for details). According to the Article 7 report for 2017, the total land release amounted to 86.55km², of which 24.43km² was cancelled,15.48km² reduced, and 46.61km² cleared.[43] Inconsistencies between data provided in the Article 7 report, by CMAA and by operators in both years make it difficult to assess progress.

Land release of mined area in 2017 by operator and methodology[44]

Land release in 2017 by land classification and methodology (m²)[45]

Survey results reported by two operators differed from those reported by the CMAA. HALO Trust reported that it cancelled or reduced nearly 18km², while MAG reported it had cancelled or reduced 2.6km².[46]

More than 80% of the area cancelled in 2017 was land with scattered mines. Operators believe that re-survey will find that substantial areas that were identified by the BLS as contaminated are already under cultivation.[47] The NMAS has identified a need to accelerate clearance of densely contaminated A1 and A2.1 mined areas.

Clearance in 2017 (mines)

Mine clearance in 2017[48]

There are discrepancies between the three different types of data sources: the Article 7 report, the CMAA, and mine action operators.

According to the Article 7 report for 2017, 46.61 km² was cleared, during which 4,318 antipersonnel mines and 16,885 other explosive items were destroyed.[49] 

The CMAA database records clearance of completed tasks on BLS polygons and it attributes discrepancies with results reported by operators to the fact that these include clearance on tasks that are still active and to late delivery of results. HALO reported that it cleared 10,771,931m² and destroyed 3,581 antipersonnel mines, 171 antivehicle mines, and 583 items of UXO.[50] MAG reported that it cleared 1,913,766m² and destroyed 708 antipersonnel mines, and 229 items of UXO.[51] CMAC did not provide data in 2017 to enable comparison with the data provided by CMAA. 

HALO Trust, employing more than 1,000 staff, continued to concentrate mine clearance operations in five western and northern border provinces and in 2017 deployed teams for the first time to the south-western province of Koh Kong. HALO Trust won a contract for clearance in Pailin under Clearing for Results but reported that clearance of around 1km² had resulted in destroying just three mines, underscoring the need for more stringent prioritization and more targeted clearance.[52]

MAG recorded a sharp rise in output in 2017, reporting release of 1.9km² by clearance compared with 0.3km² in 2016. This is more than four-times the output reported by the CMAA. It attributed the result to restructuring mine action teams into small units, achieving greater operational flexibility and also to the use of Scorpion advanced detectors with funding from the United States Humanitarian Demining Research and Development Program.[53] 

Deminer safety

HALO Trust reported three accidents (one deminer killed and four others injured) in 2017. Another deminer was killed in early 2018. HALO identified breaches of Standing Operating Procedures as the cause of the accidents.[54]

Land Release (cluster munition remnants)

The CMAA reported that a total of 26.5km² of cluster munition-affected land was released in 2017 and, unusually, indicated that nearly 90% of this (23.5km²) was released through clearance and only 2.7km² as a result of survey.[55] Official data differed significantly from results recorded by operators and is likely to undergo revision. Weaknesses in the official data also limit its effectiveness in measuring progress in addressing cluster munition contamination. 

The amount of cluster munition contaminated land reported in the eight eastern provinces had increased from 365km² in May 2017 to 457km² in May 2018,[56] suggesting some 92km² of cluster munition contamination was identified over the period.

Survey in 2017 (cluster munition remnants)

The CMAA approved the CMRS methodology in principle in 2017, but as of June 2018 had not yet formally adopted it as the national standard. The CMAA planned to continue with the BLS to provide a consistent assessment of ERW contamination across the country. The survey, which started in 2009, had completed 124 districts by 2017 and the CMAA planned to complete BLS in the 36 remaining districts by 2020. It said how quickly the survey progressed depended on funding. In the meantime, the CMAA recognized the limitations of BLS methodology in measuring cluster munition contamination and planned to modify survey procedures.[57] The CMAA Three-year Implementation Plan calls for meetings with stakeholders to develop cluster munition survey and land release standards and prioritization guidelines, building up survey team CMRS capacity, and implementing CMRS.[58]

In 2017, CMRS was applied only by NPA, which worked in Rattanakiri province with three CMRS teams focused on defining the extent of the problem. It prioritized areas for survey on the basis of government development plans, bombing and accident data, and the evidence identified in spot tasks. Under CMAA procedures, it was previously obliged to conduct CMRS/technical survey on the basis of large suspected hazardous areas (SHAs) generated by the BLS that often bore little relation to cluster munition contamination. The CMAA agreed in 2017 that NPA should conduct evidence-based non-technical survey, allowing identification of smaller SHAs defining contaminated areas more precisely. As a result, NPA more than doubled the hazardous area it confirmed in 2017 (see table below), while the area it reduced was less than one-third of the area reduced in 2016.[59]

NPA Cluster Munition Survey

Note: CHAs = confirmed hazardous areas. 

MAG deployed four teams in Rattanakiri for survey and/or clearance in 2017, cancelling 0.07km² and confirming two hazards affecting 0.4km². MAG incorporates data relating to spot tasks in a system of evidence-point polygon mapping to help define confirmed hazardous areas (CHAs) and worked with the CMAA to integrate this approach into the national database.[61] 

CMAC had not provided results for its operations in 2017, as of June 2018. CMAA data, though, showed CMAC as releasing 0.53km² in 2017, significantly less than the amount CMAC had reported for 2016. 

Clearance in 2017 (cluster munition remnants) 

CMAA data indicates operators cleared a total of 23.5km² of cluster munition-contaminated area in 2017, 5% more than the previous year.

However, CMAA data only reports clearance of BLS polygons and therefore does not include operators’ clearance of cluster munition contamination outside BLS polygons.

Clearance of cluster munition-contaminated Areas in 2017[62]

Both MAG and NPA reported an increase in clearance productivity in 2017. MAG attributed theirs to the deployment of Scorpion advanced detection systems provided by the US Humanitarian Demining Research and Development Program.[65] Although NPA is focused primarily on survey, it more than doubled the amount of land it cleared in 2016. NPA attributed the acceleration to its use of explosive detection dogs as the main detection tool, avoiding electronic detector signals generated by scrap metal and laterite.[66] 

The extent of roving clearance in 2017 is unclear in the absence of information from CMAC, the largest mine action organization, but among two other operators active in dealing with cluster munition remnants it continued at about the same level as in 2016 in terms of submunitions destroyed despite a dip in the number of tasks MAG conducted. MAG reported roughly half the items it destroyed in roving operations are found outside BLS polygons.[67]

Spot/Roving Clearance and Explosive Ordnance Disposal in 2017[68]

Note: N/R = Not reported.

Progress in 2018 (cluster munition remnants) 

The US awarded an NPA-CMAC partnership a US$2 million contract for survey and clearance in the northeast starting in March 2018 and due to run for one year under which NPA provides oversight of survey conducted by CMAC teams, which are required to conduct CMRS. 

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 will not meet this deadline. 

Cambodia’s mine action strategy for 2018–2025 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, much more than was received in recent years.[69] 

Mine clearance in 2013–2017[70]

The Monitor acknowledges the contributions of the Mine Action Review (www.mineactionreview.org), which has conducted the primary mine action research in 2018 and shared all its country-level landmine reports (from“Clearing the Mines 2018”) and country-level cluster munition reports (from “Clearing Cluster Munition Remnants 2018”) with the Monitor. The Monitor is responsible for the findings presented online and in its print publications.