Phnom Penh, July 18 (IANS): Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet said on Thursday that more than one million people in the country still live in areas contaminated by landmines and explosive remnants of war (ERW).
Speaking at a groundbreaking ceremony for an archaeological museum in the northwestern province of Siem Reap, Hun Manet said that from 1992 to the present, Cambodia has cleared about 3,000 square kilometres of mines and ERW-contaminated areas, according to Xinhua.
“But a further 1,700 square kilometres of land have yet to be cleared of mines and ERW, posing a danger to more than one million Cambodians living in the area,” he said in a speech broadcast live by state news channel TVK.
Cambodia is one of the countries most affected by landmines and ERW, with an estimated 4-6 million landmines and other munitions left behind by 30 years of war and civil conflict that ended in 1998.
According to Yale University, between 1965 and 1973, the United States dropped approximately 230,516 bombs on 113,716 locations in Cambodia.
According to an official report by the Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority (CMAA), between 1979 and June 2024, landmine and ERW explosions killed 19,830 people and injured or maimed 45,242 others.
War has not only claimed lives but also endangered cultural property, Hun Manet said, adding that many ancient Cambodian statues and objects in different temples have been damaged, stolen and illegally taken to other countries during wars and civil strife over the past decades.
According to the prime minister, from 1996 to date, the Southeast Asian country has recovered 1,098 looted antiquities from 15 countries, including the US, Britain and Thailand.