Landmines

After visiting Baeng Maelia, we stopped at the Land Mine museum. It is a very small museum especially considering the problem is so huge. I really did not know much about Cambodia before I went there, so I learned some very important things as I walked around. Now everywhere I went was safe, but Cambodia is the world’s 3rd most land mined country. It costs about $3 to make a landmine, and about $1,000 to remove one. Landmines are made to maim, not kill. It costs more to keep a wounded soldier alive than to bury one. Different people like the Khmer Rouge, planted landmines during times of war. There are also unexploded bombs dropped by countries, like the US, during the war against the Khmer Rouge. From 1992 to November 2007 the CMAC (Cambodian Mine Action Center) has found and destroyed 1,623,933 mines and UXO’s. There are still millions left in Cambodia. I read that between 4-10 million mines were originally planted. The government hopes to have Cambodia cleared by 2020.
Here is a quote explaining how these injuries are occurring: “Those who are still being injured know that the areas where they travel and work are mined. The leading cause of landmine injuries, according to the NGO forum report is poverty. Thirty-eight percent of injuries result from people tampering with ordinance, usually to try to get the scrap metal to sell. Fifty-six percent of injuries occur when people are trying to earn a living; farming, carrying water, collecting wood, collecting forest products, and so on.” http://www.seasite.niu.edu/khmer/Ledgerwood/Landmines.htm
Since 1979, landmines have maimed about 40,000 people. This has created a large disabled population. Many amputees are seen begging in the streets. Many children are injured by playing with land mines or by not recognizing the hazard signs. The US is still one of the major manufacturers of landmines. This is a topic I would like to read more about since I do not know very much about it. I also need to look into the Ottawa Treaty, which is an international landmine ban.

Here is the museum’s website: http://www.cambodialandminemuseum.org/home.html