Good news! Now you can visit picturesque areas of Cambodia, like the Cardamom Mountains, with less risk of being blown up by a land mine.
The Cambodian government has demined nearly 1,300 square miles of land since 1992, leaving just 135 square miles uncleared. Clearing the mines has sharply cut Cambodian landmine casualties, which fell from 4,320 in 1996 to 49 in 2024. Of the areas “rendered mine-free,” 81% is now used for “agriculture. The remaining cleared land has been allocated for essential infrastructure projects and other developments, including housing, farms, schools, and health centers, benefiting more than 10 million people.”
In 2024 alone, over 105 square miles were cleared, “destroying 17,853 anti-personnel mines, 228 anti-tank mines, and 91,111 explosive remnants of war.”
Despite this progress, Cambodia still needs to clear not just 135 square miles of mines, but also 475 square miles of “explosive remnants of war, including cluster munitions” to achieve Cambodia’s goal of a country “completely free of landmines and unexploded ordnance. Since 2022, 15 provinces have been officially declared mine-free.” It is particularly challenging to clear mountainous areas of land mines.
Cambodia is a mostly rural country where many people injured by land mines cannot get to a hospital soon after being injured. Wikipedia notes that “only 25% of mine victims arrive at hospital within 6 hours of being injured with 15% having to travel for more than 3 days before they reach a hospital.” Moreover,
The high numbers of victims of working age affecting entire families represent a considerable burden on families’ capacity for raising income and educating their children….For a family with a very low income, to have a member lose a limb and no access to good health care, and no governmental aid makes the dangers of land mines a much heavier burden on the Cambodian community. “Landmines, just by their sheer number alone in a particular area, can influence the population’s behaviour. This in turn may result in an overall deterioration of public health and other aspects of social wellbeing. Farmers with mines, or those who only “perceive” the presence of landmines on their land will not be able to cultivate the land. This will lead to food scarcity and eventually even malnutrition.”…The National Level One Survey in Cambodia conducted in 2002 found that 20% (2,776 out of 13,908) of all villages in Cambodia are still contaminated by minefields and/or cluster bomb areas with reported adverse socio-economic impacts on the community.
Cambodia relies heavily on tourism, which is a cornerstone of its economy, along with garment production, rice farming, and fishing.
In other good news, nine nations eradicated a devastating disease in 2024. For example, Guinea eradicated sleeping sickness, which causes irreversible brain damage and then death, and Niger eliminated river blindness.
