UK ambassador Dominic Williams complimented the Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority (CMAA) for coordinating, inspecting and managing mine action in the country, saying their efforts had resulted in many achievements with the participation of the private sector and donors.
Williams made the remarks as he met with CMAA first vice-president Ly Thuch on February 8 to discuss the work of partnership and cooperation on mine action in Cambodia.
According to the CMAA, the UK will continue to support humanitarian mine clearance work until Cambodia is free of landmines.
At the meeting, Thuch mentioned the government’s effort to resolve the problem of landmines and the “Mine-Free Cambodia 2025” goal.
“Over the past 30 years, we have achieved many of the tasks of demining and removing explosive remnants of war [ERW]. We have reduced dangers, given new hope and safe land to people. These achievements all involved support from the UK,” he said.
Thuch thanked the UK government and people for supporting Cambodia in mine clearance operations. He said this had helped improve people’s livelihoods by providing them with safe land to grow rice on.
He continued that the CMAA cooperated with the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces (RCAF), the National Centre for Peacekeeping Forces, Mines and Explosive Remnants of War Clearance (NPMEC) and the Cambodian Mine Action Centre (CMAC) to establish a team tasked with coordinating mine clearance work along the Thai border.
Thuch met with Thailand Mine Action Centre (TMAC) general-director Supathat Narindarabhakdi on December 8 at the CMAA headquarters, where both sides committed to strengthening their cooperation to clear mines along the shared border.
During the meeting, Thuch said the CMAA will continue to offer close cooperation with TMAC to accelerate mine clearance.
He noted that this cooperation requires the participation of relevant stakeholders such as the army, NPMEC and CMAC, all of which will be done for the sake of the mutual interests of the two nations and peoples.
Cambodia and Thailand have laid out the same vision to clear all mines from their respective countries, with Cambodia committed to making the country land-mine free by 2025, while Thailand has set the same goal for 2026.
