Every year during monsoon season, the Tonle Sap River reverses course, filling a vibrant freshwater lake close to Cambodia’s capital of Phnom Penh with rich sediments and abundant fish. Tourists frequent the area surrounding the river to snap photos of the “floating villages,” which are communities that appear to be on stilts during the dry season and hover just above the water during the wet season. But beneath the waters of many lakes and rivers in Cambodia lie a dangerous legacy: landmines and unexploded ordnance (UXO) from past conflicts.
The eastern and northeastern areas of Cambodia are heavily contaminated with unexploded ordnance, mostly from U.S. air and artillery strikes during the Vietnam War and also from numerous battles fought along the border with Vietnam. Compounding Cambodia’s challenges are extensive minefields concentrated in the country’s western regions that were emplaced during the various Indochina wars by the Khmer Rouge, the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces, and the Vietnamese military. In all, Cambodia has an estimated 124 mine-affected districts and approximately 1,915 square kilometers littered with landmines and other explosive remnants of war.
With support from the United States, a number of Cambodian and international organizations are working today to create a safer future by undertaking an effort to safely clear these hidden hazards. I recently traveled to Cambodia as part of a U.S. Department of State team to observe the work of the Cambodian Mine Action Center (CMAC), which specializes in explosive ordnance disposal. One of their particularly effective programs is led by an inspirational unit of daring divers that search the riverbed for UXO.
Accompanied by our Embassy Phnom Penh colleagues, we visited the Tonle Sap River and met with CMAC Dive Unit Team Leader Sok Chenda. Sok Chenda began working with CMAC as a deminer in 1997 and joined the explosive ordnance disposal team in 2011.In 2013 after two years of EOD training, he transferred to the CMAC dive unit, where, with U.S. Government support, Cambodian divers received specialized training provided by the Golden West Humanitarian Foundation, a U.S.-based nonprofit charitable organization, to respond to underwater UXO threats. Many of the divers were unable to swim when they first joined, so the training started with swim lessons. In less than three years, the team led by Sok Chenda has become adept at diving in areas that have no visibility at all. One recent success included the safe recovery of a 500-pound U.S. bomb from the 1960s.
In addition to the Tonle Sap, the team dives in the Mekong River where, according to Golden West and the CMAC team, large stores of excess ammunition were likely dumped during and after the war in Vietnam. As if diving blind were not dangerous enough, the team dives in search of UXO that has been deteriorating underwater for decades and is in a very fragile and hazardous state. After removing submerged bombs the dedicated team carefully transports them to CMAC’s headquarters in Kampong Chhnang for safe disposal, reducing the threat to communities who use the river to fish, swim, and travel. Not surprisingly, the team explains that keeping their community safe motivates them every day.
These efforts, and the progress made as a result, are due in large part to our demining support for the Cambodian government. Since 1993, the United States has invested over $100 million to partner with the Cambodian government to save lives and prevent injuries through the U.S. Conventional Weapons Destruction program. The Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement in the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Political-Military Affairs oversees the program.
Our assistance to Cambodia is just one instance in which we are working to alleviate the threat of unexploded ordnance, landmines, conventional weapons, and munitions around the world. Over the last two decades, the United States has invested more than $2.5 billion in aid to more than 90 countries in this effort. As the world’s leading provider of financial and technical assistance for the clearance of explosive remnants of war, the United States looks forward to continued collaboration with our partners in the region.
About the Author: Hannah Kessler is the Assistant Program Manager for East Asia and the Pacific in the Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement in the Department of State’s Bureau of Political-Military Affairs.
For more information:
- Learn more about U.S. humanitarian demining and Conventional Weapons Destruction programs, check out the latest edition of our annual report, To Walk the Earth in Safety.
- Follow the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs on Twitter _@StateDeptPM._