Japan and Cambodia to aid Ukraine with mine clearance efforts

On Saturday, 6 July, Japan's Minister of Foreign Affairs Yōko Kamikawa announced a joint project with Cambodia on sharing mine-clearance knowledge and technology with countries worldwide, including Ukraine.

Source: The Associated Press, citing Kamikawa’s statement

Details: Kamikawa made this statement during her visit to the Cambodian Mine Action Centre, established in the 1990s at the end of decades of civil war in the country.

The centre is involved in clearing between 4 and 6 million landmines and other unexploded ordnance scattered throughout the country.

Quote from Kamikawa: "Cambodia, which has steadily advanced mine removal within its own country, is now a leader in mine action around the world."

Details: Cambodian bomb disposal experts are among the most experienced in the world, and over the past decade, several thousand of them have been deployed under the auspices of the UN to work in Africa and the Middle East.

The publication notes that in 2022, Cambodia began training bomb disposal experts from Ukraine, which also suffers from a high density of landmines and unexploded ordnance due to prolonged Russian aggression.

Quote from Kamikawa: "As a concrete cooperation under the Japan Cambodia Landmine Initiative, Japan will provide full-scale assistance to humanitarian mine action in Ukraine.

Next week, we will provide Ukraine with a large demining machine, and next month, here in Cambodia, we will train Ukrainian personnel on how to operate the machine."

Details: In its 2022 report, the Landmine Monitor NGO listed Cambodia and Ukraine among nine countries with "massive" mine contamination, highlighting their challenge of dealing with over 100 square kilometres of uncleared fields and unexploded ordnance.

Background:

• Cambodia began training Ukrainian bomb disposal experts in Poland and Cambodia after former PM Hun Sen, in an unusual move for a country that typically aligns with Russia and China, condemned Russia's invasion of Ukraine, stating that "Cambodia is always against any country invading another country."
• Cambodia was one of nearly 100 UN member states co-sponsoring a resolution condemning Russia's invasion. 
• Several other countries, including the USA and Germany, have already provided assistance to Ukraine for mine clearance efforts.

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