Cambodian mine removal program at risk

This man locates a land mine

From Mike Chinoy
CNN Correspondent

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (CNN) -- Allegations of corruption and mismanagement have dried up funding for an organization charged with clearing land mines in Cambodia. As a result, the removal of millions of mines that dot the Cambodian countryside is in jeopardy.

According to a series of independent audits, Cambodia Mine Action Center money was spent to clear land for rich businessmen, generals and politicians.

International donors suspended the flow of funds to CMAC, and its director was fired. But the new director vows the group has changed its ways.

"We have had a lot of problems ...," said Khem Sophoan, the new CMAC director. He said the center would clear land, and then "we have some power man or some businessman, they take this land from the people."

VIDEO CNN's Mike Chinoy explains why land mine clearing in Cambodia may slow down or stop completely Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)

Sophoan has appealed for a restoration of aid, but donors remain skeptical, and there's only enough money now to operate through September.

And Cambodia is not the only place in need; the United Nations said earlier this month that its program to remove land mines from Afghanistan was being cut back because donor money had run short.

End of program would be 'devastating'

More than 40,000 Cambodians, one out of every 250 people, have been maimed by land mines -- the bitter legacy of decades of war. More than 500 people were killed in the first half of 2000, and many more suffered severe injuries.

One out of every 250 people in Cambodia has been maimed by land mines

Experts say the Cambodian countryside remains littered with 4 million to 6 million mines.

Sophoan says the consequences of even a brief halt in the removal of land mines would be devastating, but "if we have not the funds, it is automatically ... to close our operations."

Ian Bullpit, a U.N. mine clearance adviser, says, "Cambodia is still one of the more seriously mine-affected countries in the world. There are still going to be lots of people losing their lives, losing their limbs -- not to mention the impact on aggressive development of the country as a whole."

Observers in Phnom Penh say some corruption is inevitable, and that's left donor countries wondering whether they should continue to fund a flawed process despite the abuses, or risk seeing an effort that unquestionably saves lives come to a halt.

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Jody Williams: The woman who waged war on land mines
1997 CNN Special

Cambodian Mine Action Centre
United Nations Mine Action Service
UNICEF Report, Land mines: A deadly inheritance
The Humanitarian Foundation of People Against Landmines
International Campaign to Ban Landmines
United States Campaign to Ban Landmines
Clear Landmines Internet Campaign
Physicians Against Land Mines
Adopt-A-Minefield
Mine Ban Treaty text

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