Grass Roots Efforts to Address the Legacies of War: land mines, unexploded ordnance, birth defects, weapons proliferation
Moderator: Richard Walden, Operation USA
Panelists:
Sam Sotha, Director, Cambodia Mine Action Center
Janet Ashby, STAR Kampuchea facilitator working on small arms issues in Cambodia
Bounpong Sayasenh, National Program Director for UXO Lao
Marc Bonnet, Director, Handicap International - Cambodia
Luc Delneuville, Coordinator, Handicap International - Laos
Dr. Le Cao Dai, Director, Agent Orange Victims Fund, Vietnam Red Cross,
Richard Walden, Operation USA
Humanitarian groups and the military have a complex relationship in meeting the needs left by the wars. 1998 was an amazing year in terms of funding and attention, but where do we go from that peak? Some of the international and US agencies who are doing under addressed work on mines include the National Laboratories of the DOE (US) and NASA, who are exploring the possible use of radar in mine detection. In addition, UNESCO operating out of Paris, who were primarily an environmental group during the cold war when Russia and China used UNESCO as a vehicle for scientific exchange with the west, is now using its experience with scientific exchanges to explore a number of technologies with potential for mine detection.
One of the issues faced by all groups working on the legacies of war, is keeping research budgets separate from mine awareness and prosthetics needs.
Sam Sotha, CMAC
Cambodia is one of the most highly mined countries in the world and the mines are a major obstacle to development. Injuries and deaths from UXO and mines are down substantially from the early 90s, but they remain far too high. CMAC began in 1993 with international support, and a 1995 Royal Decree established the Center within the government. CMAC receives support from ministries across the administration, from Women to Finance, as well as from the military.
Mines in Cambodia are centered in the western regions, but scattered everywhere. The ultimate goal of CMAC is to reach a point where people can go about their lives without fear of mines. To reach that final goal, the Cambodian Mine Action Center employs 3000 people on mine clearance, UXO clearance, mine mapping, and mine awareness teams that travel and present information in areas where casualties are high. CMAC uses both manual demining and aerial reduction, and mapping teams work with villagers to identify mine sites and keep people out of mine fields. While mines are concentrated in the west, UXO is a problem in the eastern regions where millions remain from bombing in the 70s.
Janet Ashby, STAR Kampuchea
Light weapons are a legacy of war like UXO and mines, but unlike these, light weapons are mobile instruments of future oppression. The work stage for small arms is very different as well, as they get much less attention. In the UN the focus has historically been on missiles and large arms, but in 1995 Boutros Boutros Ghali tried to assess the impact of small arms around the world and turned some heads towards the legacy of light weapons after a conflict. Small arms are also a relatively new issue. During WWII, arms were heavy enough that they were returned at the close of the conflict, but new technology has made them infinitely more durable and portable and they get passed out and saved by various sides and can survive conflicts again and again.
Some statistics on light weapons: 90% of war fatalities are civilian, guns are easily trafficked and quickly incorporated into drug and prostitution trafficking rings. Governments are encouraged to sell small arms by the promise of quick cash. We know that international trafficking is a problem because weapons that can be traced to Cambodia are appearing in Sri Lanka. There are an estimated 500,000 weapons in Cambodia, and registration and licensing laws are note enforced. Within Phnom Penh, some efforts have been made to collect weapons but these are new and centered in the capital. An AK-47 can run as cheap as $5 or 6 and ammunition is plentiful. Where guns are readily accessible, they become the first line of negotiation or dispute resolution. The endemic use of firearms affects society, effects the valuation of life and the meaning of justice.
cont'd p.33