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Gallery|Humanitarian Crises

Beating the odds and clearing landmines in Cambodia

Twenty-five years after losing his foot to a landmine, Tith Pao is now a successful farmer on his mine-free land.

Cambodia landmines/ Please Do Not Use
Landmine victim Tith Pao is now 45 years old. He lost his foot to a landmine when he was 20. Many landmine victims and those who have been maimed by them face discrimination and find it difficult to find work. Pao was fortunate. He is now a successful farmer despite his injury. In beating the odds, he has earned the respect of his neighbours. [Nic Dunlop/Panos/Al Jazeera]
By Nic Dunlop
Published On 12 Sep 201712 Sep 2017
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Rattanak Mondul district, Battambang, Cambodia – I first photographed Tith Pao just after his foot was blown off by a landmine in 1992. At the time, Cambodia was one of the most heavily mined countries in the world, along with Afghanistan and Angola. Exactly 25 years later, I returned to visit Pao and found the district transformed, almost entirely free of landmines. Life for Pao and his young family had improved beyond measure.

By the early 1990s, various aid organisations including the Cambodian Mine Action Centre estimated there were 8-10 million landmines scattered throughout Cambodia – more than one for every man, woman and child, encumbering life for entire communities. The mines were laid during Cambodia’s decades-long war by the Cambodian army, the Vietnamese, the Khmer Rouge, the non-communist fighters and US forces.

The presence of so many mines denied farmers access to their land, impoverishing entire communities.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) began calling attention to the sheer scale of the suffering by campaigning for a ban. These calls led to the establishment of The International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL), a global network launched by six non-governmental organisations with the distinct goal to rid the world of landmines by 2025. Over 1,300 organisations now comprise the ICBL, active in 100 countries. The work of these organisations led to the adoption of the Mine Ban Treaty in 1997, a landmark legal framework for states to eliminate landmines from the world. To date 163 of 195 states have signed this Treaty.

Several humanitarian mine clearance organisations, such as HALO Trust, Mines Advisory Group and more, have been working in Cambodia for more than 20 years. Currently, 50 percent of the landmine fields across Cambodia have been cleared. Thanks to these efforts, land that had been considered too dangerous to farm is now productive farmland.

“When I think back to that time, all I can remember is the fear that we lived with,” says Pao. “Now, life is like a tree that gives fruit.”

In 1992, when Pao had his accident, there were 1,573 recorded accidents in Cambodia. Last year there were just 42.

Cambodia landmines/ Please Do Not Use
Tith Pao was 20 years old when he stepped on a landmine in May 1992. Within months of his accident, the sole breadwinner of the family was back in landmine-ridden forests looking for wood; it was his only way to earn an income. Pao and his family were living in a refugee camp with more than 12,000 people displaced by landmines. 'I felt scared whenever I had to go to the forest and cut wood,' he recalls, 'but I had no choice. I needed to support my family.'   [Nic Dunlop/Panos/Al Jazeera]
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Cambodia landmines/ Please Do Not Use
After his accident, Pao was given a prosthetic foot fitted by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). Prosthetist Song Mom, who has known Pao since 1999, fitted him with a new foot. Anti-personnel landmines are designed to maim, not to kill. Landmine injuries reverse roles and breadwinners become dependents. An injured person often becomes a burden to the family, requiring years of extensive medical care. [Nic Dunlop/Panos/Al Jazeera]
Cambodia landmines/ Please Do Not Use
Sdao, the district capital of Rattanak Mondul, was devastated during the war and the surrounding area laced with landmines. A frontline cut the district in two with the government on one side and the Khmer Rouge on the other. Since the end of the war in 1998, and the numerous landmine clearing efforts, the area is now almost completely landmine-free. [Nic Dunlop/Panos/Al Jazeera]
Cambodia landmines/ Please Do Not Use
Despite his disability, Pao married Srey Nouy, and they now have four children. Some villagers in the camp gossiped, saying they couldn't earn a living because of his disability. Nouy admits to having second thoughts about getting married, but it was too late, she says with a grin. 'When I meet those people now, they admit they were wrong. Now they see we are together and we are doing well,' she says. [Nic Dunlop/Panos/Al Jazeera]
Cambodia landmines/ Please Do Not Use
When the war ended, Pao returned to Treng ahead of the family to claim the land his mother owned. He was aware of the risks. 'If I didn't come back someone would have taken the field.' They were also given a plot by the government, 'full of mines,' he recalls. When the land was cleared of landmines by the Cambodian Mine Action Center, he built a small house. They have lived here ever since. [Nic Dunlop/Panos/Al Jazeera]
Cambodia landmines/ Please Do Not Use
Pao claimed his land and has his own fish pond near his home in Treng commune, where he harvests fish. 'Life in the camp was so limited,' recalls Pao. 'We just survived. But now I own my own land.' [Nic Dunlop/Panos/Al Jazeera]
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Cambodia landmines/ Please Do Not Use
During the war, the area where Pao's land is located had been a militarised zone. Civilians were forbidden, and landmines were concealed in the wild scrub on either side of the road. [Nic Dunlop/Panos/Al Jazeera]
Cambodia landmines/ Please Do Not Use
Since 1979, more than 64,000 people have been killed or injured by landmines in Cambodia - 15,000 from Battambang province and 5,000 from Rattanak Mondul. This is by far the highest casualty rate of all the districts in the country. As a result, Cambodia has the highest number of disabled people in the world. The vast majority of them are civilians. [Nic Dunlop/Panos/Al Jazeera]
Cambodia landmines/ Please Do Not Use
Today the concrete results of international efforts to ban landmines can be seen all around Rattanak Mondul. Much of Rattanak Mondul is now free of landmines. 'I feel so happy to own land,' says Pao. 'The land helps us to be independent. Having no land means to be without a home, like a beggar.' [Nic Dunlop/Panos/Al Jazeera]
Cambodia landmines/ Please Do Not Use
Although Rattanak Mondul is almost free of landmines, the problem still threatens the lives of thousands of people all over the world. Vast tracts of valuable land remain unusable and caring for mine victims remains a life-long commitment. Although the Mine Ban Treaty has been successful, activists say they will feel victorious only when all of the world's countries sign the treaty. [Nic Dunlop/Panos/Al Jazeera]


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