Mine- and UXO-related casualties in Cambodia dropped 37 percent in September compared with the same month last year, according to the latest incident report compiled by the Mine Incident Database Project.
Mine action workers reported 973 casualties for the first nine months of this year, 30 percent of the victims being in military service. For instance, Oddar Meanchey along the Thai border, with its zones of military conflict has a high rate of casualties. In Samraong district alone, there were 89 casualties, all military. In all of 1997, there were 32 incidents in the district.
While military-related activity remains the leading cause of military casualties, tampering is the leading cause for civilians. Statistics show that 86 percent of UXO victims are civilians. Mine action workers suggest almost half (47 percent) of UXO incidents occur in the villages, after the UXO has been brought in into the community. By contrast, only 7 percent of land-mine incidents occur in the village.
Still, the number of victims due to tampering incidents varies widely by age. Tampering is the leading cause of incidents for children younger than 16, standing at 69 percent. For those 16 and up, more become mine victims while in military service (40 percent) and working (38 percent) than from tampering.
In a sign that the cleared land most heavily used by Cambodians has become safer, most mine casualties now occur in the forest, with fields and roads making up 10 percent or less as locations for mine incidents. Not surprisingly, the second most common cause of civilian mine incidents is gathering wood for fuel.
Reflecting the division of labor between Cambodian men and women, the vast majority of mine victims, 92 percent, are male. More than 80 percent of mine victims this year have escaped death—but up to one third of mine victims have had limbs amputated.
Battambang reported the most casualties with 258, followed by Oddar Meanchey at 181 and Banteay Meanchey, 149.
