Cambodian mine victim, clearing land to save others

Last Updated: 2:34am GMT 02/01/2007

Landmine casualties in Cambodia, one of the most mine-contaminated countries in the world, have halved, according to figures released yesterday. For years more than 800 people a year have been killed or injured by landmines and unexploded ordnance in Cambodia, which is littered with explosives laid and dropped in the wars of the 1970s and 1980s.

Khoeun Sokhorn, Cambodia’s only female amputee deminer, shows how she prepares ground before removing mines. However, in the first 11 months of 2006 that figure fell to 418, a drop of 50 per cent on the same period last year. Rupert Leighton, the country manager of the Mines Advisory Group (MAG), said more land was being cleared and police were enforcing a ban on trade in ordnance for scrap.

"The objective by 2012 is to reduce casualties to zero," he said. "We are going to work our damnedest to make it happen." The British-based organisation has cleared 3.8 million square metres of land this year, an increase of almost a quarter on 2005. It uses locally-recruited teams to clear their area, and such employees include Khoeun Sokhorn, 24, the only known female amputee deminer in the country. She is from Ouchheu Krom in Pailin province, a Khmer Rouge stronghold for decades. Her MAG team have cleared more than 9,200 square metres in an area where 18 families live, and 15 people have been killed or injured by mines.

So far they have located 91 mines and 25 items of unexploded ordnance. Most of the weapons found are Chinese-made items laid by the ultra-Maoists and craters left by their detonations are scattered among the fruit trees in an orchard. "I want all the mines in my village to be cleared because I want my relatives to be safe, not to be injured like I was," said Khoeun Sokhorn. She was walking to Thailand to find work when her right foot sunk deep into the mud of a flooded path and triggered an explosion.

"There was a big bang and I didn't know what had happened – I didn't feel any pain," she said. "When the smoke cleared I tried to walk and I fell over and asked somebody what happened."
Her foot had been blown off entirely, most of her calf was a bloody mess and within half an hour she was in agony. "I wanted to die," said the mother of a two-year-old daughter. "Giving birth is not as painful as that and is just pain for a few days. My leg hurt for two months."

It was amputated just below the knee, but the wounds were not only physical. Unable to work, she stayed at home while her mother laboured on a corn farm to make up for her lost wages, and her husband left her. "I couldn't go out to do anything. I felt ashamed. My husband's relatives told him to get a divorce and promised to get him a new wife who is not an amputee and can work. I felt very angry. I think maybe nobody will want to marry me because I'm an amputee. Now I feel very happy to get a job with MAG."

While MAG spends tens of thousands of pounds to equip its units – their metal detectors cost £1,500 - employing staff from within affected regions cuts running costs so that more land can be cleared with the same funding.