Cambodia Calls On ASEAN To Present A United Front On Land Mines

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen Monday called on four Association of South East Asian (ASEAN) nations which have so far not signed the Ottawa Treaty banning land mines to conform and help the bloc set an example to Asia and the world.

Speaking at a three-day conference on mine action in the capital, Hun Sen said ASEAN should form a united front and all member governments should sign and ratify their entry to the treaty, the signatories of which agree to prohibit the use, stockpiling, production and transfer of anti-personnel mines and support their destruction. He said Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam and Singapore were the members of the 10-nation ASEAN bloc which had so far resisted signing, adding that if Asia was to become land mine-free, ASEAN should set the example for the continent.

"ASEAN has already declared Asia should be free of nuclear weapons and has asked other nations to sign on this, so ASEAN should also be the leader on the prohibition of the use, production and stockpiling of landmines," he said. He said land mines were a serious obstacle for the development of Cambodia and other Less Developed Nations and were a hidden killer that ordinary Cambodians had been forced to live with for too long.

Cambodia remains one of the most heavily mined nations in the world after 30 years of civil war. Hun Sen said Cambodian Red Cross figures put the number of land mine casualties in the country at 60,000 and counting, with 30 per cent of these fatalities and the rest forced to live as invalids for the rest of their lives. "Of course, this is the right of each country to decide, but I believe ASEAN should unite on this issue," Hun Sen told the conference.

Cambodia recently sent a demining team to Sudan and Hun Sen said that his country was happy to help another nation which would struggle to meet development goals because of the insidious factor of mines. Canadian Ambassador to Cambodia Donica Pottie agreed, and used the opportunity to urge the United States, arguably the most significant nation to so far refuse to join the treaty, to relent and lead by example.

"Canada welcomes the Cambodian appeal ... however, it depends very much on these countries themselves," she said in an interview after Hun Sen's address. "The US has a huge commitment to demining programmes around the world," she said. "We would definitely welcome the US to join (the treaty). We appreciate US demining efforts and ... the US spends a lot of resources on demining, including Cambodia." ASEAN consists of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

© 2007 DPA