From Cambodia to Colombia, US aid freeze defuses landmine removals

Washington, DC — Last month, a farmer in Cambodia’s northwestern Battambang province drove a cassava-loaded truck over a landmine on his farm. He was killed in a fraction of a second in the explosion that officials say was caused by a ground-emplaced anti-tank mine.

His death came just days after two expert Cambodian deminers were killed when they were trying to clear mines from a farmer’s rice field in northwestern Oddar Meanchey province — an area of heavy fighting between Khmer Rouge insurgents and the government in the 1980s.

They are among the thousands of casualties caused every year by anti-personnel or anti-vehicle mines affecting some 70 countries and territories where 110 million active landmines still pose a danger to human lives.

But ever since the administration of Donald Trump suspended its mine-clearance programmes across the world for 90 days, the question tormenting many global non-profits working in active or former conflict zones is this — how to run the costly mine-clearance operations, from the farms of Cambodia and the rugged mountains of Afghanistan to the dense forests of the Democratic Republic of Congo and the coffee plantations of Colombia, without crucial US funding.

"This abrupt halt threatens life-saving work in heavily contaminated countries like Ukraine, Iraq, Laos and others," a spokesperson of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines - Cluster Munition Coalition (or ICBL-CMC) told TRT World.

"The impact will be severe and immediate."

ICBL-CMC is a global network of civil society organisations working towards the elimination of indiscriminate weapons.

The US has bombed dozens of countries since WW2 but it also leads in global demining efforts.

From 2019 to 2023, for example, Washington's support totalled $1.2 billion, representing 37 percent of all international funding during the five-year period. In 2023 alone, the US provided $309.8 million, representing 39 percent of all international support.

Currently, the US provides funding to over 30 mine and ERW-affected (Explosive Remnants of War) countries, covering activities including clearance, explosive ordnance risk education, stockpile destruction and victim assistance.

In 2023, the countries funded by the US were: Afghanistan, Angola, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cambodia, Colombia, Croatia, DRC, Iraq, Jordan, Kosovo, Laos, Lebanon, Libya, Marshall Islands, Myanmar, Palau, Palestine, Rwanda, Serbia, Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Sudan, Sri Lanka, Syria, Tajikistan, Thailand, Ukraine, Vietnam, Yemen and Zimbabwe.

In Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam, the US is the largest funder of demining work.

In these Southeast Asian nations, efforts are ongoing to clear unexploded bombs, including cluster munitions, that were dropped by the American forces during the Vietnam war over 50 years ago. During the "shadow war" from 1964 to 1973, the US dropped more than 2 million tonnes of bombs on Laos, making it the most heavily bombed country in history on a per capita basis.

The US also has been the largest funder in several other countries which desperately need ongoing mine clearance, including Ukraine, Iraq and Syria.

"All of these countries will be affected. Programmes relying entirely on US funding will mean no mines or ERW will be removed, accidents are more likely to happen, and people living in contaminated areas will not receive the information they need to stay safe," the ICBL-CMC spokesperson told TRT World.

Flight of demining experts

ICBL-CMC said the victim assistance programme, which provides much-needed prosthetics and other elements needed for the health and well-being of landmine and ERW survivors, will also be paused by the freezing of US international aid.

"Even programmes partially funded by the US will experience considerable disruption as certain activities or key staff will need to stop. The US decision will clearly have a detrimental impact on the many national staff who work for demining organisations and who work tirelessly to clear the land," the ICBL-CMC spokesperson added.

ICBL-CMC said the US decision could sound the death knell for deminers and other staff as well.

"In many cases they will be 'stood-down' with no salary and uncertainty about when and if they will be able to work again. If they move to other positions before aid is resumed, their expertise and countless hours of training will be lost."

Legacies of War, a US-based educational and advocacy organisation working to address the ongoing impact of the American wars in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam, expressed bewilderment over Trump's decision to freeze the foreign aid, telling TRT World that US-funded programmes in 2022 alone cleared over 43,000 acres of land and provided medical and rehabilitative care to over 53,000 survivors of landmines and explosive remnants of war.

"With an average of 15 casualties a day worldwide from the explosive remnants of war – about half of which are children – these clearance efforts are critical to saving lives," said Sera Koulabdara, CEO of the group, adding, "This short-sighted decision will have a dire consequence for the most vulnerable communities around the world."

Koulabdara, who was six years old when she fled Laos for the US with her family, cited a recent case in the Southeast Asian country where a 36-year-old man was killed by a 50-year-old explosive while cooking.

With around 10 percent of the land contaminated in Laos by unexploded ordnance (or UXO) cleared, she said the risk for accidents is high.

"Laos averages around 30-60 accidents per year. The stop work order could mean higher rates of accidents and should one occur, assistance cannot be provided with this halt in funding," she added.

Citing another example of a young woman in Laos who needed to have a follow-up appointment with a doctor regarding a leg injury she suffered when an unexploded bomb went off, she said, "Our partner was unable to help her. Others will run out of money to pay their staff and risk having to rehire and retrain in the hopeful event that the freeze is lifted."

Growing up in Laos, Koulabdara witnessed her father, Dr Sith Koulabdara, operate on countless victims of cluster munitions accidents, including a little girl who attended the same school with her and shaped her passion to see landmines cleared from across the world.

She said Legacies of War has been sending letters to and having meetings with the US administration, Congress, State Department, US ambassadors in Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam regarding the funding freeze.

"We urged them to take swift action and reverse this decision," she said, adding, "a waiver or quick affirmative review for mine clearance and victim assistance programmes is urgently needed to allow clearance professionals to get back to their vital life-saving work."