출처 : http : / / www . seasite . niu . edu / khmer / Ledgerwood / Landmines . htm Landmines in CambodiaReadings : The most up - to - date readings on this issue are reports on the Internet : http : / / www . camnet . com . kh / cambodia . daily / Land _ Mine / situationhttp : / / www . bigpond . com . kh / users / ngoforum / Woking _ Group _ Issues / Landmines / final _ report ( note that Woking is as in the original ) Cambodia is one of the most heavily mined areas in the world ; some estimates run as high as ten million mines ( in a country of 11 . 5 million people ) , though the Cambodian Mine Action Center ( CMAC ) estimates 4 to 6 million mines . Cambodia is also littered with other kinds of unexploded ordinance ( UXO ) , left over from half a million tons of bombs dropped on Cambodia by the United States in the late 60 s and early 70 s . The figures here are not known , though there is an estimated " dud " rate of 10 percent for UXO ( Cambodia Daily website ) . There are many different kinds of bombs and mines : US material from the " Vietnam " war era , and Chinese , Soviet and eastern block made materials left from the Khmer Rouge era in the 1970 s and a decade of civil war that followed in the 1980 s . For a list of types of mines see : http : / / angola . npaid . org / minelist _ complete _ cambodia . htmIf you are a tourist using this website to decide whether or not to visit Cambodia , you should know that mines are a problem today only in certain areas of the country . A recent survey by NGOs found that 70 percent of all casualties were in the northwest , with half in just 20 districts ( Cambodia Daily website ) . The area around Angkor Wat and the central plains near Phnom Penh have already been cleared . This said , it is always wise to talk to local people before going off for a walk in remote areas , particularly forested areas . Cambodia is not yet a country where backpacking in the mountains is a good idea . Sticking to the normal tourist circuits is fine , but if you want to rent a motorcycle and ride the back roads of Siem Reap or Battambang provinces you must ask about mine safety first . Similarly , if one wants to cross the border from Thailand anywhere but the open crossing points on main roadways , then you need to consult with local people about particular pathways . This legacy of three decades of war had taken a severe toll on the Cambodia people ; some 40 , 000 people live as amputees , one of the highest rates in the world . But at least that number again must have died in remote areas before they could be transported to medical facilities , before they were discovered , or because of infections . Because of the lack of a working medical system throughout the country , many Cambodian amputees have had multiple surgeries , one at the time of the initial injury , but others later when infections could not be contained . Mine injuries are more fatal among children , and those children who do are more likely to be seriously injured ( UNICEF website ) . The costs of laying mines are low , as little as $ 3 US per mine , but the costs of removal are very high , $ 1000 US per mine or more . one study , cited on a UN website , noted a particular project in Cambodia where 45 deminers worked seven months . They found 265 mines and 943 units of unexploded ordinance . The cost of the project was about $ 378 , 000 US , or about $ 1 , 400 US a mine or $ 5 US for every square meter of cleared land . About one third of this money went for international salaries and benefits , 27 percent for radios , computers and other equipment , and 20 percent for metal detectors . only about 4 . 5 percent went for local salaries , and 8 percent for local administration ( See : www . ncrb . unac . org / landmines / UNAinfo / landmine - removal . html ) . The story of landmine removal in Cambodia is , however , as one deminer says , " not a story of gloom and doom . It is a story of success " ( Cambodia Daily website ) . There are three main organizations working to clear landmines in Cambodia : the Cambodia Mine Action Committee ( CMAC ) , the Mines Advisory Group ( MAG ) and the Halo Trust . Between 1993 and 1999 the three groups cleared 66 , 027 , 761 square meters , or 66 square kilometers . Each year they have been clearing faster than the year before . In 1999 , the three groups combined cleared 11 , 857 , 920 square meters , with CMAC , the government body that also coordinates all demining , clearing 9 , 573 , 821 square meters ( NGO forum website ) . Most importantly the number of mine casualties is falling . The numbers of new injuries dropped by half from 1996 to 1997 when the number was 1 , 369 . In 1999 the number had fallen further , to about 1 , 200 , and in 2000 to about 50 per month ( Cambodia Daily , NGO forum and UNDP websites ) . The high casualty spots are becoming increasingly localized , as certain areas are cleared and no new landmines are laid . While I could find no statistics on casualties in the last two years , there has been no fighting in Cambodia since 1999 when the last Khmer Rouge units defected to the government . In that same year , Cambodia ratified the Mine Ban Treaty and since then no new mines are being laid . Now clinics are increasingly making prosthetics for victims of polio and other diseases , as more than half of their total clients are now not landmine victims . Those who are still being injured know that the areas where they travel and work are mined . The leading cause of landmine injuries , according to the NGO forum report is poverty . Thirty - eight percent of injuries result from people tampering with ordinance , usually to try to get the scrap metal to sell . Fifty - six percent of injuries occur when people are trying to earn a living ; farming , carrying water , collecting wood , collecting forest products , and so on . As the war of the last three decades has ended , people have returned from refugee camps along the border with Thailand , from service in the military , and from being internally displaced within the country . There is not enough land for everyone , so people are willing to risk living and farming in areas that are being demined in order to stake their claim to some bit of land ( see photos ) . The pictures below show demining near peoples ' homes on the road to Pailin ( c . 2000 ) It was issues of landownership in demined areas that sparked controversy surrounding the work of CMAC . In 2000 these issues came to the fore as funders demanded accountability on which projects were receiving priority for demining and who was benefiting from CMAC activities . In response to funders � budget cuts , CMAC temporarily cut back on their activities . According to the CMAC website they had 67 demining platoons in the field in October 2000 before the layoffs . In January 2001 they had only 15 , but had built back up to 46 teams by the end of 2001 . Even with these reductions in 2001 , they were able to clear 8 , 338 , 063 square meters of land . None of the websites discuss the problems within CMAC in detail ; they refer instead to changes that have been made since the crisis in confidence ( for more see Phnom Penh Post July 23 - August 5 , 1999 ; February 18 - March 2 , 2000 ; and April 28 - May 11 , 2000 ) . The Cambodian government set up a new Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority to coordinate and regulate the demining sector , including national and international service providers . CMAC also set up new " mobile platoons " that could respond more immediately and flexibly in remote areas . once some changes had been made in oversight and process , it seems that funding was restored to near pre - crisis levels ( see UNDP and CMAC websites ) . Of the material available on line on this topic , two issues might be of particular interest for students . Some of the sites have the stories of individuals who work as deminers ( see for example : www . camnet . com . kh / cambodia . daily / Land _ Mine / page _ 18 . htm ) . These deminers include Khmer injured by mines and women widowed by mine explosions . Second , there is some material at the CMAC , MAG , and Cambodia Daily websites about demining technologies . While much of the work of demining is done lying flat on one 뭩 belly delicately probing the ground in front of one with a metal probe , other kinds of technologies are being used in Cambodia . These include metal detectors and mine sniffing dogs . one of the newest advances is mechanical brushcutters . Deminers spend some 70 percent of their time cutting vegetation in an effort to sweep the earth below . If machines can be used to clear the vegetation from the " lane " they are clearing , deminers can operate much faster and more efficiently , perhaps twice as fast . The problem of landmines in Cambodia is one with an optimistic long - term outlook . New mines are no longer being laid and the number of new injuries is declining dramatically . Still , the issue will remain central to understanding Cambodian society for some time . The poorest of the poor will continue to risk their lives to live in areas not yet cleared . The process of removing the landmines that remain could take ten years , and the remaining unexploded ordinance longer than that . Those clinics that produce and fit prosthetics will continue to serve Cambodians , including those disabled by disease , those previously injured and not yet fitted , and those who already have prosthetics . The devices need to be repaired or replaced as they wear and as the person ages . And Cambodian society must address the issue of those disabled by mines . Traditionally in Khmer society the person was viewed as unlucky , their own bad karma having sentenced them to a life of misery . It was assumed , furthermore , that those with only one leg or one arm could not be productive members of society ( see French 1994 ) . These attitudes have changed somewhat during the 1980 s and 90 s as men ( and some women ) returned from the battlefields and took up jobs . The government provided only miniscule military benefits to amputees . In the late 1980 s , groups of amputees would band together in armed groups and block roadways , demanding money to allow travelers to pass . Today some can be found begging around the central markets of the city , but many more have found work at a wide range of jobs . Links on this topic : http : / / www . camnet . com . kh / cmac / http : / / www . un . org . kh / undp / prog - man . htmlhttp : / / angola . npaid . org / minelist _ complete _ cambodia . htm ( complete list of landmines found in Cambodia ) http : / / www . camnet . com . kh / cambodia . daily / Land _ Mine / land _ mines . htm ( click on the picture ) http : / / www . camnet . com . kh / cambodia . daily / Land _ Mine / mines . htmhttp : / / www . ncrb . unac . org / landmines / UNACinfo / landmine - removal . html ( Costs of mine removal ) http : / / maic . jmu . edu / journal / 4 . 3 / focus / Cambodian _ MAC / camb _ mac . htmhttp : / / www . unops . org . my / project / cambodia / cmac . htmhttp : / / www . mineaction . org / countries / countries _ overview . cfm ? country _ id = Cambodia http : / / mag . nmnp . org / 02 / 25 / ( Daily report from Mine Advisory Group in Cambodia ) http : / / www . bigpond . com . kh / users / ngoforum / Woking _ Group _ Issues / Landmines / final _ report / mine _ clearance . htm