PHNOM PENH: In response to new threats faced by border communities following the 2025 conflict, the US has increased its support for landmine and unexploded ordnance clearance in Cambodia to US$13 million in 2026.
The additional funding has enabled clearance operations to expand into communities affected by the recent fighting, according to a US statement, which highlighted more than three decades of cooperation with Cambodia in addressing deadly explosive remnants of war.
The latest allocation brings total US support for Cambodia’s mine action sector to US$235 million since 1993.
“In response to new needs following the 2025 border conflict, the US increased its support to US$13 million in 2026 for landmine and UXO clearance,” explained a September 1 statement from the US embassy in Phnom Penh.
It did not identify the border areas covered by the expanded operations or provide figures for landmines and other explosive remnants newly laid or left by the conflict.
The announcement places the immediate safety of conflict-affected border communities at the centre of the longstanding US-Cambodia mine action partnership.
According to the statement, US-supported programmes have cleared and released more than 714.6 million square metres of contaminated land since 1993.
To explain the scale of the issue, the embassy noted that the area “is equivalent to approximately 100,000 football pitches built to FIFA dimensions”.
Operations supported by the US have also destroyed more than 110,000 anti-personnel and anti-vehicle mines manufactured in China and the former Soviet Union, along with 550,000 items of unexploded ordnance, including cluster munitions, it added.
The clearance work was conducted in close cooperation with the Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority (CMAA), the Cambodian Mine Action Centre (CMAC) and other Cambodian deminers.
“The US values its close cooperation with the Cambodian Mine Action Authority and the Cambodia Mine Action Centre, as well as Cambodia’s highly skilled deminers,” said the statement.
“Together, our partnership has expanded life-saving operations into border communities affected by recent conflict,” it added.
The latest border hostilities have added new clearance requirements to the country’s longstanding burden and created additional safety concerns for communities seeking to resume their livelihoods.
Beyond preventing deaths and injuries, the US said mine clearance allowed contaminated land to be returned to productive use. Released areas can again support agriculture, tourism, infrastructure and other forms of sustainable economic development.
“The impact goes well beyond removing the explosives. Every piece of cleared land reopens opportunities for farming, drives regional tourism and opens the door to sustainable economic development for generations of Cambodians,” the statement said.
“Most importantly, after so many years, this work is helping more Cambodian families live and work safely on land that was once too dangerous to use,” noted the embassy statement. - The Phnom Penh Post/ANN
