Mine Awareness

Yesterday was the celebration of Easter for much of the world but in Cambodia it was the International Day of Mine Awareness. The Cambodian Mine Awareness Authority put out a fact sheet for 2020, noting 10,051 landmines, 135 anti-tank mines, and 33, 312 other ERW (Explosive Remnants of War) were collected and destroyed. Small as the numbers are, that is the good news. The bad news is that in 2020 there were 65 casualties (17 deaths). That is on average a casualty every 5.6 days from munitions put down 50-60 years ago. Still killing and wounding….