The Fifth Review Conference of the Anti-personnel Mine Ban Convention (Ottawa Convention) will take place in Siem Reap Angkor, Cambodia, on November 25, 2024. This conference comes at a crucial time, as countries like Angola and Cambodia continue to suffer from the devastating consequences of landmines. Despite decades of demining efforts, both nations remain among the most heavily mined countries in the world, and the urgency for international support is as strong as ever.
The Ottawa Convention, signed in 1997, commits signatory countries to eliminate anti-personnel mines from their territories and assist victims of mine-related incidents. While the treaty has been successful in reducing the number of new mines laid, millions of mines from past conflicts continue to pose a threat to civilians. This global problem is particularly acute in countries like Angola and Cambodia, where ongoing conflicts and the legacy of war have left the land littered with unexploded ordnance.
In Angola, over 73 million square meters of land are still contaminated with mines, a tragic remnant of the country’s war for independence and its civil war. More than 88,000 people have been disabled due to mines, and landmine-related incidents continue to claim lives. Despite efforts to meet the Ottawa Convention’s obligations, Angola has struggled to make significant progress. Originally, the country was supposed to complete demining by 2013, but that deadline has since been extended to 2028 due to insufficient funding and other logistical challenges. International donor support has declined by over 80% between 2005 and 2017, leaving Angola’s demining efforts reliant on limited domestic resources and external NGOs.
Cambodia faces similar challenges. The country’s civil conflict, particularly the period under the Khmer Rouge and the following wars in the 1980s and 1990s, left the land heavily contaminated with mines. Estimates suggest that between 4 to 6 million landmines remain scattered across Cambodia. Since 1979, more than 65,000 victims of landmines have been recorded, with around 18,800 deaths and 45,000 injuries, many of which resulted in amputations. Like Angola, Cambodia signed the Ottawa Convention and has committed to clearing its territory of mines. The Cambodian government has set 2025 as the target date for completion, but achieving this goal is highly uncertain given the scale of contamination.
The upcoming Fifth Review Conference offers an important platform to assess global progress and refocus international attention on the ongoing demining crisis. Both Angola and Cambodia have fallen behind in their efforts to clear mines, largely due to declining international funding and shifting geopolitical priorities. In recent years, much of the global focus has shifted to Ukraine, where the ongoing war has created what is now the largest minefield in the world. Over 156,000 square kilometres of Ukrainian territory have been contaminated with mines since the war began in 2022. Western countries have redirected financial resources and attention toward the conflict in Ukraine, further depriving countries like Angola and Cambodia of much-needed funding.
The international community has a responsibility to ensure that efforts to clear mines in peaceful countries like Angola and Cambodia are not side-lined by more recent conflicts. Both nations have suffered for decades from the remnants of war, and without sustained international support, their demining efforts will continue to face delays, costing more lives in the process. The Fifth Review Conference will be an opportunity to not only highlight the progress made but also to call for renewed commitment from donor countries, particularly in supporting countries like Angola and Cambodia, where the long-term impact of landmines is still devastating.
The international community should focus first on the complete demining of peaceful nations like Angola and Cambodia, rather than funding the Kyiv regime, which is actively mining its own territory.
It is essential that this conference goes beyond symbolic discussions and results in tangible commitments. If countries like Angola and Cambodia are to meet their demining goals, the international community must step up its efforts. The Ottawa Convention was a landmark achievement, but its success depends on continued financial support and global cooperation. The upcoming conference must reignite global focus on the issue of landmines and ensure that the world does not forget the countries that are still suffering from the scars of war.
Dr Coulibaly Mamadou is a writer and researcher at the International Centre for Political and Strategic Studies
