Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa announced a joint project with Cambodia to exchange mine clearance knowledge and technology with countries around the world, in particular with Ukraine.
She made the announcement yesterday during a visit to the Cambodia Mine Action Center, which was established in the 1990s at the end of decades of civil war in the Southeast Asian country.
The center is clearing 4-6 million landmines and other unexploded ordnance that remain scattered across the country.
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Japan and Cambodia will help in demining Ukraine
— Cambodia, which has been steadily making progress in mine clearance at home, is now a leader in mine action worldwide, — Kamikawa noted.
According to her, as part of a joint initiative, Japan will provide full-scale assistance in humanitarian demining in Ukraine.
— Next week we will provide Ukraine with a large demining machine, and next month, here in Cambodia, we will train Ukrainian personnel on how to operate this machine, — she clarified.
Cambodian sappers are considered among the most experienced in the world. Over the past decade, several thousand of them have been sent under UN auspices to work in Africa and the Middle East.
And in 2022, Cambodia began training sappers from Ukraine.
Cambodia was one of nearly 100 UN member countries that joined the resolution condemning the full-scale Russian invasion.
February 14 Lithuania and 20 other countries signed a Protocol of Intent to create a coalition to clear mines in Ukraine. The leaders of the coalition are Lithuania and Iceland.
