Kambodscha: Kürzen USA Mittel?

Quelle: KI Media

The United States has warned Cambodia it may have to shoulder more responsibility for the cost of clearing mines from its territory, ending an era in which Washington has carried the bulk of the cost of removing mines and other explosives after the Vietnam War spilled over into Cambodia.

United States Ambassador William A Heidt yesterday told Cambodian land mine clearance officials that new priorities had emerged, which would mean Phnom Penh and nongovernment donors taking more of the cost of mine clearing. His comments come after leaks from the State Department suggested the US could cut development assistance to Cambodia to zero beginning next year.

Right now the US is the largest contributor to the cost of mine clearance worldwide.

Heidt spoke to Cambodian landmine officials and donor nations assessing Cambodia’s draft National Mine Action Strategy from 2018 to 2025. He noted the US had contributed $120 million in Cambodian mine clearance since 1993.

“The international environment for humanitarian mine clearance has become more challenging,” Heidt said. That is code, analysts say, for a refocus on hot spots in the Middle East away from older, longer-term problem spots like Cambodia.

Heidt said the success in removing mines, ordnance and explosive remnants made it hard to keep Cambodia as the “top priority for international funding”. Cambodia, he said, had also moved into lower-middle-income status, and it was time to fund mine clearance itself.

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