Life on a cleared minefield
Story and photograph by Sean Sutton
Situated on fertile soil close to the Thai border, the houses of Preah Put village peek through the lush bamboo and banana plants. Mountains frame the picturesque setting as children run around playing games and people wash and collect water from the wells.
It is late afternoon and villagers are returning home after a long day's work in the fields. The village shop is bustling with activity, as people buy banana and coconut cake wrapped in leaves, plus noodles, cigarettes, soap and other provisions. Men and children play a game of pool in the shade under a thatched roof opposite the shop.
38 year old Leng Rom was displaced by the war and moved to many places, including a refugee camp in Thailand before settling here: "We were refugees in Thailand from 1979 until 1992. When we came home we found our land occupied by others. We had nowhere to go. We lived on roadsides with no land and were moved from one place to another. Now we own a little land and live much better," she said. "These days are like holidays compared to before. We are very happy that this land has been cleared. We can build farms, grow food, breed chickens and not worry about landmines. We are still poor - but it's better than being hungry."
It's hard to believe that just a few years ago this area was a densely mined killing zone. MAG teams funded by the UK Department for International Development (DfID), the Japan Alliance for Humanitarian Mining Support (JHADS) and Asian Landmine Solutions (ALS), found and destroyed 3470 landmines and 86 items of unexploded ordnance (UXO) between 2000 and 2002.
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| More than 90 families are now living on land made safe by MAG |
48 year old Mao Vern runs the village shop: "It was dangerous here before. I know of at least five accidents that happened right here before the mines were cleared. The MAG teams have saved us. There is a growing community - there was supposed to be just 90 families, but many more have come; friends and relatives who have nowhere to live."
This is an old village established a long time ago. The inhabitants fled across the nearby Thai border when fighting engulfed the area in 1979. Between 1984 and 1985 Vietnamese and government troops laid a massive 700 kilometre minefield, known as K5, along the border in an effort to keep the Khmer Rouge from infiltrating Cambodia from guerilla camps in Thailand. Preah Put was right in the middle.
PM/WRA - U.S. Dept of State-funded MAG teams are working nearby on land adjoining Preah Put, which is part of the same minefield. So far they have found 300 landmines. Un Chhay Heang is in charge of the two teams working here: "This is yet another example of the benefits of MAG's work," he said. "Soon the area will be cleared and children will be running around and they'll be safe. That's what makes the job so rewarding."
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