Clearing the unexploded ordnance (UXOs) left by the 2025 Cambodia–Thailand border clashes could cost approximately $1 billion and take more than a decade, according to a preliminary estimate by the Cambodian Mine Action Centre (CMAC). The cleanup places new financial and humanitarian pressure on a country still dealing with contamination from past wars, it noted.
CMAC director-general Heng Ratana said the estimate covered the direct cost of surveying and clearing newly contaminated areas. The work would have to be conducted alongside existing operations to remove landmines, cluster munitions, aerial bombs and other unexploded ordnance left from decades of conflict.
“For the clearance of these explosive remnants of war (ERWs), we may need around $1 billion, and it could take more than 10 years,” he said following a September 11 presentation at the Techno Peace Museum.
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Source: Asian News Network
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