Casualties Overview

Details and trends

In 2016 the Cambodia Mine/Unexploded Ordnance Victim Information System (CMVIS) recorded 83 casualties from mines/ERW in the Kingdom of Cambodia. Of the total, 76 casualties were civilian, four were demining personnel, and three were military. Adults made up 63 of the casualties (59 men and four women) and children (20; 16 boys and four girls) made up 24% of civilian casualties.[1]

The 83 mine/ERW casualties in 2016 marked a 25% decrease from the 2015 total. It also marked the first time that the total annual casualty figure was less than 100 people.[2] In 2015, CMVIS recorded 111 casualties from mines, ERW, and unexploded submunitions. Of the total, 100 casualties were civilian, 10 were military, and one was a deminer.[3] There were six deminer casualties in 2014. CMVIS recorded 154 mine/ERW casualties in 2014,[4] which represented an irregularity from the continuing trend of significant decreases in the number of annual casualties: 111 recorded in 2013, 186 in 2012, 211 in 2011, and 286 in 2010.

In 2015, 31 casualties (31% of civilian casualties) were children, including seven girls and 24 boys. This marked an increase in the percentage of civilian casualties, but a slight decrease in real terms from 21% (33) in 2014, 26% in 2013, and 35% in 2012.

As in recent years, most casualties were caused by ERW. There was a change in the trend, since 2010, of antivehicle mines causing a significant proportion of casualties comparable to antipersonnel mines; with 16 antivehicle mine casualties in 2016, compared to 26 from antipersonnel mines.

As of the end of 2016, CMVIS reported at least 64,662 mine/ERW casualties in Cambodia: 19,748 people killed and another 44,914 injured since 1979. Among the survivors injured, 9,008 people (14%) had amputations. Of the total casualties, 51,040 (79%) were caused by mines and 13,622 (21%) by ERW, including unexploded submunitions.[5]

Cluster munition casualties

For the first time since 2009, Cambodia did not report any cluster munition casualties in 2016. Two casualties from unexploded submunitions were recorded in 2015 and one in 2014. For the period from 1998 to the end of 2015, 197 cluster munition remnant casualties were reported in Cambodia.[6] Data collection on cluster munition casualties has been limited and the total number, although not known, is thought to be much higher than reported. Cambodia is considered to be among the states “worst affected” by cluster munitions, with responsibility for significant numbers of cluster munition victims.[7]