While assistance for mine clearance from the United States through USAID has been suspended, the Chinese government has continued to provide $4.4 million in mine clearance assistance in the China Mine Eradication Assistance Project in Cambodia.
Heng Rattana, Director General of the Cambodian Mine Clearance Center (CMAC), said on January 5 that the grant is for a period of 1 year from March to February 2026.
This assistance supports mine clearance operations in 7 provinces, including Kampong Thom Thom Thom Thom Province, Siem Reap, Uttarakhand Preah Temple, Stung Treng and Kratie Province, and at Son Khanh District, Kampong Chhnang Province.
Through this assistance, more than 400 CMAC technical experts will clear more than 3,400 hectares of landmines and unexploded ordnance of war, conduct research on unexploded ordnance and cluster munitions in the target provinces, strengthen the capacity of Son B Technical Institute, as well as rescue the disabled due to landmines.
According to Heng Rattana, the above Chinese assistance is provided in the third year of the Phase 3 of the China Mine Eradication Assistance Project in Cambodia, which started in 2023 and will end in 2026 with a total budget of US$13.2 million.
In October last year, the United States announced more than $10 million in aid for mine clearance, but these grants were recently suspended, affecting more than 1,000 demining workers.
The aid is unlikely to be renewed because U.S. President Donald Trump on Feb. 4 continued to put pressure on USAID by requiring the removal of almost all of the agency's staff as the agency faces closure or restructuring.
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