Cambodia has continued with the provision of demining training to Ukrainian officers, with a continuation of the training programme carried out in January being undertaken for five days earlier this month, according to the Japanese embassy in Phnom Penh.

“A team from the Cambodian Mine Action Centre [CMAC] trained the State Emergency Service of Ukraine [SESU] in the use of landmine detection equipment in Poland from July 3-7,” it said on July 11.

The embassy added that the equipment used in the training, which was developed in Japan, is expected to improve the efficiency of demining operations with the use of ground penetrating radar, which can better detect the presence of buried mines.

It said that Japan, which has supported CMAC for many years through capacity building and the provision of equipment such as mine detectors, will continue to do so through the sharing of its knowledge with Ukraine and other third-party countries.

In Siem Reap province in January, Taninai Ichitomo, the embassy’s deputy chief of mission, observed the demonstration of the new mine clearance technology for Ukrainian officers, before attending the training programme’s closing ceremony.

At the ceremony, Ichitomo expressed his hope for the number of landmine victims in Cambodia and Ukraine to reach zero as quickly as possible with Japanese support.

The Japanese government has confirmed its commitment to the reconstruction of Ukraine, and as part of such efforts, it is assisting in landmine clearance activities in collaboration with CMAC.

This was reaffirmed by Prime Minister Hun Sen and his Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida last November.

CMAC and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) have selected training on the Advanced Land Mine Imaging System (ALIS) detector machines – which offer improved safety and efficiency in demining operations – for Ukrainian technical experts.

In February, CMAC received additional 12 ALIS detector machines worth nearly $500,000.