AKP Phnom Penh, September 24, 2025 --   

The Cambodian Co-Chair of the Cambodia-Thailand Joint Coordinating Task Force (JCTF) has stressed that all humanitarian demining activities will not prejudice or interfere with the survey and demarcation of the land boundary between the two countries, which remains under the authority of the Cambodia-Thailand Joint Boundary Commission (JBC).

The remarks were made during the first meeting of the JCTF on humanitarian demining along the Cambodia-Thailand border, held via VTC this morning and concluding at 10:40 a.m., according to H.E. Lt. Gen. Maly Socheata, Spokeswoman of the Ministry of National Defence of Cambodia.

In the meeting, both sides confirmed the composition of the working group and exchanged draft Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) for the JCTF’s operations.

The meeting followed the outcome of the First Special Meeting of the General Border Committee (GBC), held on Sept. 10, 2025, in Koh Kong province, Cambodia, where both sides agreed to establish the JCTF to coordinate humanitarian demining activities in priority areas along the Cambodia-Thailand border.

Cambodia has been actively engaged in mine and unexploded ordnance (UXO) clearance since 1992. Over the past 33 years, the Kingdom has successfully reduced annual mine casualties from some 4,000 in the 1990s to fewer than 100 in 2020. In the same period, Cambodia has cleared approximately 3,307 square kilometres of land and destroyed more than 4.3 million landmines and UXOs.

Furthermore, Cambodia has transformed from a war-torn, mine-affected country into an active contributor to United Nations peacekeeping operations and has extended its demining expertise to other conflict-affected nations.

By C. Nika