Last year, a new sign went up on the Prey Veng Waterfront declaring that the province was officially mine-free. Prey Veng is the third most populous province in Cambodia but lacks an urban center with the population spread among rural villages.
The fighting in Cambodia came to end twenty-five years ago when the final Khmer Rouge leaders accepted the “win-win policy” and were integrated into the national government. Since then Cambodia has had twenty-five years of relative stability with major instances of armed conflict within it’s borders. And, still, it took twenty-four years to remove all of the landmines from Prey Veng province, the third most populous province in the country, and unexploded ordinance still remains.
The tragedies of war do not end when the war ends. They linger long afterwards. Untreated trauma and mental illness. Unexploded ordinance. Destroyed infrastructure. Lost livelihoods and community. Disability. Landmines. Chemical poisons such as Agent Orange. Weapons of war left in the community. Even higher rates of diabetes after famine. There’s a temptation to label countries like Cambodia “post-conflict” and focused on what’s next – especially when the past is so painful – however the legacies of war don’t simply disappear. Healing takes sustained effort.
I think about this often as I read the latest news from the war in Ukraine. How many future generations will suffer from Russian bombing and landmines? How many future generations will survive from unexploded ordinance left by cluster munitions. How can the various ethnic groups harmed by Russian military aggression live in peace alongside ethnic Russians? Cycles of violence revibrate through the generations.
My prayer in the face of this is for the prophecy of Isaiah to come to pass.
The Lord will mediate between nations
Isaiah 2:4, NLT
and will settle international disputes.
They will hammer their swords into plowshares
and their spears into pruning hooks.
Nation will no longer fight against nation,
nor train for war anymore.
This year we’re hosting our first YAMEN volunteer from the world’s newest country, South Sudan. He shared that he had met Cambodian UN Peacekeepers in South Sudan where they were serving in a specialized role as deminers.
Cambodia is known around the world for contributing a large number of specialists in explosive ordinance disposal and demining to UN Peacekeepers operations around the world.
“Cambodia received peacekeeping troops in 1993, and we feel that we have to contribute in the same way as other countries did when they worked in the UN mission in our country. So, we understand that countries and people suffer during conflict – and they need help.”
UN News Cambodia: Giving back to UN peacekeeping, quote by Colonel Vongvannak
There’s a meditative prayer by Preah Maha Ghosananda – who is sometimes called Cambodia’s Gandhi – that goes, “The suffering of Cambodia has been deep. From this suffering comes Great Compassion. Great Compassion makes a Peaceful Heart. A Peaceful Heart makes a Peaceful Person. A Peaceful Person makes a Peaceful Family. A Peaceful Family makes a Peaceful Community. A Peaceful Community makes a Peaceful Nation. A Peaceful Nation makes a Peaceful World. May all beings live in Happiness and Peace.” Let us all strive to turn our suffering into compassion, not fear and hatred.
As usual, very interesting!
Thank you.