'They Lie Hidden in Fields and Schoolyards': Cambodia Warns of Lasting Harm as Thai Cluster Munitions Endanger Civilians

PHNOM PENH — Oct. 2, 2026: The danger does not end when the fighting stops. In Cambodia, it lingers in the soil — in rice fields, along forest paths, beside schoolyards — waiting for a farmer's hoe, a child's hand, a passing foot.

Cambodia has warned that cluster munitions used on its territory continue to kill and maim civilians long after they are dropped, linking that silent threat to the destruction inflicted on Preah Vihear Temple.

The Third Review Conference of the Convention on Cluster Munitions in Vientiane, Lao PDR, condemned any use of such weapons by any actor, of any type and in any manner — the standard Cambodia now measures the harm on its soil against.

More than 100 countries banned cluster munitions under the 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions. According to the ICRC, the weapons scatter hundreds of small, unguided submunitions across vast areas. Many fail to detonate on impact. They lie hidden in fields, forests, streets and schoolyards, sometimes mistaken for everyday objects by the adults and children who find them. From Laos to Lebanon, they have injured and killed civilians for decades.

At the 11th Technical Meeting of the ICC-Preah Vihear on Sept. 30, 2026, in Siem Reap, H.E. Heng Ratana, Royal Government Delegate in charge of CMAC, stated that airstrikes, artillery fire and drone operations struck Preah Vihear — a World Heritage Site and a peerless monument built by Khmer ancestors — with clear planning, defined targets and explicit command direction. He said the destruction will require enormous time and resources to repair.

For Cambodia, the two are inseparable. The same weapons that scarred a World Heritage Site continue to threaten farmers, children and communities returning to their land — people whose only offence was to come home.

In a separate statement, H.E. Heng Ratana said every Cambodian has an absolute duty to defend the nation's territorial integrity, especially Preah Vihear Temple. He said anyone who supports an invading adversary that occupies Cambodian territory, destroys homes and villages, causes casualties among soldiers and civilians, and demolishes Khmer temples has betrayed the nation.

Source: H.E. Heng Ratana / ICC-Preah Vihear

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1Davw3DAZU/

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1EUfkcw6gb/

ICRC

https://www.icrc.org/en/law-and-policy/cluster-munitions#text940662

Reported by The Khmer Today