Jesuit Service Cambodia and Jesuit Refugee Service call for ban on cluster bombs

The gate of Bantaey Prieb (Centre of the Dove), the Jesuit Services-Cambodia vocational and training centre for the disabled, is presently adorned with a very large banner calling for the Banning of Cluster Bombs. Jesuit Services Cambodia and Jesuit Refugee Services, in the light of the very successful campaign to ban land mines, are now actively campaigning for an international treaty banning cluster munitions. Cluster bombs indiscriminately scatter explosives over wide areas. Many of the bomblets fail to explode on impact, killing and injuring civilians after the conflict (www.stopclustermunitions.org), and remnants of cluster bombs remain in Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos years after the Indochinese conflict. They have also been used in recent conflicts in Lebanon and Iraq. It is estimated that billions of cluster bombs are stockpiled by over 70 countries. The staff of Jesuit Services-Cambodia knows all too well the cost of being injured and maimed by unexploded ordinances.

The gate of Bantaey Prieb (Centre of the Dove), the Jesuit Services-Cambodia vocational and training centre for the disabled is presently adorned with a very large banner calling for the Banning of Cluster Bombs. Jesuit Services Cambodia and Jesuit Refugee Services, in the light of the very successful campaign to ban land mines, are now actively campaigning for an international treaty banning cluster munitions. Cluster bombs indiscriminately scatter explosives over wide areas. Many of the bomblets fail to explode on impact killing civilians and injuring civilians after the conflict (www.stopclustermunitions.org) and remnants of cluster bombs remain in Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos years after the Indochinese conflict. They have also been used in recent conflicts in Lebanon and Iraq. It is estimated that billions of cluster bombs are stockpiled by over 70 countries.

The staff of Jesuit Services-Cambodia knows all too well the cost of being injured and maimed by unexploded ordinances. Many of the teaching staff and students have been disabled by landmines as well as war, polio or accidents. In their recent in-service training, the staff discussed the impact of such injuries on student’s mental health and how best to assist them in times of stress and trauma.

On the recent tour of the Cambodian dance troupe (www.jesuitmission.org), Bishop Kike Figaredo and members of the troupe called on the audience to sign a petition calling for the banning of cluster bombs. They informed the audience that the Australian government, while one of the governments endorsing the Wellington Declaration (this declaration being a step towards the final treaty), has expressed a willingness to still participate in joint military operations with states that will not be signatories to the future treaty. Our Cambodian friends are urging Australians to ask the Australian government to support a comprehensive ban on cluster munitions. More information on the ban on cluster bombs is  available at:  www.austcare.org.au/stopclusterbombs.aspx,  www.jrscambodia.org and on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUvIUqVk1F4

 Maryanne Loughry Associate Director Jesuit Refugee Service-Australia April 2008