Trading Landmines for Gold Mines

This blog has previously expressed doubts about the effectiveness of proposed new laws to keep people from tampering with landmines.

As previously observed, the cruel economic realities of a drought might force people to ferret for cash in reclaiming forgotten ordnance.

Well recent news from Reuters shows that economic realities can also be used as an incentive to clear landmines in an orderly manner.

The lure of gold may instead motivate the world to help clear the region.

Foreign firms that have previously flocked to Laos, Thailand and Vietnam may now wish to set their sights on Cambodia for building gold mines, bauxite mines and iron ore mines.

But apart from the demining, the locals stand to gain little else.

"To date, the country's largely unregulated mining industry has yielded only small returns for families who dig for metals in the dry season and grow rice in the rainy months."