His grandson, Yeurng Cheurn, was sprawled out on the road, his left leg riddled with fragments from an antipersonnel mine. Yeurng knelt to pick up the child who was writhing with pain. As he stood up and was trying to regain his balance, his right foot stepped on another mine, causing serious injuries to them both. Yeurng lives in the district of Rattanak Mondul in Cambodia, a landmine-infested area near the Thai border. The number of countries producing anti-personnel landmines has dropped from 54 to 16.
China is suspected of being the largest producer.
The United States is classified as a producer because it refuses to enact a formal moratorium or issue a formal statement against production. Church World Service and the National Council of Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., as well as many U.S. churches, actively participate through the U.S. Campaign. The ICBL won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1997 and in 1999 saw the implementation by more than 100 nations of the Ottawa Convention banning landmines. The Convention requires participants to completely and permanently discontinue the use and production of anti-personnel landmines, destroy stockpiles within four years, and clear mines within their own territory within ten years. More than 135 countries have now signed the treaty, and 80 countries have ratified it.