UN:20,000 Dead Annually from Mines
Casualty Rates Drop but Civilians Continue to be Collateral Damage
Despite the best efforts of various United Nations (UN) agencies, landmines continue to kill almost 20,000 people each year.
Today the United Nations commemorates the International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action, as after a coordinated effort among various UN agencies, unexploded landmines around the world continue to be found and destroyed.
However, according to Under-Secretary-General Jean-Marie Guehenno, the top UN peacekeeping official, much work remains to be done as the devices continue to maim and kill a rough estimate of 20,000 people annually. Ever since the implementation of the Ottawa convention, the anti-personnel mine-ban treaty, "much obviously has been achieved in terms of eradicating devices which are in the ground and stigmatizing any new use of such weapons, in eliminating stockpiled devices, and in assisting victims," said Guehenno.
He also added how casualty rates from mine victims have been reduced by 50% and this has "enabled millions of people in mine-affected countries to resume their normal lives by making land safe for farming and by allowing children to walk safely to school by opening roads to transportation and commerce."
Guehenno called for stronger and more effective international agreements to combat this menace, and cited the danger posed by these devices even decades after their use in the field. In places like the Western Sahara and Cyprus, he said that as much as 15,000 are killed. Among the countries considered to be mine hotspots are Iraq, Kosovo, Lebanon and Vietnam, in which UN demining operations are undergoing. So far, around 100,000 submunitions from cluster bombs have been found and destroyed, but an estimated one million still remain.
In a related statement, UN Assistant High Commissioner for Refugees Judy Cheng-Hopkins said that "Civilian populations are often the first, and always the last, casualties of war. The devices ensure that the suffering continues well past the signing of peace treaties and accords, past the withdrawal of armed forces, and past the 'normalization' of relations between warring countries as groups."
In Sudan, where conflict rages on in the Darfur region between government and Janjaweed forces, UN agencies pledged to continue their operations to clearing the many mines and other devices in order to safeguard against further loss of human life. According to the UN Mine Action Office in Sudan (UNMAO), the leftover devices not only pose a threat to human life, but also hinder relief and peace efforts aimed at helping the region.
Currently, at least 14 different UN agencies are involved in the mine clearing and education purposes, among other initiatives, to rid the world of the war remnants. Also, in celebration of the International Day for Mine Awareness, various exhibits and activities around the world are to be held. Countries with significant mine awareness events are the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Eritrea, Switzerland, and Chechnya. Similarly, in UN Headquarters in New York, live mock demonstrations of demining operations and mine education seminars will be held for the benefit of the public.
