Addressing the Environmental and Humanitarian Challenges of Landmines

Jul 5, 2024 | Inna Chefranova, EU Today
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The pervasive use of landmines in conflicts around the world has become a universal issue, impacting numerous countries and posing significant challenges for decades. Landmines come in two varieties: anti-personnel and anti-vehicle mines. Both have caused immense suffering over the past decades. Anti-personnel landmines are prohibited under the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production, and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on Their Destruction, commonly known as the Mine Ban Convention, adopted in 1997. More than 150 countries have joined this treaty, resulting in a marked reduction of casualties, an increased number of mine-free states, destroyed stockpiles, and improved assistance to victims. The Mine Ban Convention requires countries to clear landmines from their territories and prescribes that states in a position to do so assist affected countries.