Landmine issues

Landmines kill and mutilate civilians, peacekeepers and humanitarian workers without discrimination. Hidden in the ground and always active, these landmines are permanent threats to human lives.

It is estimated that there are between 15,000 and 20,000 new landmine victims each year. Many people die in the mine fields, lacking emergency care. As for the survivors, they risk amputations, and require targeted care and a lengthy rehabilitation. Hundreds of thousands of people were killed or wounded by landmines during the last decade.

In some of the poorest countries, the presence of landmines deprives people of their lands and limits their access to basic infrastructures. Landmines also complicate the return of refugees and displaced populations. They constitute an obstacle to reconstruction and the provision of assistance, in addition to causing the death of livestock and damages to the environment.
Thus, it is very important to link mine action to development programming.

84 countries and 8 territories in the world are still infested with landmines. Afghanistan, Angola, Bosnia, Kampuchea, Chetchnia and Iraq are the countries most seriously affected.

Today landmines are still being set in some countries, and minefields set during the last decade remain active, threatening innocent victims. More than ten countries still produce landmines.

Our actions against anti-personnel mines and unexploded ordnances
Handicap International intervenes in various ways to counter the impact of landmines, unexploded ordnances and cluster munitions.

In developing countries, Handicap International provides support to landmine victims through:

• Programmes in orthopaedics and rehabilitation.

• The implementation of mine clearance programmes and public awareness campaigns on the danger of landmines.

• Participation in studies relating to the consequences of landmines.

At the international level, Handicap International takes part in various international campaigns, in addition to being an active member of the International Campaign to Ban LandMines, which advocated successfully for the implementation of the Treaty of Ottawa.