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ANTI-LANDMINE TREATY WORKING, LIVES AND LIMBS SAVED

Progress has been made but more work remains to eradicate landmines.

A report released by Landmine Monitor at the United Nations shows that since the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty entered into force ten years ago, significant progress has been made in eradicating antipersonnel mines, but much work remains.

Global use, production, and trade of antipersonnel mines have dramatically reduced. Some 3,200km2 of land has been cleared of mines and explosive remnants of war (ERW), and new casualties each year declined significantly to 5,197 recorded casualties in 2008.

However, serious challenges remain, with more than 70 states still mine-affected, and assistance to mine survivors falling short of what is needed.

Eighty percent of the world’s states are party to the Mine Ban Treaty. Thirty-nine countries—including China, India, Pakistan, Russia, and the United States—have yet to join the treaty. In recent years, Myanmar and Russia are the only states using antipersonnel mines.

Thirty-eight countries have formally halted mine production, but 13 countries continue to be listed as mine producers. No trade between states has been confirmed since 1999.

Eighty-six States Parties have destroyed 44 million stockpiled antipersonnel mines. But three states—Belarus, Greece, and Turkey—missed their stockpile destruction deadlines in 2008 and remain in serious violation of the treaty.

Since 1999, more than 2.2 million emplaced antipersonnel mines, 250,000 antivehicle mines, and 17 million ERW have been removed from an area twice the size of London (3,200km2). In 2008, mine action programs cleared an area the size of Brussels (160km2). In 2009, Tunisia became the 11th State Party to complete its clearance obligations under the treaty.

However, ensuring States Parties fulfill their treaty-mandated mine clearance obligations is proving difficult, and according to Stuart Casey-Maslen of Landmine Monitor, “Fifteen states with mine clearance treaty deadlines in 2009 were granted extensions of up to 10 years to complete clearance, though some, such as the United Kingdom and Venezuela, exerted little effort to meet their original deadlines.”

Although casualty rates have decreased steadily over the past decade, from 1999–2008 Landmine Monitor identified 73,576 casualties in 119 countries and areas.

“Victim assistance has made the least progress of the major mine action sectors over the last decade, with both funding and the provision of assistance falling short of what is needed,” said Stan Brabant of Landmine Monitor, “Hundreds of thousands of people need more and better assistance, and they need it now.”

International support for mine action totaled US$517.8 million in 2008. More than $4 billion has been allocated to mine action since 1999.

The 1997 Mine Ban Treaty prohibits the use, production, and trade of antipersonnel landmines. Landmine Monitor Report 2009 is the 11th annual report by the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, co-laureate of the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize.