Land Mines
First identified as a humanitarian concern in Afghanistan and Cambodia in the late 1980s, land mines have become an international issue. Afghanistan, Cambodia, and Angola are the world's most seriously affected countries; other Asian countries adversely affected by land mines include Myanmar (Burma), Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Laos, Lebanon, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Turkey, and Vietnam.
Land mines continue to endanger civilians long after wars end. The Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production, and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on Their Destruction was signed in Ottawa in 1997; by March 2001, 139 states had signed and 111 had ratified. Important Asian states that have not signed include Pakistan, India, and China. The treaty, negotiated outside regular disarmament forums, was an outstanding achievement, and the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) and its coordinator, American activist Jody Williams (b. 1950).
Although not a subject of the convention, antivehicle land mines and unexploded ordnance (UXO) are nevertheless significant threats. In Laos, and more recently in Afghanistan, for instance, so-called bomblets—small submunitions from U.S. cluster bombs—often fail to explode after hitting the ground, posing great risk for civilians.
In addition to causing injury and death, land mines can force nomads to change their traditional migration patterns (as in Afghanistan), prevent agricultural cultivation (as in Cambodia), or block important infrastructure. In Afghanistan and Cambodia, land mines became a significant concern when repatriated refugees returned to areas with massive mine problems.
Since the late 1980s, new humanitarian projects have been designed to increase awareness of the risks associated with land mines. Unfortunately, these efforts have been less successful among populations who have lived with mines for years. In many cases, civilians will enter a minefield by compulsion, searching for basic means of survival. Although the cost is often high and progress slow, Humanitarian mine clearance operations have made a significant impact. A 1999 U.N. report states that the Afghanistan program had cleared 166 square kilometers of an identified 311square-kilometer high-priority area. By mid-2000, however, some countries with substantial landmine or UXO problems, including Vietnam and Tajikistan, still lacked clearance capacity.
Kristian Berg Harpviken
Further Reading
Harpviken, Kristian Berg, and Mona Chr. Fixdal. (1997) "Anti-personnel Land Mines: A Just Means of War?" Security Dialogue 3, 28 (September): 151–165.
International Campaign to Ban Landmines. (1999) Landmine Monitor Report 1999: Toward a Mine-Free World. New York: Human Rights Watch.
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