Anti-personnel landmines are amongst the most insidious weapons of war. According to United Nations statistics there are more than 70 countries contaminated with 60 to 70 million landmines. The victims are usually civilians and not soldiers.
2,000 people, many of them women and children, are killed, injured or maimed every month.
There is no end in sight.
More new landmines are deployed every single day than old ones cleared. Demining costs run as high as $1,000 for mines sold for as little as $3. Demining is dangerous and costly, in money and in time. Local demining equipment still consists largely of metal detectors, sticks and pocket knives.
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The continents most affected are Africa and Asia .
In most countries landmines that are detonated either by direct force or by pull have been in the ground for several years. Due to partial rotting the devices' functionality cannot be determined. The present number of anti-personnel landmines (APL) is usually much higher than that of anti-tank (AT) landmines. The APL-AT ratio in Cambodia is 1 : 9. Every year 20,000 people are maimed or killed by landmines. |
