landmines

Worldwide Land Mine Epidemic Inhibits Growth and Productivity of Nations

Once-fertile fields lie abandoned, haunted by the spectre of death and disfigurement. Roads are deathtraps, even for relief workers in armored vehicles. Lands where children once played sit empty, the deadly areas sometimes marked, sometimes not. For the men, women and children who contend every day with land mines, the sheer numbers of the weapons make prospects bleak.

"One hundred years from now," says CARE official Peter Middlemiss, "there will still be land mines in Angola."

Angola is only one of many countries suffering from this global epidemic. Currently 110 million land mines cover 64 countries, with 2 million more added each year. The weapons, inexpensive to produce or buy and easy to distribute, are extremely difficult to detect and costly to remove. In some places, mines seem to multiply faster than people. As a 1994 United Nations report stated, "Cambodia has more mines than children--two for every child."

CARE'S stand against land mines

In June of 1995, CARE joined the International Campaign to Ban Land Mines.

This coalition of more than 400 non-governmental organizations (NGOs) takes a clear and unequivocal stand against the proliferation of these insidious weapons.

CARE will address the land mine problem directly through its new Systematic Land Mine Removal Program. This program, the first attempted at the global level by an NGO, will clear areas of mines and educate local populations on mine avoidance and injury prevention. The program will begin in Angola, a country facing the prospect of 20 million land mines left over from its recently-ended civil war. CARE hopes to engage in similar work in Bosnia, Rwanda, Mozambique and Cambodia.

Even as CARE works to aid countries already plagued with mines, it also seeks to halt their spread. In a letter to the White House on May 3, 1996, CARE urged the Clinton Administration to "ban the manufacture, trade and use of anti-personnel and anti-tank mines at the earliest possible time." Two weeks later, the White House issued a press release announcing a limited ban on anti-personnel mines. While welcome, this limited ban fell far short of the total moratorium sought by CARE.

Why a total ban?

Land mines constitute a horrendous threat not only to life and property, but also to the economic development of much of the world. Scattered across some 64 countries, mines render both roads and croplands unusable, thereby disrupting commerce, isolating villages and wreaking havoc with agriculture. Above all, mines cause massive injury and loss of life, primarily to children and young people in their most productive years. Land mine injuries are difficult to treat and place a tremendous strain on the health care capabilities of developing countries, as well as burdening the victims' families.

Danger lingers long after the fighting has ended. Often, as conflict in a region winds down, land mine injuries dramatically escalate. Departing soldiers take with them knowledge of the mines, leaving returning civilians and settlers at the mercy of a hidden menace.

Mines threaten not only the indigenous populations of affected countries, but also the efforts of CARE and other relief agencies to deliver assistance to local areas. Since early 1995, CARE has lost four staff members to land mines, two in Afghanistan and two in Ethiopia, as well as $425,000 in vehicles. As CARE moves to implement its new land mine education and removal program, the risks for its workers will only increase.

Opposition to mines

In recent months, many other individuals and groups have taken a public stand against the use of land mines:

The New York Times, on March 17, 1996, reported a changing mood within the United States government and military toward the use of mines. In what could be the beginning of a major change, Gen. John Shalikashvili, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has ordered a review of U.S. land mine policy. This review came as a result of growing Congressional opposition to mines, along with pressure from international campaigns. The experiences of U.S. troops in Bosnia only further hastened the Pentagon toward a review of mine policy; at least three U.S. soldiers have already been injured by some of the more than 3 million mines scattered across that country.

Earlier in March, the Netherlands joined Canada, Belgium, Mexico, Austria, and six other countries in renouncing the use of mines. France prohibited land mine production and export. More than twenty other countries now call for the banning of mines, according to Human Rights Watch, a leading anti-mine campaigner.

For only the second time in its history, the International Committee of the Red Cross called upon the world community to ban a weapon, when in the fall of 1995 it launched a crusade against land mines. In explaining the stance by an organization which normally refrains from advocacy, Red Cross land mine campaign director Urs Boegli stated, "We've simply seen too much."

While some in the U.S. Defense Department justify "responsible" American use of land mines, others take an opposing view. Timothy Connolly, an assistant secretary of defense, places mines in the same category as chemical weapons, and as such, calls for a ban on the grounds of "their devastating consequences, to soldiers and civilians." Even retired U.S. generals such as Gen. Frederick R. Woerner and Lt. Gen. Harold Moore have joined the crusade against land mines, signing their names to an open letter to the President urging a ban. Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf has also added his voice to the growing ranks of former officers speaking out against land mines, stating, "I very much oppose antipersonnel land mines because they are indeed indiscriminate in their killing and maiming."

Removing the mines

It's cheaper to put a land mine in place than to detect and remove it, and little work has been put into the development of modern mine detection systems. As a result, mine detection and removal techniques have changed little since World War II. This poses a huge problem in today's world, with the majority of modern mines made of plastic and therefore extremely difficult to detect on a former battlefield. Now, however, with the United States encountering the problem of Bosnia's 3 million mines firsthand, work proceeds on infrared and radar sensing mechanisms for mine detection. Robotic mine detectors and detonators may even come into play.

Unfortunately, the vast expense involved in mine removal precludes a large-scale effort to completely rid the world of mines. Even with an immediate ban on the production and proliferation of any new mines, the land mine epidemic likely will linger for a long while to come. In the meantime, educating the inhabitants of mine-infested areas in mine avoidance and protection seems the best way to prevent the crisis from worsening.

That's why CARE works in places like Menongue, Angola. "CARE wants to remove the constant fear that now governs the lives of thousands," says Peter Middlemiss. "Through the awareness program, the people of Menongue learn to respect land mines and walk through life safely without fear."

Ester Sacapa agrees. As both a CARE land mine awareness instructor and a mother of five, she wishes all the land mines could simply be removed. "Until then," she says, "we are saving our children's and neighbors' arms and legs by telling them where to walk and what to do if they see a land mine."