“This is the most dangerous period; once people start returning to the north, that’s when most accidents will occur, because they won’t be familiar with where your unexploded ordnance is located,” said Mungo Birch, Chief of the UN Mine Action Programme (UNMAS) in the State of Palestine. “It’s important that once the returns start, we’re poised and ready to be able to provide the risk education they need.”
A sign in Ukraine warns of landmines.
“The area that has been contaminated – the farmland that has been contaminated – used to provide food for 80 million people around the world, mostly middle-income and low-income countries.”
Echoing that concern, veteran landmine clearance specialist Paul Heslop explained that the economic ramifications of the conflict represented a “billions-of-dollar problem” that was happening at the expense of the world’s most vulnerable:
“If the mined land or the suspected mined land in Ukraine is causing fuel to be one cent a litre or two cents a litre more than it needs to be, or a loaf of bread or a box of pasta to be 10 cents a box, or a loaf more than it needs to be, and you multiply that across how many loaves of bread are bought every day in the world – billions; how many litres of fuel are used every day – billions; you start to talk about the economic impact of the perception and the presence of mines and UXO (unexploded ordnance) in Ukraine as being a billions-of-dollar problem for every country in the world.”
Beyond the economic impact of the Ukraine war, Mr. Heslop – Programme Manager for Mine Action at UNDP Ukraine – described the terrible injuries being caused by the fighting:
“It’s not just a lower limb like we’ve seen a lot of in Africa over the years where you know, somebody’s out gathering firewood or fruit and they step on the mine and they blow their leg off. In Ukraine, because of the nature and the intensity of the conflict, we’re often seeing double or triple or even quadruple amputees, and a lot of the those injured are in their 20s and 30s.”
Sudan danger zone
Demining action and removing the risk of unexploded weapons is already a serious problem in Sudan, where more than a year of fighting between rival militaries has left millions on the verge of famine, including in major built-up areas where people have little idea about the dangers.
“It’s a big change; a big risk is obviously for the civilians because the people, residents of the capital, they never experienced this kind of war in the history of Sudan,” said Mohammad Sediq Rashid, Chief of UN Mine Action Programme in Sudan.
“Unfortunately, unexploded ordnance accidents are happening now. There’s a little bit of change in terms of access. Part of the capital is now gradually becoming accessible, so civilians are not waiting for (mine) clearance to happen.”