This day is dedicated to raising awareness about the serious impact of landmines and other explosive remnants of war on civilians. It is also intended to promote the protection of persons with disabilities in conflict and peace-building settings.
Planting landmines in warring areas needs to be condemned. Those responsible for such cruelties should be taken to task. Both the soldiers and their taskmasters.
Wars in Afghanistan have recorded leaving a deadly legacy for the civilians. In 2016 nearly 1,000 children were killed in Afghanistan due to landmines.
According to the UN Children’s Agency, the number of civilian casualties, including children, who were killed or maimed by landmines and explosive ordnance in Myanmar more than doubled last year to 1,052.
According to UNICEF, landmines and explosive remnants of war caused a 270% jump in casualties in 2023. Children made up more than 20% of all landmine victims last year, it said
The conflict in Myanmar
has turned the country into one of the most landmine-contaminated countries in the world.
Global casualties from anti-personnel landmines were “exceptionally high” in 2020 with Syrians and Afghans worst-hit, a UN-backed civil society report said.
“The use of landmines is not only reprehensible but also illegal under international humanitarian law,” said Debora Comini, UNICEF regional director for East Asia and the Pacific.
