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| Sunday, 09 April 2006 |
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Features |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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How to get by with....... Life on a minefield by Vimukthi Fernando
Take your time. And think... The last thing you expect would be a blast that rips off your foot as you step in. This may sound extreme, yet, it is not very far from reality for some of us, especially from the northern and eastern part of the country, where a war had been raging for nearly two decades. Many have died. Many more, maimed for life. Mines contaminate 730 villages in eight districts in Sri Lanka, according to the Strategy For Mine Action Sri Lanka (SMASL) launched by the Ministry of Nation Building and Development (MNBD). The one to one and a half million anti-personnel mines laid on Sri Lankan soil, according to estimates of the Sri Lanka Mine Action Programme (SLMAP), had claimed 191 civilian lives, and had injured 1099 from 1985 upto end March 2006. The numbers of the injured and killed had peaked in 2001. Nearly 200 have been injured and over 25 killed as a result of land mines.
Landmines not only injure people physically. It affects psycho-social development at an individual level. At a broader level, it affects resettlement, makes agricultural land unproductive and is a drain on a country's economy and health and rehabilitation services, says Tim Horner, Director, SLMAP. Landmines and Unexploded Ordnance (UXO), the remnants of war, adversely impact the livelihoods of people in 82 countries all over the world. Although the United Nations has drawn up a Convention/Treaty banning anti-personnel mines with 149 countries signing their consent, ... countries including Sri Lanka had not signed the treaty. In Sri Lanka the problem is 'containable' says Horner. SLMAP estimates that the priority or high risk areas could be addressed between 2006 and 2008. A priority/high risk area is defined in the SMASL as "a minefield in a populated area or area soon to be resettled, blocks access to essential infrastructure/water and/or food. The local population is forced to use the area even though it is mined." The security situation, financial support and weather conditions could affect the de-mining operations favourably or adversely. "Military action by any side would hamper the operations," says Horner citing the escalation of violence in the North and East since December 2005. Bad weather or rain and lack of monetary support are the other two factors that hamper de-mining.
The army had submitted the necessary maps to the SLMAP, to carry out the task of de-mining. There are no records of the minefields laid by the LTTE. However, "the LTTE had also followed a pattern in laying mines and the authorities have been supportive," says Horner. Sri Lanka's de-mining program had started in 1997, while the war was still going on with the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) and the Humanitarian Demining Unit (HDU) of the TRO (Tamils Rehabilitation Organisation) taking the lead and commencing mine clearing activities on their own. In 2002, the activities increased with the support of the UN Mine Action Programme. Now, with the Ministry of Nation Building and Development at the helm, the strategy for mine action aims for a mine-threat free Sri Lanka by 2008. Eleven international and local NGOs with over 2000 field staff are operating at field level to make it an achievable goal. **** International Mine Action Day To draw much needed attention and give voice to this cause, April 4, was declared as the International Mine-Action Day by the UN General Assembly in November 2005. The inaugural 'International Mine Action Day' was celebrated in 28 countries over the world, on Tuesday April 4, 2006. Sri Lanka commemorated the event by programmes in Colombo and in the mine affected areas of Ampara, Batticaloa, Jaffna, Kilinochchi, Trincomalee and Vavuniya. Persons with disabilities played a main role in these celebrations which also included cultural items. UN Mine Action Programme The problem of the loss of lives and limbs due to landmines and other explosive devices due to wars and conflicts all over the world is a considerable problem that impedes the socio-economic growth of countries. The UN Mine Action Programme (UNMAP) tries to address this problem through: 1) Mine Risk Education (MRE) by educating the residents of the risk areas 2) Demining or clearing the lands of the devices and marking or fencing off minefields to minimise its effects on the lives of residents 3) Victim assistance 4) Advocacy action to ban land-mines and to stigmatise its use 5) Stockpile destruction In Sri Lanka UNDP and UNICEF play a main role providing technical support for the programme. 14 UN agencies are involved in the international mine action programme. |
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| Produced by Lake House |
If you had to stay away from home - the place you were born and bred...
spent your childhood... etched with happy memories of loved ones - for a
very long time, what would you expect to get when you come back? Think. 
A peaceful existence was the hope of thousands of re-settlers who went
back to their homesteads waiting for the Cease Fire Agreement (CFA) between
the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) and the LTTE. Landmines or anti-personnel
mines were there to greet them at their homes, near their wells, on their
way to paddy fields and in their cultivation plots. What would those
innocent civilians returning to their homesteads after living in dire
temporary conditions for 15 to 20 years have felt? What would you feel if
the same happened to you or to a loved one? 
Sri Lanka's de-mining operation is "straightforward. They are laid in
large proportions by army engineers following careful military procedures,"
says Horner. 
