“Antipersonnel landmines are explosive devices designed to injure or kill people. They can lie dormant for years and even decades under, on, or near the ground until a person or animal triggers their detonating mechanism” (Land Mine Monitor, 2014). There is not control for detonation of landmines and can be activated by pressure, by a radio signal or other remote method or by the closeness of a person. As landmines do not have a specific target are consider victim- activated weapons causing the kill or injure of civilians and soldiers.
Detonation of a landmine can be lethal or cause injuries such as blindness, burns, damage limbs and wounds. During and after conflicts or war, landmines can be found on roads, rural fields, forest, deserts and in the proximities to houses and schools. These weapons can also limit the access to food and water and obstruct the movement of the individual interfering with the people’s participation in education or having access to medical care. Landmines are being a concern for international entities and human rights advocates working towards banning landmines.
As a result, the “Mine Ban Treaty” was adopted on September 18, 1997 and put into action on March 1, 1999. The Mine Ban Treaty is “the most comprehensive international instrument for eradicating landmines and deals with everything from mine use, production and trade, to victim assistance, mine clearance and stockpile destruction”. Parties that are part of the ban treaty are obligated to: destroy antipersonnel mines, clear mine areas, give assistance to victims and provide annual report of implemented activities (Land Mine Monitor, 2014) Colombia: Landmines and Psychological Effect According to The Human Right Watch, Colombia has some of he highest rates of reported landmines incidents in the world. Antipersonnel landmines are made of improvised materials and each year hundreds of people are left maimed, blind, dead or deaf. Victims of landmines are often the weakest people of the Colombian society, being them from rural regions with no access to hospital or authorities and trapped in the armed conflict between guerrillas, military and paramilitary groups.
When a civilian is victim of a landmine injury all his/her life is affected not only physical (loss of limbs, legs, feet, hands and damage of the eyesight and hearing), but mental too as the situation will have an effect in the ability to provide for themselves and their families and in some cases they may be forced to displacement to the city looking for survival opportunities. Sometimes adult survivors became dependent of their children and usually the situation progresses into depression as the feeling of “being useless” is developed (Human Rights Watch, 2007).
The problems that victims have to face are similar to the ones that victims of traumatic amputation or other disabilities have to encounter (Bjork, 2012). Most of the time survivors from landmines incidents do not receive the adequate attention to injuries, because their lack of knowledge about the assistance: many of the survivors as well as local offices and healthcare providers are not informed about the benefits for landmines survivors that include transportation and healthcare costs to be covered by the government public assistance as well as economic compensation for the loss.
Some others, who are aware of the assistance struggle to get those benefits and even consider them inadequate to cover some of the basics needs. (Human Rights Watch, 2007). Colombian authorities indicate that guerrillas use the landmines to prevent that the military enters to territories that are controlled by the guerrilla and also to protect the drug production. Landmines discourage the military troops and when a soldier is injured not only he or she is put out of combat but also the person who is in care for transporting the injured. (Human Rights Watch, 2007).
Landmines and poverty are strongly related as landmines create insecurities among the community preventing them to invest on their own land. If the landmine issue is not address in a proper manner by the competent authorities, the population will not dedicate enough resources financially, emotionally and materially to rehabilitate the communities. This situation will also prevent future investors for engaging in a venture where there is not development. Some aspects are key factors to successfully recover individuals and societies that have been affected by the armed conflict.
As exposed by Bjork (2012), “Good Governance” is based on a western ideal and the model appears to be difficult to implement in some parts of the world. Good governance will allow the growing of available and new resources contributing to the advance of civilians and promoting communities economically and socially. Security and stability are also key factors to be encouraged as a mechanism to start giving stability to societies where communities need to be fully involved during the whole regeneration process.
Technological Solution “Deminers are the backbone of most clearance programmes. Highly trained specialists, combine technical skills and local knowledge to clear valuable land of mines and other explosive remnants of war (ERW)” (The Halo Trust, 2015). Electronic detectors are used to help in the find of mines. These detectors are capable to trace the smallest pieces of metal that are used in the construction of landmines and each piece of metal is carefully examine to determine if possesses any potential danger.
As stated by The Halo Trust, a demainer may clear between 10-50 square metres a day. Manual demining is the approach often used when no machines are suitable to clean the ground from landmines. In areas with high contain of metals, ground-penetrating radars are used to identify and differentiate metal rubbish from actual landmines. Emergency surveys are conducted after a conflict has occurred. The collected data allows government to understand and address the problem specifically when displaced families are looking forward to return to their homes (The Halo Trust, 2015).
Conclusion Antipersonnel landmines are a problem faced for many countries, especially those where wars and armed conflicts have taken place. The population frequently affected is the most vulnerable part of the society being those in the rural areas often forced to displacement to the city looking for survival opportunities, but opportunities are not easy to find and most of the time survivors from landmines incidents ended up living from charity after facing mutilation and amputation that have disable them to continue providing for themselves and their families.
The problem is being addressed by governmen countries involved and with the support of international entities and organizations, initiatives are being developed and placed into action to minimize the effects of the problem; technology is playing a key role into this process by providing tools that not only make the practice a little easy, but that also are taking into consideration security measures.