RealAudio clip: 
Click to hear John MacInnis on mine clearance priorities 

 

The role of Canadians as peacekeepers is recognized and respected both nationally and internationally. In 1997, this recognition increased dramatically with the culmination of the Ottawa Process to ban anti-personnel mines (more below). 

Mine Clearance 
Notwithstanding the importance of the land mine ban, a major issue in peacekeeping in Bosnia, Croatia, Angola and other mine hot spots of the world continues to be mine-clearance. 

See Hot Topic for more information on research and progress in mine clearing techniques. 

One Canadian peacekeeper writes of the importance of his mission: 

"... I am very confident in my knowledge and ability to keep myself from danger... I know what this stuff can do. Civilians, small children don't. My skills are to protect them. Engineers think of how many lives they are saving, not of the one they risk." 

Mine clearance is normally broken into three stages: detection, removal and disposal. 

John MacInnis was the Canadian Deputy Force Commander in the former Yugoslavia during that country's civil war.  Until December, 1997 he was Chief of the Mine Clearance and Policy Unit, at the Department of Humanitarian Affairs, United Nations. He says demining is in its infancy. There are at least three injuries and one death for every five thousand land mines removed. He explains that detection of mines is the greatest challenge. "It is the perception of risk rather than the risk itself that is the real problem out there". If there is a perception that a village, a field, or a road is mined, that area becomes useless regardless of the number of mines actually present. Detecting the presence of mines is therefore the first step. Current detection methods range from high-tech electronic (ground penetrating radar, infra-red, magnetic resonance imaging) to biological detection schemes (dog sniffers and insects or bacteria) to simple brute force detonation methods (flails, rollers and plows) and the use of hand-held mechanical prodders. 

MacInnis' role is to help developing countries develop their own civilian demining capacity and to develop standards. In practice, MacInnis notes that current detection methods most often begin with dogs. Dogs can indicate if mines are present, or more importantly, if they are not, in which case the land becomes available for use once again. When dogs confirm the presence of mines, the next course is to clear mines using mechanical devices, which are only about 60 - 70% effective and then for individuals to complete the job by lying on the ground and prodding the area in front of them. Obviously mine clearance is both expensive and time-consuming. 

See the United Nations text on International Standards for Humanitarian Mine Clearance Operations. 

There is some cause for hope. Peacekeepers like Mark Isfeld have made great strides in mine clearance, not only by removing mines but also by teaching local populations how to avoid getting caught by mines. And by setting priorities for mine clearance, it is possible to maximize the impact of the actual clearing completed. The Department of Humanitarian Affairs of the UN follows this order of priority: 

1. allow the return of displaced people to their homes 
2. return agricultural land to productive use 
3. allow reopening of schools, churches and other areas integral to a community 
4. allow the redevelopment and reconstruction of the economy 

Treatment 
Even while research progresses into advanced methods of detection, thousands of people continue to be maimed and killed every year from exploding mines. Adequate treatment and rehabilitation is currently not available for many landmine survivors. 

The International Committee of the Red Cross estimates the cost of treating a landmine victim as follows: a patient in one of its hospitals typically costs around US$120 per day. Given that a mine amputee stays in hospital for around 30 days this amounts to a cost per patient of between US$3,000 and US$4,000. In addition, each artificial limb costs between US$100 and US$150. When the costs of fitting the limb, lodging the amputee, logistics and equipment are added, the total cost is $1,000. And a young active person will often require a replacement every two years. The global cost each year of providing physical rehabilitation to all mine amputees therefore amount to tens of millions of dollars. All agencies, however, are chronically short of funds to continue existing programs, let alone to set up new ones. 

Land Mines Casualty Facts 

• up to 50% of mine victims die within minutes of the blast, before receiving medical assistance 
• 28.5% of mine blast survivors lose one or both legs 
• 75% of amputees require blood transfusions which increase the risk of the spread of blood contaminants 
• patients requiring amputation undergo an average of 4 surgical operations 
• Childrenís artificial limbs should be replaced every six months and adults every 3-5 years; thus an injured ten year old will require at least 25 prostheses during his/her lifetime (at about $150 each, this is often prohibitive) 

The French-based Handicap International, like the International Committee of the Red Cross, reports that an increasing proportion of its resources is devoted to mine-related surgery or the fitting of prosthetic devices to women and children who step on anti-personnel mines as they herd sheep or search for firewood. Phillippe Chabasse, Executive Director of Handicap International, explained the reason for which his organization advocates a ban on anti-personnel land mines: with so many new injuries sustained on a daily basis: "We have to work very hard just to get back to zero". 

Global Ban on Land Mines 

Celina Tuttle, Mines Action Canada  
When thousands more mines are being laid every day, working to demine land, and to treat and rehabilitate those injured by land mines, appears almost futile. For Celina Tuttle of Mines Action Canada and hundreds of other individuals and organizations around the world, a critical answer is the international ban of anti-personnel mines. For, while it is primarily the people of developing countries who suffer the consequences of mine warfare, it is by and large the developed world that produces them. 

Ending production, trade and deployment of all AP land mines is obviously the only long term solution to the crisis. 

And, in Ottawa in December, 1997, over 100 countries became signatories to  "The Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on Their Destruction." 

This tremendous step in the eradication of anti-personnel land mines was spearheaded by Jody Williamson of the US-based International Campaign to Ban Landmines, who earned the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize for her work.  The campaign was greatly assisted by the late Diana, Princess of Wales, whose support for the ban attracted signficant media attention. 

Politically, however, it was Canada which took the lead role.  Celina Tuttle, Coordinator of Mines Action Canada, is one Canadian who was not content to wait for solutions to be found elsewhere. Working with many other Canadian individuals and organizations, she helped mobilize a very strong campaign which contributed to the Canadian commitment to ban landmines and ultimately to the signing of the international treaty.  See Maclean's article in The Newsroom. 

At the Ottawa Land Mines Conference, October 3, 1996, in a surprise move, Foreign Minister Lloyd Axworthy challenged other countries to sign a treaty that would ban the production, trade, stockpiling and use of antipersonnel mines. The treaty signing date was set for December, 1997 at a follow-up meeting to be hosted once again by Canada. See a Globe and mail article on the 1996 Conference. 

Canada's announcement represented a major policy shift. It was not long ago that Canadian-produced land mines were being exported. In fact, Canadian mines (manufactured by SNC Industrial Technologies Inc.) were found in Iraqi arsenals following the Persian Gulf War. As recently as September 1995, Canada's official position was that land mines had value in some circumstances and that the government could not support a total ban on production and use. 

How did Canada get there so fast? 
Celina Tuttle credits several factors for Canada's change of heart: 

• massive public interest in the issue fueled by irrefutable evidence of the destructive powers of AP mines 
• the appointments of MPs, Ministers and staff within the Department of Foreign Affairs who were sympathetic to the cause of banning AP mines 
• sustained and sympathetic media coverage on land mines and the international campaign to ban them. 

Formed in 1994-5, Mines Action Canada (MAC) is a coalition of non-governmental organizations with a membership of 38 Canadian development, disarmament, faith and social justice non-governmental organizations. Mines Action Canada has made a major contribution to the debate by mobilizing public opposition, encouraging Canadians to write letters of protest and ensuring that the Canadian media had access to current information. For more information on Canadian students who participated in this work, see It's Your Planet. 

In its efforts to bring the cause of land mines to public, media and government attention, MAC worked very closely with the International Campaign to Ban Land mines (ICBL). ICBL encapsulates an extraordinary effort of cooperation between hundreds of non-governmental organizations around the world. As of December 1996, 725 organizations from 42 countries were members of ICBL - click here for the list which also identifies Mines Action Canada's membership. 

Link to "Safe Lane" - Canada's Department of Foreign Affairs' Ottawa Process web site 
 
Link to Canadian Centre for Foreign Policy Development's land mine web site. 

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