GENEVA: New land mine use in Myanmar, Ukraine and other conflicts coupled with funding cuts for clearance saw casualty numbers surge in 2024, a monitor said Monday, warning the international ban faced “unprecedented challenges.”
According to the Landmine Monitor, 6,279 people were wounded or killed by land mines and explosive remnants of war (ERW) across 52 countries and areas last year.
Civilians — nearly half of them children — made up 90 percent of global casualties, it said.
The number of overall casualties, which included 1,945 people killed, was nearly 500 more than a year earlier and marked the highest annual figure since 2020.
The report “reveals a stark reality: civilians are bearing the consequences, as efforts to clear mined areas face waning global donor support for essential humanitarian activities,” the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) cautioned in a statement.
The organization also decried “unprecedented challenges” to the long-standing international ban on land mines after five NATO countries announced in March they would quit the treaty amid fears over “Russian aggression.”
“The norms of the Mine Ban Treaty are under direct threat as Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland are in the process of withdrawing under the treaty’s Article 20,” ICBL said.
It also highlighted Ukraine’s attempt to “suspend” its compliance due to the conflict raging since Russia began its full-scale invasion nearly four years ago, stressing that such an action was “not permitted under the treaty.”
‘Dangerous erosion’
“These developments, together with continued use and production, mark a dangerous erosion of the global norm that has saved countless lives since 1999,” when the treaty took effect, it said.
“Turning back is not an option,” ICBL chief Tamar Gabelnick insisted in the statement.
“We have come too far, and the human cost is simply too high.”
The increase in casualty numbers last year was largely due to mines used in conflict-hit countries outside the treaty ban like Myanmar, Syria and Russia, and by treaty party Ukraine, Monday’s report said.
It found that Russia had used antipersonnel mines “extensively” in Ukraine since February 2022.
There were meanwhile “increasing indications of antipersonnel mine use by Ukraine,” the report said, adding, though, that “the scale of this use is unclear.”
What was not unclear were the consequences in the country, with Ukraine recording nearly 300 casualties from the devices last year.
Civil war-wracked Myanmar meanwhile recorded most land mine casualties globally in 2024 for the second consecutive year, recording 2,029 people hurt or killed, the report found.
In second place, with 1,015 casualties was Syria, where civilians have faced high exposure to land mines and ERW as they return home after the toppling of longtime ruler Bashar Assad last December ended nearly 14 years of brutal civil war, it said.
Funding crisis
At a global level, the Landmine Monitor noted that the total area cleared of mines had declined in 2024 compared with previous years, “reflecting reduced donor funding and growing insecurity in affected regions.”
The report also highlighted that donor contributions for victim assistance, which represents only five percent of all mine action funding, fell by almost a quarter in 2024.
Those challenges have been further compounded this year by a dramatic international aid funding crisis.
Since President Donald Trump returned to the White House at the start of the year, the United States, traditionally the world’s top donor, has slashed foreign aid.
Although the United States does not figure among the 166 signatories of the mine ban treaty, it had been the single biggest national funder of mine action.
Landmine casualties swell amid ban challenges: monitor
https://arab.news/m6xnu
Landmine casualties swell amid ban challenges: monitor
- Civilians — nearly half of them children — made up 90 percent of global casualties
- Civil war-wracked Myanmar recorded most land mine casualties globally in 2024
Walk for peace: Buddhist monks arrive in Washington after 2,300-mile journey
- Monks started in Texas, walked through nine states
- Walkers trod daily through frigid winter weather
WASHINGTON: Draped in burnt-orange robes, two dozen Buddhist monks arrived in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday on a 2,300-mile “Walk for Peace,” a self-described spiritual journey across nine states that has been cheered on by crowds of thousands. “People want this,” said Joan Donoghue, 59, from Silver Spring, Maryland, who had come out with four of her friends on Tuesday to see the monks. “I went on Sunday in Virginia and I waited outside for a long time and I talked to so many people and they all said the same thing: that our country needs this. We feel divided and people want more kindness and more compassion and more peace.”
The monks began their walk in Texas more than three months ago, at times braving frigid winter temperatures, sometimes with bare feet, to raise “awareness of peace, loving kindness, and compassion across America and the world.” The marchers continued on despite a powerful winter storm that spread a paralyzing mix of heavy snow, sleet and freezing rain from the Ohio Valley and mid-South to New England, compounded by bitter, Arctic cold gripping much of the US Accompanied by Aloka, a rescue dog from India who has gained a following on social media as “the Peace Dog,” their journey comes at a time of growing tensions in the US President Donald Trump’s tough immigration policy has seen surges of immigration agents and National Guard troops deployed in some cities, with both American citizens and immigrants killed by federal agents.
“We walk not to protest, but to awaken the peace that already lives within each of us,” said Bhikkhu Pannakara, spiritual leader of the Walk for Peace. “The Walk for Peace is a simple yet meaningful reminder that unity and kindness begin within each of us and can radiate outward to families, communities, and society as a whole.”
They will spend Tuesday and Wednesday in Washington and end their journey in nearby Annapolis, Maryland on Thursday.
The walk has garnered support from millions of people on social media, with many sharing messages of support for the monks. Supporters have braved snow and rain to meet and offer flowers to the monks as they passed through their cities. In Washington, hundreds of people came out to see the monks as they walked along a road informally known as Embassy Row because of the high number of embassies and diplomatic residences.
Coleman O’Donoghue, 62, of Washington, caught the attention of many of those onlookers as he carried a large flag with the peace symbol on a sea of blue. Tuesday was the fourth time he and his wife, Bonnie, had seen the monks.
“They are beautiful distraction from the chaos that is taking place in the city, the country and in the world right now,” O’Donoghue said. “It gives everyone a second to pause and think about something that is not as stressful as what the chaos is creating.”
While they waited hours just to see the monks for less than a minute, many of the spectators said the camaraderie and good energy made the experience worthwhile.
Julie Segor, 58, of Washington, made friends with a couple she met while waiting. Carl, 61, and Christine Varner, 65, of Maryland, pooled their flowers and fruit with her to give to the monks as they passed.
“It was a shared common interest to see the monks on the peace walk and give them some fruit and flowers,” Christine said.
During their stop in North Carolina, the state’s governor, Josh Stein, thanked the monks for bringing hope to millions with their message of peace, equality, justice and compassion.
“You are inspiring people at a time when so many are in need of inspiration,” Stein said. The Walk for Peace has made stops in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia. The monks met with spiritual and other leaders after arriving in Washington. They also held an interfaith ceremony at the National Cathedral.
During the ceremony at the cathedral, Kimberly Bassett, the District of Columbia’s secretary of state, presented the monks with a proclamation honoring them on behalf of the Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser.
“Today may mark the end of a 2,300-mile walk but it is not the end of our journey for peace. Your pilgrimage has brought people together across cities, states and communities,” Bassett said.
Although the walk has been positive, it has not been without obstacles. While walking through Dayton, Texas, a truck struck the monks’ escort vehicle, injuring several people, according to local media. Two monks sustained serious injuries and one had his leg amputated.
Despite the accident, the group continued to trek across the US to honor not only their original message of peace but also their brothers.
