The protection implications of landmines and ERW.
Landmines are relatively inexpensive and simple to use; but their effects on civilians, and in many cases humanitarian workers, are devastating. Landmines are inherently indiscriminate in the sense that they cannot be aimed: they do not distinguish between the footstep of a child and that of a soldier. In fact, most of the victims of landmines and ERW are civilians, many of them living in countries that have long been at peace.
Landmines and ERW not only kill: they also cause severe injury and long-term disability, often with grave consequences. A landmine blast can cause severe burns, blindness, loss of limbs, and shrapnel wounds. Those who survive the initial blast often require amputations, long hospitalization, extensive rehabilitation and socio-economic assistance to enable their reintegration into society. Survivors and their families often suffer from lack of medical care, limited access to education and public services, unemployment, discrimination and stigma owing to disability or disfiguration as a result of mines or ERW.
The presence of land mines and ERW, or the mere threat of their presence, may also restrict freedom of movement and block access to fields, roads, water supplies, schools, health centres and other public services. Landmines can thus impede social and economic
development and have a paralyzing effect on civilian life and humanitarian operations. Where the threat is overestimated, relief efforts may be slower and more tentative than need be:
where it is underestimated, significant casualties and delays can occur. It is thus critical that mine action is mainstreamed within any humanitarian or peacekeeping effort to ensure efficient, effective and timely response.
