What are landmines and explosive remnants of war?
In many of today’s conflicts landmines kill and mutilate more civilians than any other weapon. They affect far more civilians than military personnel and continue to do so long after the conflict has ended. Landmines and explosive remnants of war pose a serious threat to
civilians, including internally displaced persons, whether during flight, during displacement or when trying to return home or pursuing other solutions. It is imperative that mine action is fully
integrated in the overall humanitarian response.
A landmine is an explosive device that is placed under, on or near the ground or other surface, and that is designed to explode by the presence, proximity or contact of a person or a vehicle. Landmines can also be triggered by tripwires, command detonation and other methods, or can self-detonate with the passage of time. They are sometimes booby-trapped by anti-handling devices to make their removal more difficult. Landmines are usually camouflaged and can be difficult to detect and avoid. They are often laid in patterns to create security barriers along roads and around strategic military areas or installations. In many cases, however, they are laid without clear design or record in areas that are mainly civilian.
Explosive remnants of war (ERW) are all explosive ordnance that have been used or fired but have failed to explode as intended (unexploded ordnance or UXO) or that have been abandoned (abandoned unexploded ordnance or AXO). They can be hard to detect, have no consistent shape, are often unstable, and can detonate if touched or disturbed, or simply as a result of the passage of time. This includes, for example, cluster munitions (that disperse or release multiple sub-munitions in mid-air, scattering them over a wide area), which if unexploded create effective “minefields”.
Handbook for the Protection of Internally Displaced Persons.
