Every 22nd minute a person is maimed or killed by a landmine. Nine out of ten landmine victims are civilians and 40 per cent of them are children. The landmine problem includes anti-personnel and anti-tank mines, booby-traps and unexploded ordinance (UXO).

Many refugees and internally displaced people (IDP) cannot return home to their villages after armed conflicts because of the danger of landmines. For those who do return home the fear of stepping on a landmine often prevents them from cultivating their land, letting their children attend school and rebuilding their villages. Village life and economy stagnate rendering people dependent on outside aid and support. If funds for de-mining are not available people are often forced to cultivate landmine polluted land risking life and limb sometimes with terrible consequences.

Whether there is one landmine in a field or thousands, the danger is the same. One landmine is enough. Fear alone can prevent a whole village from rehabilitating from an armed conflict. And one landmine can destroy a life.

Figures regarding landmines are often misleading. It has been estimated that there are as many as 110 million landmines scattered around the world and that it will take 1100 years to clear all landmines. With each landmine costing £2 to produce and therefore being a very cheap and reliable weapon it is not impossible to imagine that the problem is enormous especially given that it has been estimated that they cost £2000 on average to remove. These figures often do more harm than good, creating disillusion in the public with the result that support diminishes. Other figures are more realistic estimating the amount of landmines worldwide to be closer to 60 million. This does not mean that the problem is smaller, but that the problem is solvable.

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