The 1997 Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention is facing its most serious crisis in decades. The number of victims of anti-personnel mines has reached a four-year high. Peace and Security
The number of civilian deaths and injuries from mines and explosive remnants of war has risen to its highest level in four years. This is stated in the report Landmine Monitor, presented on Monday in Geneva.
In 2024, 6,279 victims of this type of weapon were recorded in the world. Children are especially vulnerable in countries affected by armed conflict.
“In 2024, 90 percent of the victims were civilians,” said Lauren Percy, head of the report’s analysis team. “Almost half of all victims are children… In Afghanistan, the proportion of children was 77 percent, that is, more than three quarters, and this is terrible.” threat
The authors of the report warn that the 1997 Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention is facing its most serious crisis in decades.
“Several countries are taking steps that really threaten the viability of the convention,” said disarmament expert Yeshua Moser-Puangsuwan.
Five European countries – Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland – are preparing to legally withdraw from the convention, citing changed security conditions following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukrainian territory in 2022. obligations of the convention during the war. The authors of the report consider such a step to be legally untenable. The report also cites indications of mine use by Ukraine in 2024-2025, with explosive devices allegedly dropped by drones.
Widening Pollution
Anti-personnel mines remain a serious problem in at least 57 countries and territories, including 32 states parties to the treaty. Seven countries remain largely littered with remnants of war: Afghanistan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cambodia, Ethiopia, Iraq, Turkey and Ukraine.
On a positive note, Oman completed mine clearance in 2025, becoming the first participating State to do so since 2020. More than half of countries have reduced pollution through surveys and cleanups.
“Despite progress, the goal of completing demining by 2025 remains elusive. The potential finish line now becomes 2030,” said senior researcher and report co-author Catherine Atkins.
Funding Crisis
Funding shortages are already undermining demining programs around the world.
“In 2025, the U.S. “froze funding for the sector,” recalled analyst Ruth Bottomley. “The move halted some programs and completely closed others, demonstrating the vulnerability of a system dependent on a few large donors.”
Mine clearance projects in Afghanistan, Iraq, Yemen, Colombia, Tajikistan and Zimbabwe have already been closed. Victim assistance programs have also suffered, with international support in the sector down by 23 percent, and health systems in Ukraine and Palestine unable to cope with rising rates of amputations. situation.