ASIA/MYANMAR - Record number of landmine victims: children and civilians among the most affected

Yangon (Agenzia Fides) - Myanmar has become the country with the highest mortality rate in the world from landmines and unexploded ordnance, with more than 1,000 victims recorded in 2023 alone. According to studies carried out by UNICEF and the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, an NGO that specifically monitors and deals with the problem of landmines around the world, this figure exceeds that of any other nation in conflict.
Sources from the Catholic community in Myanmar have pointed out to Fides: "It is above all the civilian population, not involved in the conflict between the army and the Popular Defense Forces, that is paying the highest price. Among the victims there are many children, whose future is marked by disability."
The extensive use of anti-personnel mines by the regular army, as a strategy to weaken the resistance forces, has exacerbated this humanitarian crisis. Tom Andrews, the UN Special Rapporteur for Myanmar, has denounced serious human rights violations in the country: for example, civilians are forced to walk through potentially mined fields to clear the way for military units. In addition, victims are denied access to vital medical aid, including prosthetics and specialist care.
The impact of mines is particularly severe among children: figures published by UNICEF reveal that more than 20% of the 1,052 civilian casualties recorded in 2023 were children. This represents an alarming increase compared to 2022, when 390 incidents were documented. Mines placed near homes, schools and agricultural areas expose them to constant risks.
According to the “Landmine Monitor 2024”, a report released in recent days by the “International Campaign to Ban Landmines”, Myanmar’s military forces have increased the use of banned anti-personnel mines that indiscriminately kill and injure people across the country. In the past year, landmine casualties have been documented in all 14 states and regions of Myanmar, affecting nearly 60% of the country’s cities.
In addition to the record reached in 2023 (with 1,003 civilians killed and injured by landmines), the rate has continued to rise, with 692 civilian casualties in the first six months of 2024, of whom approximately one third were children. At the Fifth Review Conference of the Mine Ban Treaty, taking place from 25 to 29 November in Siem Reap, Cambodia, the issue of landmine use in Myanmar came to the fore, and calls were made to support victims. In particular, the Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority (CMAA) reaffirmed its commitment to communicate with Myanmar and assist in its demining efforts, regardless of political, social or religious status.
Although Myanmar is not a State Party to the “Ottawa Convention” (International Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Sale of Anti-Personnel Mines, ed.), it has offered to assist in the country’s demining activities. In Myanmar, landmines are actively used by both the regular army (systematically) and non-state armed groups, which manufacture landmines, often improvised, by collecting mines collected in the field. The Junta's Military Industrial Directorate, known as "KaPaSa", produces at least five types of anti-personnel mines, which are regularly supplied to military units.
According to a source reported to Fides in Kayah State, "soldiers often enter a village and force its inhabitants to flee into the forest. They then place landmines in the village, on farms, in rice and corn fields around the military camp. The villagers, when it is time to harvest rice and corn, go to these fields to survive and expose themselves to risks. The military intentionally harm the villagers because for them these villagers are the enemy or support the enemy." (PA) (Agenzia Fides, 29/11/2024)

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