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Reports
on Nepal's Civil War: Landmines
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Reports
on Landmines in Nepal
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Activists
urge more government action on de-mining
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Kathmandu,
13 August 2007 (IRIN)
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| Anti-landmine
activists are concerned at the slowness in clearing landmines and improvised
explosive devices (IEDs) in the country. Many civilians, including children,
continue to be at risk, said Ban Landmines Campaign Nepal (NCBL) on 13
August 2007. |
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"This
is a very serious humanitarian issue... because it is mainly Nepalese civilians
who are suffering," prominent landmine-ban activist Purna Shova Chitrakar
told IRIN.
Chitrakar
said the government needs to come up with a concrete plan on de-mining,
and support victims.
A
decade-long armed conflict, which killed over 14,000 people, ended with
the November 2006 peace agreement between former Maoist rebels and the
Nepalese government.
One
of the key agreements was to destroy all IEDs and landmines within 60 days
of its signing, but eight months later none of the 53 minefields has been
cleared, said activists.
Committees
formed
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government officials from the Ministry of Peace and Reconstruction, which
is taking a lead in the de-mining, said the government is making plans
to take action soon.
''Explosions
are taking place even now in civilian areas and the number of casualties
is shockingly high.''
According
to the ministry, the government has formed a National Mine Action Steering
Committee and its members include senior officials from various key ministries.
The Nepal Army (NA) has also established a mine action centre led by Brig-Gen
Lok Bahadur Thapa.
With
support from UN agencies, including the UN Mission in Nepal and the UN
Children's Fund (UNICEF), the government plans to focus on key areas like
advocacy, mapping, mine clearance, victim support, mine risk education
and stockpile destruction, said officials. |
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However,
the fact that the government has not yet signed the international mine
ban treaty - signed by 154 countries - is a problem. "Now that the conflict
is over, the government needs to sign it so that our country is obliged
to follow international norms," said Chitrakar.
Activists
frustrated
Activists
are frustrated over the lack of government action and concerned that too
many people are living near landmines and IEDs.
"Explosions
are taking place even now in civilian areas and the number of casualties
is shockingly high," said Chitrakar.
According
to UNICEF, which serves as Nepal's mine action focal point, there were
at least 79 new victims, including 35 children, in 2007. Around 13 of them
were killed, it said. The number of incidents was very high for a country
in which armed conflict had ended, it added.
Mapping
has been completed for landmines and UNICEF has so far provided 3,500 mine
hazard signs at 53 minefields but finding all the IEDs is proving more
difficult. It is these that are the main killers of civilians, according
to various non-governmental organisations (NGOs).
IEDs
kept in private houses
"We
need maximum cooperation from civilians, otherwise the campaign will not
work," UNICEF's bomb risk specialist Hugues Laurenge told IRIN. He expressed
concern that a lot of IEDs were still lying around in private houses.
People
are tempted to keep the IEDs to blast rock to create space for housing
or road construction. Some also keep IEDs as souvenirs, activists said.
In
May, nine civilians were killed in Palpa District, about 250km west of
Kathmandu, after a bucket bomb hidden in a house by a local villager blew
up.
Both
the UN and government are now actively involved in educating civilians
about landmines and IEDs but activists said more work needs to be done.
The government has so far been able to train 330 police as mine-risk educators.
top
Credit
IRIN 2007
Copyright
© UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 2007
[
This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]
Integrated
Regional Information Networks (IRIN), part of the UN Office for the Coordination
of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
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