When they do not kill, landmines inflict appalling injuries , often resulting in amputation or serious disablement. The ICRC experience in 1992 showed that 27% of mine victims required major amputation of the lower limbs.
What is the impact of landmines?
Landmines affect many components of the global biosphere. Among the many problems attached to the use of landmines are those related to its impact on the natural environment and its components. Landmines have killed and maimed large numbers of specimens of wildlife and domestic species worldwide .
What injuries are caused by landmines?
The most common sites of injury from landmine explosions were the leg or foot ; ordnance caused more injuries to the head, arm or hand. The most common areas where landmines detonated were on a mountain or hill or on land used for grazing or agriculture.
How have landmines affected the country?
The most common injury associated with land mines is loss of one or more limbs. In the United States, the rate of amputation is 1 for every 22 000 people . In Angola, it is 30 for every 10 000. In many of the most affected areas of the world, agriculture is the mainstay of the economy.
What are 3 effects of landmines?
- make agricultural land unusable,
- restrict access to water,
- keep schools from being built and students and teachers from attending classes,
- hinder the construction and maintenance of infrastructure.
How do the landmines in Cambodia affect communities?
It exposes the vulnerability of the health system and the lack of a support strategy . For a family with a very low income, to have a member lose a limb and no access to good health care, and no governmental aid makes the dangers of land mines a much heavier burden on the Cambodian community.
What is the history of landmines?
Precursors of the weapon are said to have first been used in the American Civil War in the 1800s . But antipersonnel mines were first used on a wide scale in World War II. Since then they have been used in many conflicts, including in the Vietnam War, the Korean War, and the first Gulf War.
How do landmines affect the economy?
The study concluded that all in all, the presence of landmines in Artsakh reduces overall rural economic welfare at the national level by 45% . ... Direct: Socio-economic consequences including the underuse of farmland, livestock, and wood.
Are landmines effective?
Chemical mines dispense chemical agents either by command detonation or vehicle activation (use of these agents is now prohibited by the 1996 Chemical Weapons Convention. ... These area weapons are effective against personnel and are normally command detonated.
How long do landmines last?
Landmines are generally buried 6 inches (15 centimeters) under the surface or simply laid above ground. Buried landmines can remain active for more than 50 years . Landmines come in two categories, anti-personnel landmines and anti-tank landmines.
How many people are killed injured by landmines every year?
Approximately 60 million to 70 million landmines are placed in about 70 countries, 3 and an estimated 24 000 individuals , mostly civilians, are killed or injured by landmines and unexploded ordnance worldwide every year.
What are the names of three countries that still contain landmines?
Burma/Myanmar, Israel and Gaddafi’s forces in Libya fall into this category. Armed groups in Afghanistan, Colombia, Burma and Pakistan also laid new mines, according to the BBC.
Can you survive a landmine?
Definition. A landmine is an explosive device activated by a person or a vehicle, or command-detonated by electric wire or radio signal. ... Normally manufactured from durable materials such as plastic, bakelite, concrete, glass or metal, landmines are designed to survive the effects of weather, seasons and time .
How are landmines detected?
Current land-mine-detection methods include the use of metal detectors, trained animals, brute-force detonation methods, and hand-held mechanical prodders . Most of these approaches are mechanical, slow, perilous, and suffer casualties and high false-alarm rates.
Why are landmines bad?
Landmines are inhumane because, by design, they inflict brutal damage to the human body that kills or create life-long injuries . Once planted, landmines don’t go away until they are removed. Landmines sown during the First World War are still causing death and destruction in parts of Europe and North Africa.
How many people have died from landmines in Cambodia?
An estimated 4 to 6 million landmines and other munitions were left over from the almost three decades of conflicts. According to the report, from 1979 to June 2020, landmine and UXO explosions had killed 19,789 people and either injured or amputated 45,102 others.
