UN: More unexploded devices pose greater risk

(Vatican Radio) Thousands of innocent people around the world continue to die each year, due to landmines and other explosive remnants of war.

Today, on International Mine Action Day, the United Nations warns incidence of such deaths is expected to rise.

Listen to the report by Laura Ieraci:

Thousands of deaths occur each year when munitions used in armed conflicts, which did not explode on impact, explode days, months even years later.

An international movement began years ago to raise awareness about the dangers of landmines in this regard and to support de-mining initiatives.

However, while the post-war reality of landmine explosions remains  a problem, the changing landscape of war is translating into an increase in all types of unexploded munition.

Many armed conflicts today are carried out by non-state actors, such as terrorists, with total disregard for the laws of war. As a result, the contamination of regions with all types of unexploded ordnances is on the rise, warned the director of the United Nations Mine Action Service International Mine Action Day.

In a UN interview, Agnès Marcaillou said terrorism uses many improvised explosive devices and UN aid workers are increasingly coming up against these dangers in trying to get aid to people in need.

“It is an amazingly important issue. Peacekeepers, peacemakers do not deploy easily, safely if the terrain is contaminated. People will not go safely to vote during elections. Kids cannot go back to school. Every conflict will generate 10-15 per cent munition that has not exploded. It means when people go back home, if they still have a home, they are risking their lives again,” she said.

Marcaillou added that the international community must also do more than de-mine. It must also offer victim assistance and develop risk education to prevent victims from happening.

She said much is being done at the grassroots level to educate communities about the dangers of unexploded munitions.