The problem of anti-personnel landmines is a fundamentally humanitarian problem.These weapons of war kill in peacetime.Landmines affect everyone, with 71 percent of casualties being civilians.Children account for 54 percent of all civilian casualties.Over 60 million people across the globe live in fear of being injured or killed by landmines.Landmines are killing, injuring and orphaning children.We need to remember that landmine does not distinguish between a soldier’s foot and a child’s foot.In Cambodia, more than 64,000 wounded and more than 25,000 amputees have been registered since 1979.Dozens of civilians are still injured or killed every year by landmines and other unexploded ordnance that have been leftover from all the fighting. Landmines and UXOs are found in backyards,in the rice fields where people work, and on the roads where children walk to school.Millions of the country’s landmines have now been cleared, but there is still a lot of work to be done, which should be strongly supported by our international community.In spite of successful efforts to ban landmines in law, and to increase funding for mine action and victim support, civilian casualties remain extremely high. Please, support mine clearance organizations and brave work of people, who devoted their lives to mine clearance.We should be the last generation to suffer the effects of the „underground devil”.We need to create a safe world for the next generations!A mine-free world does not need to be a dream – together, we can make it a reality!
