June 30, 2003
by John Filiatreau

LOUISVILLE - In one sense, it's a numbers game, and the numbers can be daunting.

It typically costs $1 to $5 to manufacture an "anti-personnel" land mine. On average, it costs $1,000 to remove one safely from the ground.

About 100 million unexploded mines are deployed around the world, in about 90 different countries.

A mine can remain functional and lethal for 20 years or more.

Every year, 15,000 to 20,000 civilians, 90 percent of them children, are killed by mines.

In 2001, people were hurt or killed by land mines in 69 nations, only 23 of which were at war at the time.

Worldwide, about a quarter-million people, most of them civilians and most of them children, have lost one or both legs to land mines.

Fourteen nations still make mines, down from 55 six years ago. The biggest producers are China, Russia and the United States. About 230 million mines undeployed are in the military stockpiles of 94 countries.

About 34 million mines have been destroyed by 61 countries since the Ottawa Mine Ban Treaty went into effect in 1997. About 145 countries have signed the convention, but the United States is not among them.

The director of Cambodia's government mine-removal program estimated recently that, if clearing efforts continue at the present rate, all "mines and (other) unexploded ordnance can be cleared out of Cambodia in 200 to 300 years."

On the other hand, numbers don't tell the whole story.

"We in the mind-clearing community don't like to talk about numbers that way," said Lisa Henry, head of emergencies for DanChurchAid, the Danish international humanitarian organization that has mine-removal programs around the world. "We like to talk about the how many people would have died if the mines we've removed had remained in the ground. We like to talk about how many people have been able to return to that land, to work their fields, to go to school, to walk that path to carry water home.

"We're trying to communicate that it's not futile, that our mine-removal efforts have a direct impact on people's lives."

Henry was preaching to the choir when she stopped in Louisville on June 25 for a visit with Susan Ryan, coordinator of Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA).

The disaster-response agency of the Presbyterian Church (USA) has contributed $100,000 toward DanChurchAid's efforts in Albania, and smaller but still substantial amounts for mine-clearing in Kosovo and parts of Sudan.

PDA and DanChurchAid are both members of Action by Churches Together (ACT), a worldwide alliance of churches and their aid agencies that responds to natural and man-made emergencies around the globe.

"Presbyterian support has been intrinsic to what we've been able to do," Henry said.

Political efforts to limit the use of mines also make a difference.

The International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) said in its 2002 Landmine Monitor Report that the Ottawa Treaty and the worldwide campaign against the production and use of land mines have had an impact.

"It is abundantly clear," ICBL said in its report, "that the Mine Ban Treaty and the ban movement more generally are making tremendous strides in eradicating anti-personnal landmines and saving lives and limbs in every region of the world."

The treaty does not address the related problem of "cluster bombs," which on impact disperse hundreds of smaller bombs - each still powerful enough to kill or maim - over a large area. According to Henry, 10 to 20 percent of such "bomblets" fail to explode, becoming in effect small land mines.

Henry said mine-removal is expensive because of training, equipment and transportation costs, and the expense of keeping fully trained and equipped medical teams on hand in case of accident.

Asked how Presbyterians can help, Henry said: "Write a letter to a Congress person, saying that you support a U.S. ratification of the Ottawa Treaty; join national and international campaigns against land mines; be active in your local community."

Ryan suggested contributing to PDA's land mine removal fund: the account number is 9-2000132. She said mine-clearing efforts "are also a good way for churches to use their share of the Peacemaking Offering."

Henry said people who donate mission funds often like to see concrete results - "They want their money to be used to dig a well, or build a church. But people cannot draw water from that well, or send their children to that school, until the area has been cleared of mines."

Presbyterian News Service