Status: 04/04/2023 10:16 a.m
Federal Foreign Minister Baerbock has called on Russia to stop mining fields in Ukraine. Mines would not only kill many civilians. They also prevented farmers from tilling fields.
Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) has called on Russia to stop mining agricultural land in Ukraine. The mines not only result in many civilian casualties, but also prevent numerous farmers from tilling their fields and bringing in the harvest, said Baerbock, according to a statement from the Federal Foreign Office in Berlin.
Anti-personnel mines often hit civilians
“In this way, Russia is reducing the supply of food on the world market, thereby increasing hunger in the world.” Baerbock spoke on the occasion of International Mine Awareness Day. “Anti-personnel mines are cruel weapons. They are the reason why mothers and fathers in countries like Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cambodia and Iraq still have to worry for their children every time they go outside to play, decades after a conflict,” she said.
Anti-personnel mines hit civilians particularly often, tearing apart families and societies in the truest sense of the word. That is why Germany is committed to a world without anti-personnel mines and is the world’s second largest donor for humanitarian mine clearance.
Seven different types of mines used in Ukraine
Russia has used at least seven different types of the internationally banned landmines in Ukraine, according to the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) last fall. Landmines are often only the size of the palm of your hand and can be spread over large areas from the ground or from the air with rockets. They lie in the ground and explode when someone approaches or steps on them.
Every eighth mine victim in the Ukraine war is a child, reports the organization Save the Children. Even before the Russian war of aggression, Ukraine was one of the most heavily mine-ridden countries in the world. Since the war, the number of mined areas has increased tenfold and now occupies 30 percent or around 180,000 square kilometers of the country’s area – an area the size of the US state of Florida. In the past month and a half alone, 126 people have fallen victim to mines – an average of three civilians killed or injured every day.
On April 4, the United Nations is raising awareness of the continuing danger of mines and unexploded ordnance with the International Day of Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action. Despite being outlawed by international agreements, landmines continue to be used in conflicts.
More than 60 countries contaminated with mines
According to the organization Handicap International, more than 60 countries worldwide are contaminated with mines. Millions of people would have to live with the threat of mines and duds for decades. According to the Landmine Monitor 2022, 2182 people were killed and 3355 injured by mines between 2021 and August 2022. More than 75 percent of the registered victims were civilians.
In 1999, the so-called Ottawa Convention came into force, which is dedicated to combating landmines. The international treaty prohibits the use, production, stockpiling and transfer of landmines. However, important states such as the USA, Russia, China and India have not joined the treaty.