Landmines - still a problem!!!

Landmine Education Program, Angola ( Don Doll SJ/JRS)

Displaced child, Lubango Province, Huila, Angola (Xavier Garcia i Marlí/JRS)

Great progress has been made, but more remains to be done.  (See http://www.icbl.org/lm/2004/findings )

The majority of the world’s nations are States Parties  ie  full ‘members’ of the Mine Ban Treaty    (MBT)  and 52  are still outside the treaty;  9 of these have signed but not yet ratified.  Among these outsiders are the following countries having RSCJ and Society works, and therefore alumnae and  other ’associates’:  Cuba,  Egypt,  India,  South Korea,  USA.   China and Russia are also outsiders and have RSCJ, though few.

Fifteen (15) countries continue to produce, export and use anti-personnel landmines, or reserve the right to do so;  this group includes 3 of the 5 permanent members of the UN Security Council: China, Russia, USA. These 3 also have the largest stockpiles of landmines, with India not far behind.

The estimated casualty rate is in the range of 15,000 – 20,000 annually. And the number of survivors in the world is probably somewhere between 300,000 and 400,000, many, perhaps most, needing significant ongoing support.RSCJ and alumnae and ‘associates’ in these ‘outsider’ countries surely face an enormous challenge and a marvellous opportunity to work for a significant change in  their own countries and  in the world.

And all  RSCJ and alumnae and ‘associates’ are requested, indeed challenged, to consider ways in  which they may bring pressure to bear on the ‘outsider’ governments  -- via family and friends, and business and sport contacts and otehrs.Please look at the ICBL  (International Campaign to Ban Landmines) website .

Those who would like more information are advised to contact the anti-landmine campaign in their home country.