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The leaders of nations and those involved in the political and economic sphere have heavy responsibilities in the production and use of certain types of weaponry which are particularly traumatic...I would like once more to make a forceful appeal to discontinue once and for all the manufacture and utilization of weapons which are known as ‘anti-personnel mines’.”
Pope John Paul II - May, 1995 |
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Imagine that in your area an armed conflict had been going on for several years but that now, finally, peace had arrived. Yet, even in this peace, growing food for your family would mean risking your life. Playing in a playground would threaten your life. Attending class would mean sitting on the ground outside because the only schoolgrounds in town were too dangerous to use. You are imagining the situation faced by millions of people in countries infested by landmines. Landmines are known as weapons that do not recognize peace. They are also known as invisible weapons. Both descriptions are accurate. Landmines, which explode if they are stepped on or moved briskly, are planted out of sight in the ground, often on roads or in agricultural fields. Anyone walking along a mined road unawares or working in a mined field, would be putting their life in danger. Mines are placed during times of war, many of which in recent years have not been between nations but among people within a nation. When the conflict ceases, mines remain hidden in the ground, a threat to the people who work the fields and walk the roads. Though buying and placing mines can be done cheaply, clearing them is a very expensive affair. So, in many places, fields and sometimes entire villages remain mined for years after conflicts end. Landmines kill and maim civilians, mostly women and children. The fear and terror caused by landmines rips at the psychological fibre of a community. In fact, many think that landmines are more valuable as tools of terror than as strategic military weapons. Children, in particular, are most in danger from landmines. Their natural curiosity makes it likely they will pick up strange objects. They often cannot read the warning signs about mined fields. In addition, children living in areas of conflict may become so familiar with mines that they forget they are lethal weapons. If a mine explodes near a child, it will cause greater damage than to an adult, who is larger and stronger. The child victims of mines are often from the poorest segment of society. They face danger every day but continue to walk through mine fields to find food or firewood or go to school. The Secretary-General of the United Nations says, “the use of a weapon whose victims are overwhelmingly women and children is fundamentally immoral.” 
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cyberschoolbus@un.org
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