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by Robert S. Redmond SINCE 1939 there has been conflict of one kind or another in no less than sixty-eight countries. Every one, war, civil war or terrorist campaign, eventually comes to an end, but it leaves many kinds of dangerous debris in its wake. This is then a serious, long lasting threat to civilians who want only to return as quickly as possible to normal life and to live in safety. Too often, they are thwarted and injured or killed. Unexploded bombs dropped by air forces turn up and are found by ramblers, holiday makers, workers on building sites -- even by children. They have sometimes been caught in fishermen's nets. During World War I there was extensive use of poison gases. Some of these are still coming to light in Belgium and elsewhere in Europe. The slaughter of the Ypres salient may have ended in 1918, but a deadly harvest of gas and high explosive shells is still being gathered there. Twice a day in the little town of Poelkapele a siren sounds. Then there is an explosion as nasty contraptions brought there are destroyed. Here in Britain, the Royal Engineers Bomb Disposal teams are still dealing with unexploded bombs dropped by the Luftwaffe. But there is a longer history than that. Some ten years ago, an early form of shrapnel shell was found in Spain. It was a hollowed cannon ball filled with musket balls and black (i.e. gun) powder with a fuse protruding. It had been made some two hundred years earlier for use, probably by the army of Wellington, against the armies of Napoleon in the Peninsular War. The British Officer sent to Spain to deal with it said with a typical understatement: 'It was not really in a safe condition'. He, of course, made it safe, but it might have killed the child who found it. Western nations can, of course, deal with these problems from their own resources. In any case, they do not have much serious or lasting effect on their economies. It is a very different story for poorer countries. From more recent conflicts, there are hundreds of thousands of land mines and cluster bombs lying around where the people lack the resources and knowledge to move them. They are a terrible hazard for civilians who are prevented from leading normal lives in safety and who are often maimed for life or killed by the evil debris planted on their land. It is a fearful commentary that most of the victims know that they are on mined land at the time of accidents. They are forced to accept horrible risks by the economic pressure put on them. They need food; they need water; they have to try to earn a living as best they can and they recognise that they have no option but to risk their lives. The leading British Charity or Non-Government Organisation (NGO) working to help with this problem is the Mines Advisory Group (MAG) with its headquarters in Manchester. It stresses that land mines, cluster bombs and bomblets are devastingly threatening to the poorest rural communities forced to try to strike a balance between meeting their own needs and minimising the risk of entering potentially mined land. Rising poverty creates pressure to cultivate land. The result, of course, can be death or serious injury which, in turn, aggravates the situation with even further hardship for bereaved families. Thus, mine injuries are both the result and the cause of poverty. Everyone of goodwill must be glad that the Treaty of Ottawa has come into force. This has secured a ban on the manufacture, stock piling and trade in antipersonnel explosive devices. Organisations such as the International Red Cross and Save the Children Fund are keeping watch to ensure the terms are observed. The situation should then be under control so far as future conflicts are concerned. However much we may hope and pray otherwise, they are likely to happen, but we can, at least, trust they will not now leave the aftermath of yesterday. The ban is only a small part of a big and long-term problem. There are too many examples of what are called unexploded ordnance (UXOs) in too many places. Until they are cleared, the safety of innocent people will be in danger; the economies of whole nations cannot hope for proper development or revival. In addition to monitoring the Ottawa Treaty, the International Red Cross and Save the Children Fund are doing an excellent job in assisting victims of mines and in promoting awareness of the menace. They do all they can to educate people to danger and to help them when accidents occur. The International Red Cross also keeps in close touch with the Swiss Federation for Mine Clearance which is one of the international bodies - official and unofficial - trying to keep the public in western countries alive to the menace which exists. Britain has a right to claim leadership in this humanitarian work. The Government has been spurred by an all-party group of both Houses of Parliament known as the Landmines Eradication Group. Its Chairman is the Labour MP, Frank Cook and the Vice-Chairman is the Conservative peer, Lord Jopling. It has the support of prominent people such as Lord ('Bill') Deedes, the veteran journalist, who has seen at first hand the effects of UXOs when in the company of Princess Diana and Martin Bell (now an Independent MP) whose experience as a BBC war correspondent in Bosnia showed him what was happening there. The lobbying by this group has not only made the British Government more alive to the need for support, but it has also brought an international motivation for action. The actual work of mine clearance is in the hands of NGOs such as MAG. They all support the body known as Landmines Action which might be described as the political or 'lobbying wing' of the movement. This, among other things, acts as the secretariat of the Parliamentary Group and it has been successful in promoting public awareness. Extra impetus was given to its campaign by the late Princess Diana whose visits to stricken areas had great publicity and boosted the cause beyond measure. Her memorial fund is helping the cause financially today. One event (perhaps better described as a non-event) which increased parliamentary interest was a visit arranged for the Princess to address members of both houses at the Palace of Westminster. A few MPs claimed this was likely to involve her in political activity and they objected to the whole idea on principle. As a result, the meeting was called off, but the publicity which followed was enormous and made people -- particularly MPs and Lords -- even more aware of the need for action. At first sight, it may seem at least possible that the number of bodies working on the actual clearance of mines and other anti-personnel devices such as cluster bombs could be a case of too many cooks. It was said recently, for instance, that there were as many as seventeen of them operating in Kosovo alone. Further investigation however showed that some had very minor roles and others were military units concerned not with clearance of whole areas, but wanting only to be able to their job in peacekeeping or enforcement. An excellent example of the difference between military and humanitarian concern comes from Namibia. The South African Defence Force (SADF) established minefields around its eight military bases and two water towers in the north of the country. These fields were marked and fenced with the location of mines clearly mapped. This was as complete a responsible use of anti-personnel mines as their character would allow. Alas, when the time for withdrawal came, SADF destroyed the advantage by attempting to clear the mines. They thus showed how military and humanitarian standards think differently. The way in which they worked meant that clearance was incomplete. They never suggested that whole areas were now safe. Though they handed over full information to Namibian forces, both children and adults have suffered as a result. The problem is now there for organisations such as MAG and it is probably more difficult than it need have been. Nor is there anything new about this. In the Western Desert, both the Allied 8th Army and the German Afrika Corps laid huge anti-tank minefields in both Egypt and Libya. When it met wired off areas labelled Achtung Minen, 8th Army's main concern was to clear a path for armoured and other vehicles. There was no concern for what would then be left in the ground. Even now, more than half a century later, we know that camels are being injured by the debris left by both armies. It is also known that Egypt, seeking to develop the desert areas, is hoping for help in clearance. As has been said, the leading operator in this humanitarian work going on all over the world is MAG. Also based in Britain is Hazardous Areas Life Support Organisation (HALO). Elsewhere, doing excellent work are the Norwegian People's Aid, Belgian Handicap International and an Italian Organisation. Between them they have cleared vast areas, but there is a huge task still ahead. The list of countries where they are operating is a long one stretching over Europe, Asia and Africa. The prime task of any body such as MAG is to identify and assess the size of each problem in any particular area where UXOs are known to exist. This, MAG explains, can be done only with the help of charitable donations. Not until a survey is complete and fully documented are funds likely to be made available by governments or, perhaps the European Union. Even then, such grants tend to have limited lives. One can understand that when there is obviously work for years ahead, proper planning is virtually impossible if the grant has a life of no more than one year or two. Financial planning is inhibited. The European Parliament is taking a lively interest and there is every indication that the expenditure of 200 hundred million Euros over the next six years will become available. Final details are not yet completely clear and several amendments of the Commission proposals are under consideration in the Parliament. MAO, however, looks forward to being able to act effectively in Lebanon as a result of this help. It is also interesting to learn that the first operation undertaken by MAO was, in fact, financed by EU. The motivation behind all this work is humanitarian and fully in keeping with the charitable status of organisations like MAG. The whole object is to save and protect lives. Not only does MAG work to clear whole areas, but it also tries to rescue people who have suffered mine accidents and who cannot easily be retrieved from minefields. The ultimate concern, however, is to get a country back on to its feet in the aftermath of conflict. Everything, therefore, starts with the involvement of local people. Only with their co-operation is it possible -- indeed sensible -- to get to work. This is where initial charitable donations are needed. They come from the general public. Officialdom in any form, government or anywhere else, seems not to be prepared to help until a definite clearance programme is planned and assessed. Every place, as MAG explains, has its own characteristics and problems. In Northern Iraq, for instance, MAO has a number of teams at work. In Cambodia, the programme is different where speed and flexibility are needed. There, equivalent teams would not be able to operate. Without the political blessing of the local government or other authority, nothing can be done. Nevertheless, MAO recruits British people to do the initial training. It prefers this work to be in the hands of ex-service people with experience in places such as Northern Ireland where they have dealt with what are called Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) planted by the IRA or other paramilitaries. It is then their task to achieve a situation where the whole operation is put into local hands. Far better, in MAG's view, to employ local people. Apart from anything else, it helps the local economy which, after all, is the whole purpose of the movement. To the layman, the work must sound dangerous and no one should belittle the courage of those who do it. At the same time, injuries have been small in relation to the numbers engaged. Perhaps the most notable serious casualty was that suffered by Chris Moon whose book One Step Beyond was published by Macmillan and was reviewed in the February 2000 edition of Contemporary Review. This tells us how he lost his right leg and arm while at work in Mozambique and then went on to complete the London Marathon. There is no doubt that he is an outstanding man, but his story appears far from typical. He tells us that the mine on which he was working was unusually deep in the ground. Perhaps this explains why the accident occurred. Maybe, too, it had some particular characteristic of which we are not told. MAG points out that, in all such cases, one should ask how and why an accident has happened. Among people with the fortitude and spirit to take on this work, there may be a temptation to 'have a go' or take short cuts. Perhaps a procedure laid down in training is neglected. This does not imply what might be ill-informed criticism, but it does attempt to put things into perspective and emphasises the value of rigorous training given by MAG and, presumably, other NGOs. Apart from physical dangers of that kind, there can be political hazards with equally serious consequences. A team -- national or foreign -- can work properly only if there is no problem of the kind also described by Chris Moon. He was taken prisoner by the Khmer Rouge while working in Cambodia when on the payroll of HALO. MAC tells us of a similar experience where one of their men was not so lucky as Chris Moon. He did not escape alive. There were reports in the press a few months ago of accusations by the Russians that 'de-miners' working in Chechnya were spying for the enemy. All too often, those who are trying to restore normality are said to be working for 'the enemy' and not for the 'people'. We frequently see this kind of intimidation where terrorists make threats against those who would otherwise join with the forces of law and order. How much easier, for instance, would recruitment to the Royal Ulster Constabulary be if those whose aim is to terrorise did not threaten potential recruits and their families. This is analogous. Terrorists have a great deal in common. There can be no doubt that it will be many years before all UXOs will cease to be a problem anywhere in the world. Richard Lloyd, Director of Landmine Action was asked about this. The Ottawa Treaty has been a major achievement, but it is not the end of the road. Any public misconception about this can lead only to disaster. The world must understand, he says, that two hundred innocent civilians have been killed by the cluster bombs of NATO alone. Continuous action over many years is needed. There will be success only if Governments and the European Union are pressed hard so that everyone knows about the horrendous effects UXOs can have on the poorest nations of the world. Let us hope that one day no child can ever again find anything such as that found in Spain from the Peninsular War. It has to be understood that UXOs are made to kill, but they go on doing so for long after their original purpose has been forgotten and they need to be cleared as quickly as possible. Robert S. Redmond has been both an Army Officer and a Conservative MP as well as an author. His review of Chris Moon's book One Step Beyond, for the February 2000 number of the Contemporary Review, inspired him to write this article.
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