How clearing landmines can save an entire community

By Francesca Merlo

“Landmines are a weapon of war, and the HALO Trust exists to remove them”. It’s a simple response to a complex, and ultimately inhuman, reality. When a conflict ends, there are remnants beyond economics and politics. Battlefields that were once home to entire families and communities conceal unexploded devices that threaten anyone who tries to return.

The HALO Trust

The HALO Trust operates in humanitarian mine clearance, “which is the clearance of landmines and other unexploded ordnance to support populations who have been left behind after a conflict ends”. Callum Peebles is Head of Region for Central Asia for The HALO Trust, which now operates in over thirty countries.

Unfortunately, he tells Vatican News, “Landmines are a scourge on all the countries where they exist”.

Innocent victims of a conflict that's already over

He explains that whether in Zimbabwe, Cambodia, Afghanistan or elsewhere, The HALO Trust works to clear places like clinics and schools where land has been fought over and where explosive items litter the ground and "end up causing injury and death to men, women and children, more often than not".

The mines are most certainly not aimed at them, he clarifies, with these devices being used mainly in military contexts, but unfortunately “men, women and children who are civilians are often the victims of landmines”.

Children walk near a minefield, Zimbabwe (Photo courtesy of The HALO Trust)

In Afghanistan alone, they have killed 3,000 civilians in the last three years. Over half of them children. “And those are only the ones we know about”, adds Peebles.

The dangers of returning home

Millions of people are trying to resettle in the country and in those areas where they're resettling, they find landmines or other explosive remnants of war. Often, he adds, "These unexploded devices are affecting those populations living in very rural areas”.

The problem in these cases is that a single landmine can restrict your ability to use a huge area of land – often potential farming ground – “so just one landmine will have an effect on the livelihood of an entire family”, and the places in which HALO works are places “where food insecurity is so bad that families are either living in food poverty or they are taking the risk of using land where they know there is a threat”.

Clearing landmines in Afghanistan (Photo courtesy of The HALO Trust)

“Where I'm working in Afghanistan, or where I've been to recently, there is a negative coping strategy where families who have no other alternative means of employment will collect scrap metal, and they will sell that for cash. But that scrap metal in a place like Afghanistan often is actually an item of unexploded ordnance and so extremely dangerous. So what we see is children and women going out and collecting scrap metal, and when they're doing so they are injuring or killing themselves as a result”.

Educating communities

So, another really important part of HALO's work is that of educating.

In many countries, Peebles explains, "the scale of the work that we need to deal with is so massive that we can't possibly clear everything". For this reason, communities must be educated about the risk of explosive items and about what to do if a certain item is found. “In Afghanistan, we've got women providing that education to other women in communities. It's a crucial measure that we have to take because the scale of the problem is so large”.

Local employment and training

And then, of course, the next step is trying to clear those items. HALO’s teams are made up of international and regional staff. “What we do is we employ local communities. We provide jobs to those individuals who might not have any employment options and we train them to conduct clearance of those items all over the world.” Peebles emphasises that no member of staff will ever be put at risk, and that everyone undergoes thorough conduct training to clear ordinance, which is often specific to the region and which is often evolving. “HALO evolves with it”, he says.

Clearing mines in Cambodia (Photo courtesy of The HALO Trust)]

Pope Francis' voice of support

Pope Francis’ prayers during his weekly General Audience on 28 February come at an important time. 1 March marks the 25th anniversary of the signing of the Convention on the Prohibition of Anti-Personnel Mines.

Peebles describes it as “one of the most successful in history” as its signing concretely marked the start of a change from “what was military mine clearance to what exists today - in which The HALO Trust operates - which is humanitarian mine clearance”.

Selfless and inherently humanitarian

Having the Holy Father’s voice support the work of mine clearance and all the people who dedicate their lives to doing so is hugely significant. “I’ve seen people who have been working to clear mines in their own communities for 20, 30 years. They are tireless, and the people who are actually on their hands and knees doing this clearance really do deserve prayer and thanks for the effort they're making. It's a selfless task and inherently humanitarian and I'd like to take the opportunity to thank all of HALO's staff and those others around the world who are conducting dangerous work for the benefit of mankind”.

Clearing mines in Afghanistan (Photo courtesy of The HALO Trust)