States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty must complete the clearance of all areas contaminated with antipersonnel mines within 10 years. States facing exceptional circumstances may request an extension to their deadline.

Complete Mine Clearance

Completing clearance of antipersonnel mines worldwide should not take hundreds of years! In the vast majority of States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty, the ICBL believes that clearance can be completed before 2025, with many finishing long before that date. In states outside the treaty, clearance can be completed within our lifetime.


ICBL CALLS

on States Parties with antipersonnel landmine contamination to:

  • Identify and report on all suspected or known mined areas
  • Finish mine clearance by or before deadline
  • Use the most efficient means to identify and clear mined areas, including land release through technical and non-technical survey methodologies
  • Involve local communities at all stages of clearance
  • Mobilize sufficient resources until the job is complete; make known to donors that mine action is a priority for funding through development budgets or other relevant budgets
  • Report against a clear baseline of contamination, and annually spell out what has been achieved (number of square meters released, disaggregated by method), and what remains to be done  

See our June 2021 Paper - Completion in 2025? 2030? In our lifetime?


WHICH STATES?

The following States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty were confirmed to be mine affected as of January 2018:

Afghanistan, Angola, Argentina*, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cambodia, Chad, Chile, Colombia,  Croatia, Cyprus, DRC, Ecuador, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Iraq, Jordan*, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria*, Oman, Palau, Peru, Senegal, Serbia, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Tajikistan, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom*, Yemen, and Zimbabwe.

Almost all of the above states have requested or received extensions to their original 10-year deadline. Here is a list of all mine-affected states in the world, including states not party to the Mine Ban Treaty.

*Argentina and the United Kingdom both claim sovereignty over the Malvinas/Falkland Islands, which are contaminated with antipersonnel mines.

Jordan and Nigeria should declare that they have obligations under Article 5 and request a new deadline to complete clearance.

Twenty-eight States Parties have completed implementation of Article 5 since 1999. Algeria declared completion in February 2017. Mozambique, which had declared completion in 2015 but subsequently found previously unidentified antipersonnel mine contamination in 2016 and 2017, completed clearance in May 2017.


The following States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty were mine-affected when they joined the treaty, and have now completed all antipersonnel mine clearance on their territory:

Albania, Algeria, Bhutan, Bulgaria, Burundi, Republic of Congo, Costa Rica, Denmark, France (in Djibouti), Gambia, Greece, Guatemala, Guinea-Bissau, Honduras, Hungary, FYR Macedonia, Malawi, Montenegro, Nicaragua, Rwanda, Suriname, Swaziland, Tunisia, Uganda, Venezuela, and Zambia.

In addition, El Salvador completed antipersonnel mine clerarance in 1994 before the Mine Ban Treaty was adopted. Germany confirmed in 2013 that the suspicion of antipersonnel mine contamination at a former military training ground had been lifted. See notes on Jordan and Nigeria above.


MINE RISK EDUCATION

Risk education seeks to reduce the risk of injury by raising awareness and promoting behavioral change. Programs should take into account age, gender, social, cultural, and political factors. They should involve local stakeholders - especially those taking risks out of economic necessity - in developing alternatives to risk-taking behavior.


PARTNERS

The ICBL membership comprises the following world-renowned mine clearance operators. They provide expert input to the ICBL and support our advocacy activities on a regular basis.

APOPO

DanChurchAid (DCA)

Danish Demining Group (DDG)

Humanity & Inclusion (HI)

Mines Advisory Group (MAG)

Norwegian People's Aid (NPA)

Swiss Foundation for Mine Action (FSD)