Author(s):
Site Admin <webmaster2@icbl.org> .
Tuesday 10 January 2012
The ICBL has interviewed Sister Patricia Pak Poy, founder of the Australian Network to Ban Landmines. Here Sister Patricia talks about how she became involved in the campaign and why it is so important.
In the run up to the 11MSP, held in Phnom Penh, Cambodia between 28 November and 2 December 2011, the ICBL highlighted the amazing work of some of our campaigners from around the world. Read their stories in their own words and how they are working hard to Push For Progress towards a mine free world.
1. When and how did you become involved with the ICBL?
In 1990 when I was on sabbatical working with the Jesuit Refugee Service in Thailand, I heard of the friend of a colleague, Suwin, a farmer, who lost a leg and an arm to a landmine. I saw that “something had to be done”, and started ‘investigating’ and acting. In Oxford for further work on refugees, I studied the background problems, including landmines. In the process, I heard about the work Jody Williams, with the Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation (VVAF) had also started to co-ordinate a global campaign, which led to ICBL we know today.
Sister Patricia outside the Cultural Hall in Vientiane, Laos, during the First Meeting of States Parties to the Cluster Bomb Ban. (c) Helen Stanger
2. Why did you become involved?
The plight of people who must live in war zones urged action, and at that time Cambodian refugees were returning to their ravaged land. We sent our first petition to the Australian Government in February 1992. Our first one-day seminar ‘Landmines: a Human Rights Issue’, was held in Parliament House, Canberra in November 1993, as part of the action by the Human Rights Council of Australia (HRCA) with Community Aid Abroad. Within hours, the NGOs present committed sufficient funds to kick-start the Australian Network to Ban Landmines. The cost of travel, both within Australia and internationally, was funded by donations and bequests. Landmines featured on the agendas of several Australian NGOs in the following months, and our network was formed.
3. As an ICBL national campaigner how would you like to see states – either your country or others – Push for Progress at the 11MSP and beyond?
We need urgent action on mine clearance and victim assistance (as in the Treaty), but we also need continuing work to urge universalisation of both treaties: on landmines and on cluster munitions. The emphasis should be on the respect for human life. The need is for negotiating the peace, rather than fighting the war.
4. What message do you have for anyone out there who isn’t aware of the lethal threat landmines still pose for thousands of civilians every day?
We need an effective campaign for those not aware of the threat to thousands of civilians – especially among the young people who may be beyond the reach of the traditional media and may not know the threat yet – to learn the problem. We need to work with their colleagues to bring about the necessary changes in awareness and in tactics for change and capacity to take action.
