Lest We Forget: Bosnia & Landmines
Sarajevo is a beautiful city. With gorgeous architecture, a consistent view of the surrounding mountains and a mix of cultures, religions and style, Sarajevo stands out as truly cosmopolitan.
Unfortunately, Sarajevo holds a legacy that will not let go. Every building, every home remains riddled by bullet holes from the war that ravaged the country for three and a half years. The parks of the city have been transformed into cemeteries, filled with corpses buried when there was nowhere else to go. Large blotches of red paint stain the pedestrian walks - purposefully painted as harsh reminders from the war. Massacres that killed innocent civilians. Lest we forget…again.
Perhaps the cruelest memory of the war is that of landmines. These are far worse than little splotches of red paint. Landmines are real dangers awaiting innocent feet; a sign that peace does not always mean security.
It is estimated that there are one million mines in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Numbers are much less important, however, than impact. People are still being killed, maimed and threatened. Five years after the war, landmines continue to claim five to ten new victims each month. People cannot return to their homes for fear of mines. In some areas, they cannot farm their land. Parents fear for their children, children fear for their parents.
In a country that has so much rebuilding to do, it is unfair and cruel that there should be landmines hindering development at every turn. And they are at every turn.
On a recent visit to the country, we visited deminers who showed us mine fields that were not fields, but rather collapsed buildings and rubble that needed to be cleared since people were already returning to these "homes". The difficulty of clearing this mass of metal and stone was clear to even the untrained eye.
More gruesome were the stories of demining cemeteries and mass graves. Even more difficult to fathom was the continued use of landmines as instruments of terror. These mines are being reused long after the war, planted in the homes of returning refugees as warnings that peace is still very fragile.
At elementary schools in Canada we are taught about fire safety; "Stop, Drop and Roll". In Bosnia-Herzegovina, they learn songs about landmines, songs telling them what to do if they see a mine and how to be "mine-smart".
Unfortunately, such mine awareness initiatives do not always work.
The worst part of our trip was the first few hours back in Canada. The news had hit the headlines: "Three Sarajevo children killed from a landmine" [read more on the issue].
This news hit home in all of our hearts. These children had been warned about landmines, but they were children and hence curious and forgetful. They wandered straight into a mine field and could not get out.
Five years after the war, the beautiful city of Sarajevo had been thrown another reminder of the war. With landmines around, Sarajevo does not need the splotches of red on the pedestrian walkways to remember the war. There is little chance that they will forget.
Unfortunately, the international community has a much better chance of forgetting. As a Youth Ambassador, it is my role to force people to remember that landmines continue to impact people throughout the world, that children continue to get stuck in minefields, that some governments continue to produce landmines and that some groups continue to use them.
Bosnia is only one country amongst dozens that are affected by mines. It's government has signed the 1997 Mine Ban treaty and is starting to work to clear the mines. Landmine Survivors Network is working to help those affected by mines and the Red Cross and Red Crescent are trying to raise awareness about mines amongst those at risk, notably children. Bosnia has at least started to assess the problem of landmines and take action against it.
Nevertheless, the continued support of the international community is necessary. We need to remember the legacy of landmines and we need to remind our leaders that the legacy has not disappeared with the signing of the treaty.
It is the youth that are the future of the world. Sometimes all it takes is learning more, telling others and getting involved. The youth of the world can make a difference.
Together, we can reject the continued use and production of landmines. We can work for a time in which red splotches and harsh memories are all that remain from the war, for a time in which the killing ends with peace and for a time in which children can safely play without fear.
For more information on how to get involved in the Campaign to Ban Landmines, please contact Carla Potts, Youth Mine Action Ambassador in Ottawa, Canada at macinfo-at-web-net or (613)241-3777. Also, check out the website of the campaign at www.icbl.org or www.icbl.org/youth.
