"There is a reason landmines were banned. And it hasn’t changed."

Almost 30 years ago, the world came together in an unprecedented movement to ban the use of landmines. Now, governments – and even a former UK defence secretary – are arguing that these terrifying, indiscriminate weapons should be brought back into use.

Inspired by survivors and campaigners, including the late Princess Diana, world leaders in 1997 overwhelmingly supported the Mine Ban Treaty as it came into force. They recognised that anti-personnel mines are instruments of terror that do not distinguish between combatants or civilians and that respect no ceasefire or peace agreement. They understood that any military advantage they may confer had been significantly overstated and was massively outweighed by the harm they do to civilians – including to huge numbers of children.

These are lessons that today’s leaders would benefit from re-learning.

Yet last November, the Biden Administration decided to supply mines to Ukraine, a signatory of the Treaty. Finland, also a signatory, began discussions to re-equip its army with these weapons. Last month, the defence ministers of Poland, Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia announced their intention to withdraw from the Treaty. Poland is even talking about starting up production of new mines.

Now, Ben Wallace, the former Conservative cabinet minister, is urging Britain to withdraw from the Treaty.

An HI staff conducts a mine and IED awareness session in the village of Velyka Komyshuvakha in the Kharkiv region of Ukraine. © M.Monier / HI

Clearly, the war in Ukraine has changed many people’s calculations. But the logic that made sense in the late 90s still makes sense now.

While the states that are considering withdrawal from the Treaty have legitimate security concerns, abandoning a cornerstone of international law that underpins the protection of civilians during and after conflict is not the answer. Some argue that anti-personnel mines are necessary for self-defence, but it has been shown that minefields are ineffective as a way of defending borders unless they are constantly patrolled. As one British general put it in the run-up to finalisation of the Treaty, “there is no case known where anti-personnel mines as such have influenced a campaign, a battle or even a skirmish in any decisive way”.

On the other hand, the human cost of landmines is enormous. 

Regardless of the type or technology used, the vast majority of victims of anti-personnel mines are civilians – in 2023, over 85% of casualties recorded were civilians, and 50% were children. These weapons also have immensely damaging long-term social and economic impacts, ruining lives, dividing communities and destroying economies for decades.

And while laying landmines is relatively cheap, defusing and destroying them can be enormously expensive and time-consuming. Normalising this weapon not only threatens life, but also comes at a huge financial cost.

The Mine Ban Treaty has been an unprecedented success. It has saved hundreds of thousands of lives, almost entirely ended the production of new mines and established a taboo that has kept millions of people safe. Even the US, which is not among the Treaty’s 164 signatories, took steps to bring itself into line with the norms it established. As a result, between 1999 and 2023, the annual number of new victims fell from some 25,000 casualties per year to less than 5,000 casualties. Vast areas of land have been made safe and handed back to communities. It would be madness to undermine this progress now.

4th April is the International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action. Today, we should be celebrating the lives saved by this Treaty. In Britain, we should also be taking pride in the exceptional contribution our country has made to mine clearance, an area where we are world leaders. 

On this day, we should redouble our commitment to the fight against mines, publicly and unequivocally condemning any use of these weapons, and mobilising internationally to defend and preserve the integrity of this lifesaving Treaty.

George Graham
Chief Executive of Humanity & Inclusion UK

Humanity & Inclusion is a global mine action charity that is a co-founder of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines and co-recipient of the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize.