Migrating mines

The floods have brought all kinds of unexpected dangers. The International Committee of the Red Cross has warned that mines have moved into areas where they may not previously have been present, posing new risks to people who are unaware of their existence or how to watch out for them. Several severe injuries have already been caused, including one to a woman who lost her leg while collecting firewood.

There is no way of saying just how grave the problem is. The existence of landmines has been reported since 1979 on the Pak-Afghan border, a legacy of the conflict with the former Soviets. Rather disturbingly, militants are reported in some cases to have used the weapons — which target innocent civilians as well as soldiers. Landmines have been used in Balochistan, and in recent months are said to have been planted by the Taliban in Mingora. They have killed some people, maimed many others including children.

There is a reason for this, and for the dangers posed by migrating mines that face us know. Pakistan is not among the 156 nations in the world that since 1997 have signed the Ottawa Mine Ban Treaty. We also continue to produce more mines, and, shockingly, under the Musharraf era there had been a proposal that the Pak-Afghan border area be mined to prevent cross border militant movement. The enormous dangers this posed to tribesmen was ignored.

The continued listing of Pakistan as among the dwindling band of countries that do not support an international ban on landmines is shameful. We need to create greater awareness about why these weapons need to be done away with. Pakistan also needs to demine areas where such munitions have been placed in the past. This task has been made harder by the floods and the shifting of the mines, but it must nevertheless be carried out to save villagers from peril and to join the many nations battling to eradicate land mines.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 4^th, 2010.