Darren Cormack

Covid-19 is hampering efforts to clear the world’s mine fields

Landmine clearance in Iraq (Credit: Sean Sutton/MAG)

How has Covid affected your life? For those in the world’s war zones, the impact of the pandemic has been truly devastating. Coronavirus is one of many dangers facing those who have fled violence and bloodshed. It has also left refugees with agonising choices: to remain in lockdown in camps, where resources may become scarce; or to return home, and risk death.

In north east Nigeria, which is at the epicentre of a grave humanitarian crisis, there was a landmine casualty every single day for the first 20 weeks of last year. Here, food and other humanitarian aid has been disrupted by the pandemic. Strains on the system have prompted the government to accelerate its plans to resettle displaced people, including to areas heavily contaminated with improvised landmines planted by Boko Haram. Desperate people forage for food and firewood in areas riddled with explosives with devastating consequences.

In Iraq, Covid-related issues led to thousands abandoning the safety of internally displaced persons’ (IDP) camps and returning to areas still littered with deadly improvised landmines laid by Isis. Some of those families fled for fear of Covid spreading in the camps; others because Covid restrictions meant they could no longer travel to farmland and places of work. When they did return, families ran the risk of entering homes rigged up with deadly Isis booby-traps.

The Mines Advisory Group (MAG) and its partners work to clear landmines from countries including Nigeria and Iraq. Over 80 million square meters of land are cleared every year. But while MAG’s 5,000-plus staff cleared at least 115,000 explosive devices globally last year, the pandemic impeded its work. This means that landmines which would and should have been cleared remain buried in the ground.

All too often, children with their lives ahead of them step on these explosives.

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