From Africa Recovery, Vol.11#3 (February 1998), page 22

Landmines inflict heavy costs on Africa

Programmes of demining and assistance for survivors are vital

By Ruth Ansah Ayisi* in Kuito, Angola

Emilia Paulina tries to make sense of her landmine accident as she lies in her bed in a stark hospital ward in the Angolan city of Kuito. "I was walking alone. I knew about mines, but I was very confident, because it was a route which had been cleared," said 27-year-old Paulina softly, covering up her freshly bandaged stumps with a cotton cloth. "Then I remember hearing a loud explosion, and I just kept screaming. People came running to help me. The mine must have just been laid."

The explosion in early November blew off both Paulina's legs and claimed her unborn baby. She had already lost four other children during the civil war. Paulina is one of an estimated 26,000 civilians worldwide who are killed or maimed by mines each year, some 40 per cent of them women and children.

While tens of thousands like Paulina are trying to come to terms with the immense personal tragedy inflicted by landmines, governments are now confronted with the staggering economic costs. Angola and Mozambique are examples of countries where hardships are severe. During the war, mines were placed around strategic economic installations, such as the Cahora Bassa dam in Mozambique, around oil installations in Angola, and on roads and bridges, as well as around water sources, markets and schools.

Parts of Angola are still inaccessible because of mines and you need a small aircraft to reach some towns. Even then, as in Kuito, you may find skull and cross-bone signs all around the airport indicating scattered mines.

Even though far more children are killed by bombs and bullets, anti-landmine activists argue that mines cause greater long-term hardship. Mines waste farmland, forests and orchards, and cut off access to water points, schools and health services. They isolate entire communities from each other, and in emergencies, aid can only be delivered by costly airlifts.

Mr. Jean Claude Legrand of UNICEF, a landmine expert who worked in Mozambique, describes the problem: "Imagine a coach telling a football team that they can practice, but be careful because there is just one suspected mine on the pitch. Nobody will go to play. This can mean a key road for a community may be unused for decades because a person suspects, even wrongly, that a mine lies somewhere along miles of road."

Landmines, known as "the poor man's weapon," cost only $3-10 to lay, but $300-1,000 to remove. Some $33 bn is needed to deactivate the 110 mn mines laid around the world. With 6-8 mn mines laid in Angola, or one mine for every two Angolans, the government faces financial and practical obstacles.

The task of demining Kuito began in 1995. "It was considered a high risk area for mines," says Mr. Luciano Rufino, the operations manager for Halo Trust, a British non-governmental organization that demines and teaches mine awareness. So far 30 areas have been demined, and some 4,000 mines unearthed. But 100 more mine fields remain to be cleared in and around the city. The task is both labourious and dangerous. Three deminers have been hurt on the job, one losing his arms, another his eyes and one a foot. Without maps for the minefields, says Mr. Rufino, it would take about 10 years to clear the province. He also says fresh mines are being laid.

Angola needs funds to support its estimated 80,000 mine victims, one of the world's largest amputee populations. The life-time treatment of a surviving victim costs an average of $5,000. One prosthesis is between $30 and $1,000 and children may need a new one every six months as they grow.

Mine awareness campaigns

UNICEF supports landmine awareness campaigns in many countries like Mozambique and Angola, using radio, posters, books and theatre and has budgeted about $5 mn in 1998 mostly for mine awareness education, advocacy and aid for survivors.

For example, a group of Angolans put on one of their landmine awareness plays, a relatively low-cost but popular means of mine awareness. The crowd revelled in the entertainment while listening to the message. Many of them were in wheel chairs or had crutches lying on the ground in front of them. Many of those interviewed said they had had to walk through mine fields when looking for food.

While mine awareness comes too late for them, at least they can benefit from the assistance offered to survivors. Paulina went for her first prosthetic fitting 20 days later. Some day, when the mines are cleared, she may be able once again to farm the fertile land around Kuito. Just maybe. But such thoughts are far from her mind. "My husband will look after me now," is all she can say. Paulina's traumatic loss and the problems she faces in the future perfectly illustrate the devastation that landmines wreak throughout Africa.

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