The number of victims is on the rise compared to 2019, when 5,500 people were killed by anti-personnel mines around the world.
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Anti-personnel mines killed 7,073 people, many of them children, around the world in 2020, according to the annual report of the NGO Handicap International published Wednesday, November 10. This figure is up sharply compared to 2019, when 5,500 people were killed by anti-personnel mines around the world.
“Mines are the weapons of cowards”, denounced Wednesday, November 10 on franceinfo Anne Hery, director of advocacy and institutional relations at Handicap International.
“These are cowardly weapons because they mainly hit civilians, with 80% of the victims being civilians. Of these civilians, half are children.”
Anne Hery, Director of Advocacy and Institutional Relations at Handicap Internationalto franceinfo
According to Anne Hery, the health crisis, but also “an increase in armed conflicts” worldwide leads to this increase in the number of victims, in particular “in Mali, Yemen, Afghanistan, Myanmar or Ukraine”, with also “an increase in the use of artisanal mines.”
“The upsurge in the number of victims worries us”, she added. “It is more than ever the moment for the organizations and the civil society to continue to challenge the States and to make them face up to their responsibilities and their commitments. More than ever, States must redouble their efforts in this area. financing, demining “, she finishes.