Landmine Monitor 2023
Despite rising casualty figures there are some good news
The Landmine Monitor reports on the global problems with landmines. The current monitor refers to the completed year 2022.
The monitor shows a threat from anti-personnel mines in 60 countries and territories for October 2023.
In 2022, the number of mine victims rose to at least 4,710 (2021: 3,693). Of these, 85% were civilians and almost half were children (1,071).
Even though the number of victims has risen compared to the previous year (3,693), there has been a significant decline compared to the past. Until 2000, it was estimated that up to 26,000 landmine victims were killed each year.
The global stock of landmines has also fallen. In 1999, the Monitor estimated that there were over 160 million landmines in countries that had not ratified the Ottawa Convention. Today, it is assumed that a maximum of 50 million mines are stored in 30 of the 33 non-signatory states. More than 55 million anti-personnel mines from stockpiles have been destroyed.
As in previous years, the use of new anti-personnel mines by non-signatory states such as Russia and Myanmar and by non-state armed groups in India, Colombia, Myanmar, Thailand and Tunisia posed one of the greatest challenges to the ban on anti-personnel mines. The use of anti-personnel mines by the State Party Ukraine is also a challenge. Ukraine has undertaken to conduct an investigation into this.
The Monitor lists 12 countries as active producers of anti-personnel mines, including India, Iran, Myanmar, Pakistan, Russia and now also Armenia.
In 2022, the amount invested globally in mine action programs grew to 913.5 million US dollars. This is almost double the previous year's figure (2021: USD 314.5 million). This increase can be explained by massive programs in Ukraine, while funding tended to fall in the other countries. In 2022, at least 219.31 km² of land was cleared and 169,276 mines were defused (2021: 117,000 mines on 132.52 km² of land).