 Humanitarian Demining
The goal of humanitarian demining is to remove lingering remnants of war, allowing refugees to return home, schools to be reopened, land to be used for farming and critical infrastructure to be rebuilt.
Humanitarian demining is a critical first step for reconstruction of post-conflict countries.Its goal is to remove lingering remnants of war, allowing refugees to return home, schools to be reopened, land to be used for farming and critical infrastructure to be rebuilt. This differs from military demining which clears paths only for military campaigns.
Humanitarian demining originated in October 1988 when the United Nations called for funding to tackle the landmine crisis in Afghanistan. The appeal led to the establishment of humanitarian demining organizations. Today, commercial demining companies, in conjunction with NGOs and governments, also play a significant role in landmine clearance. Adopt-A-Minefield supports humanitarian demining working with the United Nations and local mine action organizations in six countries.
The most important result of humanitarian demining is that the community is confident that cleared land is safe. Otherwise, residents fear using that land and will not risk their lives. Humanitarian demining conducted in line with United Nations-determined international standards provides the assurance that cleared land is safe
Five Steps of Humanitarian Demining
- Assessment
- Mine Clearance Surveys
- Mine Clearance Techniques
- Post Clearance Inspection
- Community Notification
The first step in demining is that a team assesses the landmine situation in terms of its social and economic impact on the country and determines if a mine action program is both necessary and feasible.
Assessment
First a team of deminers assesses the landmine situation in terms of its social and economic impact on the country and determines if a mine action program is both necessary and feasible. The assessment team uses information collected by organizations already on the ground and familiar with the situation.
Mine Clearance Surveys
If a program is needed and feasible, a more detailed land impact survey is taken of the economic and social impact of landmines on local communities. The process, which often takes a year or more, involves gathering data on demographics, contamination, and economic statistics and entering the information into the Information Management System for Mine Action, an international database used by all humanitarian demining organizations. Communities are categorized as heavy, medium, low or no landmine impact.
A technical survey is then conducted to provide more specific information on the affected areas in terms of the area that needs to be cleared, the depth of clearance, local soil conditions and vegetation. Once the technical survey is completed, markers are placed to indicate the location of landmines so that clearance can begin.
Mine Clearance Techniques
Manual deminers check the ground inch by inch with a metal detector, a prod and trowel. Mine detection dogs locate landmines by detecting the odor of explosive materiel. When the dog locates a landmine the location is marked so that manual deminers can later investigate. Mechanical metal detectors and ground-penetrating radar are used to clear mines, as well.
Effective landmine clearance programs usually combine manual and mechanical methods, as well as mine detection dogs, employing the techniques best suited to regional conditions.
Before landmines can be cleared, deminers (usually members of the military, trained experts from the international community working through non-governmental organizations or members of the local community) need to determine the location and size of the minefield and the number of landmines it contains.
Few maps exist indicating where landmines were originally placed. Flooding, landslides and other natural disasters can cause mines to migrate and contaminate “safe” land.
Deminers must assess the landscape by conducting polls, distributing questionnaires and taking photographs. Once this information is gathered and potential minefields are marked, deminers can start.
Methods of Demining
- Manual
- Mine Detection Dogs
- Mechanical
- New Technology
Effective landmine clearance programs usually combine several methods. Adopt-A-Minefield supports mine clearance using the most appropriate and cost-effective methods for each specific project.
Manual: Manual deminers check the ground inch by inch with a metal detector, a prod and a trowel. Although this method ensures a 100 percent clearance rate, there are drawbacks. Metal detectors are less successful finding plastic mines with low metal content. Since metal detectors react to all metal in the soil, a high rate of false alarms means that deminers may waste time searching for mines that are not there.
Mine Detection Dogs: These dogs are trained to recognize the odor of explosive materiel used in landmines. The scent permeates the mine casings and rises up through the soil. Dogs, with their keen noses, can zero in on the exact location. When a dog locates a landmine, the mine is marked for investigation by manual deminers. However, trained dogs are expensive and many mine clearance organizations cannot afford them.
Mechanical: There are several types of mine-clearing machines. Many of the new machines are controlled remotely, which minimizes the dangers of the process. The use of mechanical techniques is increasing in humanitarian demining as the appropriate technology becomes available. Mechanical mine clearance machines are often used in tandem with manual methods in order to ensure the highest accuracy. Many mechanized methods exist:
- Vegetation Cutters: these clear plants from a minefield to ease manual demining and the work of mine detection dogs.
- Mine Clearing Flails: this machine hits and churns the soil with long chains to detonate and break apart mines.
- Earth Tillers: these machines till the ground to a pre-set depth, detonating or breaking up mines
- Wheel Shovel: a shovel fitted with a mesh basket..When the rubble is shaken out, landmines and large ordnance remain
- AP Mine Sifter: the contaminated soil is picked up and sifted and the remaining debris can be inspected
- Mine Protected Vehicle: vehicles designed to detonate mines and resist mine explosions
New Technology: Use of natural resources such as plants, bees and rats in demining is currently under development. When these products become more widely available for use in the field, they will aid in increasing the rate of mine clearance worldwide, and reduce the risk that human deminers face.
Post-Clearance Inspection
After the land has been cleared and before it is handed back to the civilian population, a post clearance inspection occurs. Markers showing where landmines had been are laid for future reference and monitoring and inspections reports are completed.
Community Notification
A representative of the demining team meets with the members of the community to notify them of the successful demining action. Listeners are given details of the demining and assured that the land is safe for use.
Once the land has been meticulously cleared and checked and handed over to the local community, redevelopment can begin.
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