Attachments
Launch of a new GICHD study: Mine Action in Border Areas
Border areas are of strategic importance for state sovereignty and for key deterrence and defensive purposes. At the same time, they are fundamental to ensuring the safe movement and access to land and services for individuals and communities on both sides of the border. For these reasons, explosive ordnance (EO) contamination in border areas poses a critical threat to safety, livelihoods, and regional stability.
The use of landmines and other EO is regulated, and in some cases prohibited, under international law, and their clearance is mandated under robust international legal frameworks. While border contamination may entail specific challenges, States Parties must fulfill their obligations to clear and destroy, or ensure the clearance and destruction of, mines and cluster munition remnants, irrespective of the contamination’s location.
Today, the GICHD is launching the "Mine Action in Border Areas" study, which explores the challenges and opportunities of addressing EO in these complex regions. The study also includes an initial map representing the first systematic attempt to analyze and define the scope of border EO contamination.
Research findings show that border contamination remains a significant challenge, with more than 50 states and territories having confirmed or potential border contamination. A range of factors—including limited access, unresolved disputes, complex regional dynamics, the presence of non-state armed groups, lack of infrastructure, difficult terrain, or remoteness of the area—can complicate mine action interventions in border areas.
Despite these challenges, addressing border contamination has a great potential for positive long-term impact. Advancing mine action in border areas can help build trust between neighboring states, playing a crucial role in peacebuilding and regional stability. It can also promote cross-border mobility and border management, productive use of land, trade, infrastructure upgrades, and environmental protection and rehabilitation.
The launch of the study will take place at the side event “Addressing Border Contamination: Challenges and Opportunities for a Mine-Free World,” on Friday, 29 November, hosted by Switzerland, the ICRC, and the GICHD, on the margins of the 5th Review Conference of the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention taking place this week in Siem Reap-Angkor, Cambodia. The event will explore the obstacles, best practices, and opportunities for mine action in border areas, sharing findings from recent research by both the GICHD and the ICRC. It will feature the participation of Serbia and Ecuador, along with testimonies from other affected states. This discussion will stimulate reflection and call for further action to enhance mine action efforts in border areas, while providing key considerations to inform the outcomes of the conference as well as the next five years of implementation.