Actress Angelina Jolie was so profoundly moved by what she witnessed in Cambodia, that it would change the course of her life. While filming the 2001 movie Tomb Raider, Angelina was greatly impacted by the calamitous effects of thousands of landmines laid by the Khmer Rouge and the Cambodian government. She would go on to kickstart the non-profit Maddox -Jolie-Pit Foundation—an organization dedicated to the elimination of land mines. Since its founding her group has been responsible for the removal of over four-million land mines. Today Angelina serves in service as a goodwill ambassador to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR).
Similarly, Princess Diana brought her own brand of passion and determination to the cause of land mine elimination. On a 1997 visit to Angola, Diana joined the Hazardous Area Life-Support Organization (HALO TRUST) which had been working to clear mines from that country’s 25-year civil war. Diana met with land mine survivors, learned from removal experts but most famously, navigated her way through a mine-field. That image of the Princess wearing protective equipment, was quickly circulated by the media and provided a powerful message to the world about land mines.
Land mines are not a new phenomenon. The Romans are known to have planted sharpe,5-pointed hooks (called lilias) underground around their fortifications. They were designed to impale when “victim operated.” The Jin Dynasty (circa 300 A.D) used something similar to slow down the armies of Genghis Khan. Joan of Arc was wounded by a lilia-type munition in the siege of Orleans. Land mines did not take the modern form however until the introduction of gunpowder teamed with a detonation system.
Even in the aftermath of World War I and II, the battlefields of northeastern France and Belgium remain the sites of vast amounts of unexploded artillery shells, bombs , grenades, and especially land mines. The governments of France and Belgium have formed specialised departments to clear out (known as dèminage) explosive materials from the countryside. The dèminage process is known as the Iron Harvest. Near Metz, France for example, Iron Harvest units have removed approximately 40 tonnes of unexploded ordinance every year since World War II. In 2013, 160 tonnes of unexploded munitions were unearthed near Ypres, Belgium. Munitions left over from the wars are found weekly in Belgium and France. Of the 300 million projectiles that were fired between the Allied and German forces, one-third were duds, and most of them have not been recovered. Even more shocking, is the fact that in World War II alone, one tonne of explosives was fired for every square metre of territory between Metz and Ypres. As the years go by, unexploded land mines have been buried by time, the weather, or swallowed by mud. Post- war activities such as plowing and planting the fields for agricultural work, construction, and natural processes have brough much of the rusting munitions to the surface. The dèminage work of the Iron Harvest units is extremely dangerous work. Since 1945, 630 French and 20 Belgian deminers have died handling the unexploded munitions. Civilian deaths are also common. There have been close to 800 casualties in West Flanders, Belgium alone. Additionally, the problem goes beyond the sheer number of casualties. Many of the munitions contain toxic poisons that continue to pollute the biodiversity of the land and water around them.
The French and Belgian experience with land mines and unexploded ordinance has provided a cautionary tale to the international community. In 1997 the Ottawa Treaty was signed by 162 countries that agreed to: “not use, produce, stockpile or trade in land mines.” Sadly, decades after the conflicts within their borders, Egypt, Afghanistan, Cambodia, Angola, and now Ukraine, have untold land mine contamination. The United Nations estimates that at the present rate of dèminage, it will take 1,100 years to clear the planet of land mines.
Interestingly, because of their experience with the Iron Harvest, Belgium has played a pioneering role in making a mine-free world. Belgium was the first country to officially ban land mines and the first country to sign the Ottawa Treaty. Belgian technology is at the forefront in creating “demining systems” such as multi-sensor detectors, remote controlled defusing robots, x-ray detectors, minesweeping tanks, detonating plows, etc. Belgian technology has developed minesweeping drones with manual arms, that detect mines quickly and cheaply. Creatively, Belgian researchers have had success training a breed of rat ( Cricetomes rodent) which can sniff out gunpowder . The rats are very intelligent and are too light to detonate a mine. Beyond actual mine detection, Belgium has played a major role in the concern for land mine victims. Belgium serves as the chair of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to eliminate land mines. Additionally, Belgium has donated close to €6.5 million for the medical needs, victim assistance and “risk education.”
A mine-free world is something that cannot be achieved overnight. Thankfully, the efforts of Angelina Jolie, Princess Diana, and other likeminded people are changing that dynamic. Not to be overlooked, Belgium, with its Iron Harvest legacy, has stepped into the forefront to achieve a land mine-free planet.
DID YOU KNOW?
—- Prince Harry in 2019 honored his late mother by traveling to Angola to duplicate Diana’s epic walk across a minefield.
— In Cambodia, a rat named Magawa has become a local celebrity. It has snuffed out 140,000 square metres of land detecting hundreds of mines.
— The French Government has designated certain uninhabitable “red zones” around some battlefields. These zones remain unfit to live, hike or farm due to the poisons and sheer number of undetected mines.
