Migrants seeking to enter Western Europe via the so-called Balkan route are at risk of drowning, abuse, exploitation, and gender-based violence, among other things. There’s also the danger posed by ground mines.
According to the Bosnia and Herzegovina Mine Action Centre, there are 180,000 unexploded mines left over from the 1990s wars. Over 130,000 people have been displaced, with 617 lives lost. A migrant was killed by a land mine explosion near the Croatian border earlier this year, highlighting the importance of mine awareness.
There are five temporary reception centres in the country, which house 3,400 migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Syria, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Sub-Saharan Africa, and the Middle East. According to data gathered by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in the most current IOM Displacement Tracking Matrix report, moreover half of those displaced remain outside official centres.
IOM has completed a series of training workshops in temporary receiving centres to warn migrants and IOM Outreach personnel about the dangers of land mines.
“Very few migrants are aware that land mines exist in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and even if they are, they are unaware of what to search for,” Rajko ivak, one of the qualified teachers, said. “When they pass through rural or abandoned places, we have cautioned them to be especially cautious.”
Slaan Pani, his coworker, added, “We’ve shown them what mines look like, how well camouflaged and stealthy they can be.” “Most significantly, we’ve emphasized that mines constitute a constant threat, even after they’ve been forgotten about for years.”
All 10 sessions were translated into Arabic, Urdu, Pashto, Farsi, Dari, Bengali, and other migrants’ languages.
The United Nations envisions a world free of mines, explosive remnants of war, cluster bombs, and improvised explosive devices, where individuals and communities can live in a secure environment that promotes long-term peace and prosperity. No one should be forgotten; victims’ human rights and needs must be respected, and they must be properly incorporated as equal members of their societies (United Nations Mine Action Strategy, 2019-2023).
