Landmine Awareness

Owen Thompson Excerpts

Thursday 20th April 2023 Westminster Hall

[Owen Thompson (Midlothian) (SNP)]

I agree with most of what the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) says—he was doing so well. If anyone in this place could find a way of being in two places at once, it probably would be him. I thank, commend and congratulate the right hon. Member for Aldridge-Brownhills (Wendy Morton) for bringing the debate forward. It is very timely, and it is important that we pay attention to the issue and do not allow it to fall off the radar. We must continue the pressure. There has been broad agreement among everyone who has spoken and, with that in mind, I will do everything I can to try and be as constructive as possible, even where I think things could be done better or in a slightly different way.

It is clear that landmines sow a lasting legacy of danger, destruction, and death long after the conflicts are over. According to the United Nations, nearly 70 countries and territories remain contaminated by 110 million landmines. The cost of producing landmines ranges from $3 to $75, but the cost of clearing them is somewhere from $300 to $1,000 per mine. Landmines kill and maim between 1,000 and 2,000 people every month around the world; in 2021, 5,544 people were killed or maimed by landmines globally. Most were civilians, and half were children. We have already heard the reasons for that: children are less aware of the dangers. It would take 1,100 years to clear all the world’s active landmines even if no new mines were laid.

Countless countries and territories are suffering the lasting, large-scale scars of landmines. The destruction caused is all the more acute due to their indiscriminate and disproportionate effect on civilians. Along with my SNP colleagues, I stand firmly by the United Nation’s International Mine Awareness Day, and its message this year that mine action cannot wait. This year, the United Nations Mine Action Service not only highlighted decades of contamination in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam, but drew attention to the recent explosive ordnance contamination in Myanmar, Ukraine and Yemen. Its goal is to bring attention to areas of the world that remain contaminated after many years, and where generations have changed their lives to avoid the threat.

There is no disputing that the UK Government have taken action, and I welcome that, but there are concrete steps that the international community could take to address the global danger of landmines, such as enforcing the inhumane weapons convention treaty and the mine ban—or Ottawa convention—treaty. The mine ban treaty is one of the most widely ratified disarmament treaties, with 164 state parties, but it is deeply unfortunate that there are still some notable exceptions, including Russia, the US, China, India, Pakistan, Myanmar and Syria. The United Nations continues to call for its universalisation, and 33 state parties are yet to complete their obligations under protocol V of the inhumane weapons convention, which requires the destruction of all anti-personnel mines in their areas. I join the calls to urge the Government to exert what diplomatic pressure they can to incentivise other states to sign up to and ratify the mine ban treaty, to ensure ratified parties fulfil their disarmament obligations, and to continue to engage bilaterally and multilaterally to ensure states fulfil their obligations under protocol V of the 1997 inhumane weapons convention.

It is deeply unfortunate—I have toned down my language to try to be as constructive as possible—that despite the renewed war in the European continent, funding for mine clearance programmes has been cut by £53 million in the past year. Despite a long-standing and urgent need for global mine clearance efforts, the UK Government are not fully playing their part. I am aware that they provide aid for landmine clearance through the global mine action programme, but, as part of the wider cuts to the overseas development aid health and wellbeing programme funding, it has been slashed. In October 2021, the Mines Advisory Group reported that FCDO aid funding for mine clearance projects had been cut by 80% from a three-year cycle of nearly £125 million to just £25 million. It has since reported that those funding cuts particularly affected mine clearance projects in the middle east, and funding for programmes in Lebanon has been cut completely.

In April 2021, due to aid cuts, the HALO Trust had to cease de-mining projects in Syria—one of the countries most affected by land mines. The war in Ukraine clearly highlights yet again the ever-present threat of landmines, so it is inconceivable that the Government are content with cutting de-mining funding for the coming financial years. I again urge the Minister, in the most constructive, positive way I can, to please do whatever possible to reconsider that.

Across Ukraine, there is thought to be 174,000 sq km of land contaminated by landmines. That is an area larger than England, Wales and Northern Ireland combined. Despite a pressing need for a global collective response on landmines, the Government are not quite yet doing enough. Again, I encourage the Minister to reinstate the aid budget of 0.7% of GNI as an urgent priority, and ensure aid spending on de-mining programmes around the world is at the very least increased to pre-covid levels. Now that the FCDO has merged the conflict, stability and security fund into the new UK integrated security fund, it must detail how much money will be earmarked for de-mining projects.

As you well know, Mr Mundell, as the local Member for the trust, the Scottish Government are fully committed to playing their part in the global removal of landmines and the safeguarding of communities in conflict. In September 2022, the Scottish Government pledged £300,000 to the HALO Trust to clear mines and other explosives in Ukraine. As part of that, my SNP colleagues in Westminster and I will continue to push the UK Government to adopt an international development and conflict prevention framework akin to the good global citizen policy proposed by the Scottish Government’s global affairs framework. As a good global citizen, Scotland will amplify marginalised voices on global issues such as migration, human rights, biodiversity and the climate crisis. We commit to listen and act in response to often unheard voices, especially those of women and young people and those in the global south, and to use the networks and platforms available to us to engage and to encourage more action and commitments from Governments at all levels.

I welcome the debate and am trying to be as constructive as I can, even though I see the shortcomings in the Government’s position. It has been an excellent debate that has raised the issues and revealed the level of agreement. Having a united agreement on the need for action on landmines is something that I can very much agree with.