Resource information
Landmines continued to be deployed in Burma during 2006. According to the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL), only three countries; namely: Burma, Nepal and Russia, continued to use landmines during 2006; with the most extensive use reported to have occurred in Burma. [1] Meanwhile, there is a growing international consensus on the need to ban the use of landmines across the globe. This consensus is reflected both in the 1997 Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on Their Destruction, commonly known as the Mine Ban Treaty (MBT), and in various recent United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) resolutions that call for the universalization of this treaty. [2] The MBT has now been ratified by three-quarters of the world's nations. This growing consensus reflects a common recognition of the destructive and indiscriminate effects of anti-personnel landmines. Landmines can remain functional years after hostilities have ceased, and often inflict injury in situations that might otherwise appear peaceful. Civilians may falsely perceive that their environment is safe following the cessation of conflict, unaware of the concealed threat posed by existing landmines...
