Protecting Borders, Not Endangering Generations: The Case Against Mines

As the world marks the International Day for Mine Awareness on April 4, 2026, HI highlights that antipersonnel mines are militarily outdated. 

 Despite their resurgence in Europe, driven by states abandoning the Ottawa Treaty, conflicts in Afghanistan, Iraq, the Balkans, and Ukraine demonstrate that landmines fail to provide a decisive strategic advantage.

Landmines and cluster munitions do not simply defend borders; they turn them into death traps. They do not protect populations; they endanger them for generations. It is worth mentioning that the U.S. has not signed the Ottawa Treaty.

According to the Landmine Monitor 2025, at least 5,757 casualties occurred in 2023. Civilians made up 84% of these casualties, with children accounting for 37%.  

Humanitarian Long-Term Consequences 

Beyond the immediate loss of life and injury, landmines limit humanitarian access, force populations to leave, and prevent them from returning to land contaminated with explosive remnants and mines.  

Communities in affected areas often live with constant anxiety related to everyday activities such as walking to school and collecting firewood. Farming could result in injury or death. This persistent fear contributes to elevated rates of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, and chronic anxiety among both adults and children. Communities living under the threat of landmines also experience disrupted schooling, constrained mobility, and diminished social cohesion. 

Many European militaries say landmines can slow down enemies and give defenders a few extra minutes in forested terrains. Arms expert Gary Toombs, HI’s Technical Director of Global Landmine Release Operations, debunks this argument.

Modern militaries now achieve the same defensive outcomes (delay, canalization, and deterrence) through treaty-compliant systems that combine:

• non-lethal obstacles (e.g., wire, abatis, engineered terrain),
• persistent detection (sensors; Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Assets; Unmanned Aerial Vehicle),
• and human-in-the-loop decision-making.

These approaches delay infantry by slowing them, observing them, and fixing them under controlled threat. Gary Toombs further explains,

“Anti-personnel mines are incompatible with modern, command-controlled warfare. While they can slow down infantry, even short delays can have tactical value. However, mines achieve this effect indiscriminately, endangering civilians. Modern militaries can now achieve the same defensive outcomes while complying with treaties that demand the protection of civilians from the consequences of armed conflict.”

The deterrent effects attributed to mines stem largely from uncertainty and fear of detection. But these effects are replicated more effectively by modern obstacle-and-sensor systems while remaining fully under command authority.

As can be seen in countries affected by conflict, such as Ukraine and Syria, the humanitarian and long-term consequences – including civilian harm, denial of access to agricultural land, delayed recovery, and the need for large-scale clearance, etc. – are staggering.

The Ottawa Treaty was never about denying states the right to self-defense. It was about recognizing that certain weapons are indiscriminate and disproportionate in their effects, and they cannot be justified.  

The vast majority of antipersonnel landmine victims are always civilians (up to 90% every year), many of them children. Landmines must be banned. 

Spokespersons are available for interviews upon request.