The Mine Ban Treaty is facing unprecedented challenges with multiple countries in Europe (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, and Finland) discussing withdrawal as a result of Russian aggression. While security threats are legitimate, landmines provide little military value and have an extremely high humanitarian impact. 

Previous research from the International Committee of the Red Cross commissioned in 1996 looked at the use of landmines in 26 conflicts from the 1940s to 1996 and found that landmines did not provide high military value. The study, endorsed by military officers from 19 countries, concluded that the limited value landmines did provide were “far outweighed by the appalling humanitarian consequences of their use in actual conflicts.” The military benefit of landmines is overstated in arguments to withdraw from the Treaty. Landmines are not the solution to security concerns, since they would not provide valuable protection.

Canada led the world to ban landmines over 25 years ago, and we now need to remain committed by speaking up in protection of this life-saving treaty. 

Mines Action Canada and the rest of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) is working hard to show these countries why it’s important they stay committed to the Ottawa Treaty banning landmines, and you can help too!

The ICBL has created campaigning resources to make it more accessible for people to speak up and protect the treaty. They update this page with new action alerts that respond quickly to emerging threats to the treaty, providing plenty of opportunity for action. For example, there are template letters, instructions, and email addresses to make it easy to send emails to government officials in these countries.

Visit this link to access these user-friendly campaigning resources. 

Act now, and help us protect the Ottawa Treaty banning landmines!