The reason is a lack of funds and therefore the deadline has been prolonged until 2019. People in BiH are quite often the victims of landmine accidents. Former frontlines were established in inhabited areas so people who live close to former separation lines live in constant fear.
Posavina Canton is one of the most heavily mine contaminated areas. Mato Antic, a deminer, stated that one person was killed recently and that the extraction of the body was very difficult. Antic said that, “After the body was extracted we found the remains of a PROM-1 mine (antipersonnel bounding fragmentation mine)”.
Nobody can escape
Mehmedalija Kurtalic, a Demining Team Leader with the Federal Administration of Civil Protection, said that the most dangerous type of mine is the PROM-1 antipersonnel mine: “Nobody can escape that mine once activated, whether a deminer or machine, because it destroys even machines. Even if the person is protected with safety equipment there is no chance to survive”.
Ilija Jezidzic from the Posavina Canton Department of Civil Protection warned: “People think there are no mines until somebody gets hurt. Everybody thinks that mines disappeared but we know they did not”.
Svjetlana Trifkovic, Officer for Public Affairs at the BHMAC, says that 1,680 people have been injured by landmines since 1996. Out of that total 488 people have been killed. “In 2009, including November, there were 18 accidents caused by landmines. Six people died and 17 were injured”, said Miss Trifkovic.
Vague statements given by the Agency “Landmine Monitor”
The last report presented by the monitoring agency “Landmine Monitor” in Geneva states that BiH does not do enough in regard to demining. The report says that “despite sufficient funds Bosnia and Herzegovina clears only three square kilometres of land annually, which is not acceptable”.
Svjetlana Trifkovic says that this information is vague: “There are two demining methods. One is technical survey and the other one is clearance. Considering the results of both demining methods the annual cleared surface is ten to fifteen square kilometres. The report considers only one method, clearance, which is incomplete”.
Source: DEUTCHE WELLE