Showing posts with label Landmines. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Landmines. Show all posts
17.4.09
16.4.09
Deadly Borders: Landmines in Mozambique
Landmines make up a sinister physical border where crossing may bring death or maiming. These remnants of war create a barrier to keep military opposition but remain long after conflicts pass. Mozambique fought wars for nearly 30 years, first in a colonial war against the Portuguese and then in a civil war which lasted 16 more years.
After the war ended in 1992, the country left in shambles still held the undignified spot as one of the poorest in the world as it had after independence from the Portuguese in 1975. More than a decade later it still remains near the bottom. Left behind were scattered minefields throughout the country, many of them unmapped or without documentation. With a collapsed economy and dangerous terrain scattered with mines, aid organizations began helping the country.
The HALO Trust came to Mozambique in 1994 to take on the landmine problem and along with other organizations has been largely successful in clearing the northern portion of the country. In 2006 APOPO, a Belgium-backed group started their work using rats to detect landmines in Mozambique.
Men and women who work clearing minefields place themselves within delicate borders daily. Within the zones that are lined with explosives in Mozambique’s heat, they work behind protective masks and armored vests as a barrier between them and a potential detonation. With metal detectors and a few garden tools moving inches at a time inside a box marked with nylon rope and a piece of wood that they push forward gradually as they check for mines and other ordinances. It is a dangerous job and workers are sometimes killed in their mission to make the land inhabitable for Mozambicans.
Over the years thousands of Mozambicans have been killed and injured by landmines, and villagers have learned where minefields are after losing neighbors, loved ones or even livestock. They have been invaluable sources to organizations trying to clear the sites. Living with landmines bordering your village, has led to frustration and even feelings of betrayal after years of promises from organizations and inaction by their government. They know where they are, but simply need somebody to clear them, said Lawrence Timpson of HALO Trust.
Just outside of Maputo, Mozambique’s capital, landmines still remain in Mahlampsene. Although the site is still being cleared and portions have been released, people have already moved in along its border, living literally next to a minefield. Seeing an opportunity, Alex Joaquim, 28, could not pass up purchasing a home next to the former FRELIMO munitions site where he now runs a cantina where one of his main clients are HALO Trust workers.
The land is marked with stakes driven into the ground painted red or white. Red indicates that the land is unsafe, while white sticks means that the area has been cleared but is has not been officially released. These indicators guide villagers walking through where it is safe to step, often narrow spaces. On the land, Joaquim and neighbors are now farming.
In Gaza province, workers from APOPO are using Gambian pouched rats to find mines in the village of Mpilane. During the civil war mines were placed to ward off rebels from taking the railroad or gaining control of the Limpopo River which farmers depended on. However, after the war it took the leg of Francisco Tivane, 60, a farmer who working the land. Although he can no longer work and depends on friends and family, he considers himself lucky. His accident served as a warning to others in the area to stay out of the potentially deadly zone
Landmines are a borders created by man with the sole intention of killing or injuring others. In Mozambique, these deadly barrier are still harming people.
Deadly Borders - Images by Michael Barrientos
After the war ended in 1992, the country left in shambles still held the undignified spot as one of the poorest in the world as it had after independence from the Portuguese in 1975. More than a decade later it still remains near the bottom. Left behind were scattered minefields throughout the country, many of them unmapped or without documentation. With a collapsed economy and dangerous terrain scattered with mines, aid organizations began helping the country.
The HALO Trust came to Mozambique in 1994 to take on the landmine problem and along with other organizations has been largely successful in clearing the northern portion of the country. In 2006 APOPO, a Belgium-backed group started their work using rats to detect landmines in Mozambique.
Men and women who work clearing minefields place themselves within delicate borders daily. Within the zones that are lined with explosives in Mozambique’s heat, they work behind protective masks and armored vests as a barrier between them and a potential detonation. With metal detectors and a few garden tools moving inches at a time inside a box marked with nylon rope and a piece of wood that they push forward gradually as they check for mines and other ordinances. It is a dangerous job and workers are sometimes killed in their mission to make the land inhabitable for Mozambicans.
Over the years thousands of Mozambicans have been killed and injured by landmines, and villagers have learned where minefields are after losing neighbors, loved ones or even livestock. They have been invaluable sources to organizations trying to clear the sites. Living with landmines bordering your village, has led to frustration and even feelings of betrayal after years of promises from organizations and inaction by their government. They know where they are, but simply need somebody to clear them, said Lawrence Timpson of HALO Trust.
Just outside of Maputo, Mozambique’s capital, landmines still remain in Mahlampsene. Although the site is still being cleared and portions have been released, people have already moved in along its border, living literally next to a minefield. Seeing an opportunity, Alex Joaquim, 28, could not pass up purchasing a home next to the former FRELIMO munitions site where he now runs a cantina where one of his main clients are HALO Trust workers.
The land is marked with stakes driven into the ground painted red or white. Red indicates that the land is unsafe, while white sticks means that the area has been cleared but is has not been officially released. These indicators guide villagers walking through where it is safe to step, often narrow spaces. On the land, Joaquim and neighbors are now farming.
In Gaza province, workers from APOPO are using Gambian pouched rats to find mines in the village of Mpilane. During the civil war mines were placed to ward off rebels from taking the railroad or gaining control of the Limpopo River which farmers depended on. However, after the war it took the leg of Francisco Tivane, 60, a farmer who working the land. Although he can no longer work and depends on friends and family, he considers himself lucky. His accident served as a warning to others in the area to stay out of the potentially deadly zone
Landmines are a borders created by man with the sole intention of killing or injuring others. In Mozambique, these deadly barrier are still harming people.
Deadly Borders - Images by Michael Barrientos
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