Cyprus: 25,000th landmine cleared by UN

The United Nations cleared its 25,000th landmine in Cyprus today, a landmark in efforts to clear the island of the deadly weapons and eliminate barriers between its two communities.

Since late 2004, teams of de-miners working with the UN Mine Action Centre in Cyprus (UNMACC) have been working to rid the 180 kilometre-long buffer zone of landmines laid during the outbreak of inter-communal violence in 1974.

“Reaching this milestone is another important step forward in our activities serving the two communities and will hopefully serve as a prelude to a successful and satisfactory follow-on phase as we move towards our stated goal of a mine-free buffer zone, and eventually, we hope, a mine-free Cyprus,” said Lisa Buttenheim, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s Special Representative.

Since launching its operations six years ago, the UNMACC has cleared nearly 10 million square metres of land for farming and other uses, as well as 71 minefields in the buffer zone.

Of the 25,000 destroyed landmines, 17,000 were anti-personnel and 8,000 anti-tank mines left behind from the 1974 fighting. It is estimated that up to 15,000 landmines remain on Cyprus, with 2 million square metres of land still possibly contaminated by mines and unexploded ordnance.

The bulk of the work is carried out by de-miners from Mozambique and Zimbabwe, together with G4S Ordnance Management, a private company. Each of the four de-mining teams comprise 12 people and there is also one 6-person mechanical team operating the recently-acquired Mini Minewolf, a remote-controlled tiller system.

“Landmine removal and disposal is a painstaking and hazardous business involving precision, patience and, above all, expertise,” said Max Dyck UNMACC Project Manager.

Since the start of its work, UN de-miners in Cyprus have suffered several casualties, including the death last October of Felisberto Novele, a Mozambaican team leader who was killed in an explosion in a now-cleared minefield some 10 kilometres from the capital, Nicosia.

His death and other casualties, including an accident in which a de-miner lost his leg, highlight the dangers involved in mine-clearing work and the threats still posed by the weapons.

Ms. Buttenheim also underlined the political impact that clearing the mines will have, since it is tearing down a physical barrier between the two sides.

“Our hope is that today’s announcement will instill an even stronger commitment on the part of both communities to rid the island completely of its deadly landmine heritage driven by the recognition that landmines have no place in any civilized society,” she stressed.

The leader of the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities met earlier this week to continue UN-backed negotiations on reunifying the island.

The talks began in 2008 after the then-leaders of the two communities committed themselves to working towards a bi-communal, bi-zonal federation with political equality, as defined by relevant Security Council resolutions.