Geneva, June 25, 2013 (SPS)- The International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) and the Cluster Munition Coalition (CMC) have tackled the problems of landmine victims in Sahrawi refugee Camps,in a briefing paper on the occasion of World Refugee Day issued last week
The ICBL paper reported Awala Lahbib, a landmine survivor leader in Western Sahara from ICBL-CMC member, Saharawi Association of Mine Victims (ASAVIM) in the Sahrawi refugee camps in Algeria.
“The majority of landmine and cluster munition survivors have extended families to support. Under the harsh refugee camp conditions the other family members are not able to take over the role of main provider. This leaves most survivors continuously struggling to provide nourishment and ensure the basic survival of their families.” He said
“Landmines and Refugees: The Risks and the Responsibilities to Protect and Assist Victims” released by the ICBL-CMC’S Landmine and Cluster Munition Monitor, focuses on the conditions for victims and refugees fleeing from, or into, 20 different countries contaminated by landmines and other explosive hazards, including cluster munitions; and the experiences of returnees to another five affected countries.
On World Refugee Day, the Nobel Prize winning International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) and the Cluster Munition Coalition (CMC), have called on states to “eliminate the harrowing risks that refugees and asylum seekers face from landmines and unexploded ordnance. States must protect refugee victims and urgently respond to their needs” (SPS)
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