Fresh bid to rid the world of landmines

Date: 27/07/00

By Peter Chapman

EU SCIENTISTS are joining forces with experts from around the world in a drive to rid the world of landmines, which kill or maim hundreds of thousands of people every year.

The European Commission's joint research centre and scientists from the US, Canada, Netherlands, Sweden and UK are planning to set up a scheme to test and assess the huge array of new technology being used to clear up the mines.

Under the International Test and Evaluation Programme for Humanitarian De-mining (ITEP), scientists will put equipment through its paces in laboratories using dummy mines or in genuine minefields. "Scientists will examine how good or bad a tool is and how appropriate it is for different terrain," explained a Commission expert, who added that the project would also establish agreed test standards for the equipment. "That is important because there is not enough quality in testing at the moment," he said.

Traditional de-mining systems are based on metal detection devices, but experts point out that modern landmines use very little metal and rely more on plastic casings which are far harder to detect. This means more sophisticated de-mining techniques are needed to slash the time it takes, and the costs involved, in detecting mines, and to reduce the high rate of false alarms in countries such as Afghanistan and Cambodia which have been strewn with landmines.

The ITEP initiative is the latest in a series of EU efforts to boost research into landmine detection systems.