The Ukrainian parliamentary delegation headed by the First Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Oleksandr Korniienko held a special session on mine action on the sidelines of the 146th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union. The event aimed to draw attention to the importance of humanitarian demining as an integral part of the return to peaceful life.
Speakers identified current challenges for successful demining operations and discussed the need for international cooperation and assistance. More than 25 countries took part in the session, including: Chile, Indonesia, Cambodia, Italy, the United Kingdom, Canada, Croatia, Lithuania, Latvia, the Netherlands, Germany, Austria and others.
The First Vice-Speaker appealed to the world’s parliaments to take an active part in shaping the policy for demining Ukraine. “On the sidelines of the 146th IPU Assembly, an important topic was raised – demining of the territory of Ukraine. We call on the world’s parliaments to unite to help free our land from mines and bombs. We want our citizens to be safe as soon as possible,” he stressed.
Oleksandr Korniienko noted that the problem of demining is a huge challenge for many countries, including Ukraine: “Quite a significant part of our country’s territory is mined, millions of Ukrainians live under the Sword of Damocles – the ominous remnant of russian aggression against Ukraine.”
“In Ukraine, russia is using anti-personnel mines, in particular, various modifications of anti-personnel mines, completely ignoring the norms and principles of international humanitarian law aimed at protecting civilians. russian troops are laying mines on civilian roads and in residential areas. During the retreat, the russian armed forces left countless unexploded ordnance, mines and booby traps,” said the the First Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine.
He also stressed that Ukraine needs help to protect civilians: “Ukraine is working hard, mobilising all available resources.” In particular, since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Ukrainian humanitarian demining authorities have surveyed more than 790 square kilometres of territory and eliminated more than 321,000 explosive items.
Oleksandr Korniienko noted that the needs are far greater. He drew the attention of the participants to Ukraine’s most urgent needs to protect civilians from the threat of russian mines.
In conclusion, Oleksandr Korniienko expressed his gratitude to Chris Logan, the Senior Policy Advisor at the Hazardous Area Life Support Organisation (HALO Trust), for his detailed presentation, and to Duarte Pacheco, the President of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, and the 12+ geopolitical group for their support.
“Such a meeting should be an impetus to engage the parliaments of the world in the difficult but necessary demining. It is critically important for us to unite the countries of the West and the countries of the Global South in a coalition against the aggressor and murderer – russia. We called on our partners to support Ukraine in liberating our territory from mines and bombs. Especially those countries that have already faced a similar situation: Cambodia, Croatia, Chile, Bosnia, Kosovo, Georgia, whose representatives shared their experience in this matter. Unfortunately, the problem of mining is not new and exists on every continent,” said Aliona Shkrum, the MP of Ukraine.
As reported during the session on demining, it is estimated that there are 110 million landmines in the ground today. While one mine costs between $3 and $30, the cost of demining is much higher – $300 to $1,000. The cost of eliminating all of them is a whopping $50-100 billion. The countries that were most affected by anti-personnel mines are Egypt, Angola, Iran, Afghanistan, Iraq, China, Cambodia, Mozambique, Bosnia, Croatia, Somalia, Eritrea, Sudan and Vietnam. Recently, after the russian aggression and especially its escalation in 2022, Ukraine joined this group.
For reference. On 11-15 March 2023, the delegation of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine is taking part in the 146th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (Manama, Bahrain).
The delegation includes members of the Ukrainian Parliament: the Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Policy and Interparliamentary Cooperation Oleksandr Merezhko, the Member of the Committee on Environmental Policy and Nature Management Lesia Vasylenko, the Member of the Committee on Finance, Taxation and Customs Policy Aliona Shkrum, the Member of the Committee on Foreign Policy and Interparliamentary Cooperation Olha Rudenko, Member of the Committee on Agrarian and Land Policy Artur Herasymov, the Head of the Subcommittee on Anti-Corruption Policy in the Field of Digital Innovations and Public Data of the Committee on Anti-Corruption Policy Oleksii Zhmerenetskyi and the Member of the Committee on Humanitarian and Information Policy Oleksandr Sanchenko.
