Landmines serious threat to returning IDPs

An international demining agency on Tuesday called on donors to coordinate their funding for mine action in Angola with their aid for other emergency activities.

The British-based Mines Advisory Group (MAG) said that as word spread across the country's 18 provinces that the war had finally ended, people had spontaneously moved back to their homes and found new areas to resettle in.

"The situation at the moment is very fluid. We are concerned about reports that groups of IDPs (internally displaced persons) are already on the move throughout the country. Some of the areas chosen for resettlement are still littered with anti-personnel landmines," MAG's Africa coordinator, David Greenhalgh told IRIN.

Although the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) is expected to organise repatriation of Angolans from across the sub-region early next year, already an estimated 9,000 refugees from camps in northern and western Zambia have crossed back into Angola since the 4 April ceasefire.

In Moxico province, probably the most heavily-mined area of Angola today, MAG works closely with the Lutheran World Federation (LWF).

"Moxico has been identified for mine action due to the fact it was also one of the last areas to suffer conflict earlier this year. Also it has a large number of IDPs and its border towns will be points of entry for many refugees from Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo," Greenhalgh said.

He added that close to 80,000 people are expected to spontaneously repatriate to the province before the end of the year.

In the southern province of Cunene, MAG had already widened paths through minefields and erected minefield warning signs. Part of the demining process included targeting community liaison groups with detailed messages.

Said Greenhalgh: "Mine awareness messages should be focused on how to travel through unfamiliar areas safely, rather than 'mines are dangerous, do not step on them'. People need correct information. One of our biggest challenges is how to let people know which areas are safe and which are unsafe. At times people will occupy an area because of economic hardship."

MAG recommended that demobilised soldiers should be employed as deminers which would support peace building and their reintegration into society.

NGOs have called on international donors to step up assistance to tens of thousands of UNITA rebels, their families and others who were cut off by the fighting and are now emerging from the bush. Some three million people are estimated to be in need of aid.

Landmines have rendered large areas of arable land and pasture, many roads, bridges, river banks, villages, and some important economic installations unfit for occupation.

According to the United Nations, Angola is one of most heavily mined countries in the world. Estimates for the number of landmines range from six to 20 million resulting in one of the highest rates of landmine injuries per capita in the world.

Some 70,000 Angolans are believed to have lost limbs as a result of landmine explosions. The cost of prosthetic limbs is far beyond the means of most Angolans. Most of the incidents take place in rural areas from where it may take days to reach medical facilities.