Swiss NGO implements landmine clearance programme

A Swiss organisation specialising in the removal of landmines and unexploded ordnance (UXO) has begun the implementation of a mine action programme in Burundi. In a communiqué, the Fondation Suisse de Deminage (FSD) reported on Wednesday that the project would be a joint effort between it and a local partner, the Independent Centre of Research and Initiative for the Dialogue. The project would first deal with the most immediate needs, and, in the near future, would develop an autonomous national landmine clearance capacity in the country, FSD added. It said the programme's main tasks would be to support the development of Burundi's mine action campaign; destruction of landmine stocks; physical marking of landmine contaminated areas; and education for the public and humanitarian actors on safe behaviour in contaminated areas. "At the current time, a coordinated action against landmines in Burundi as well as a specialised humanitarian landmine clearance organisation is still missing" FSD reported. It added that landmines and UXOs would pose a significant risk to the hundreds of thousands of returning Burundian refugees, many of whom have little or no knowledge of the correct manner of behaving and living in landmine-contaminated areas. On 5 May, IRIN reported that Action by Churches Together (ACT), an alliance of churches worldwide, was requesting additional funds to implement a landmine education programme targeting Burundian refugees in eastern Tanzanian camps. ACT had reported that landmines and UXOs would pose a significant problem in the provinces of Bujumbura Rural, Bubanza, Cibitoke, Ruyigi and Makamba. [See: Church alliance in plea for $2.3-million aid] [The FSD report is available online at: www.mineaction.ch]