Azerbaijan continues to suffer heavily from the threat of landmines

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Every year, the international community celebrates April 4 as the International Day for drawing attention to the problem of landmines and demining. Azerbaijan called on the global community to take consistent measures to combat the threat of landmines, as it continues to suffer severely from the problem.

In 2020, Azerbaijan put an end to the Armenian occupation of its lands. Unfortunately, during the decades-long occupation, Azerbaijani cities and villages were razed to the ground, and Armenia deliberately destroyed its historical, cultural and religious heritage. However, Armenia did not stop and, according to initial estimates, placed more than 1.5 million mines and explosives on the lands of Azerbaijan. Armenia placed mines along roads behind the former contact line, in cemeteries, in residential areas, daily increasing the number of victims of mine explosions among the civilian population.

Unfortunately, Armenia continued to place mines throughout the territory of Azerbaijan after the end of the conflict, using the Lachin Corridor. More than 2,700 landmines produced in Armenia in 2021 were discovered in the territories. After counter-terrorism measures in September 2023, it was discovered that more than 500,000 landmines were placed in the territories of Azerbaijan and along the perimeter of these territories, where the Russian peacekeeping contingent was temporarily stationed. This is one piece of evidence that shows the scale of this threat.

Throughout the post-conflict period, a total of 356 Azerbaijanis fell victim to landmines in bombings that occur almost daily due to Armenia’s constant mine threat. 65 people lost their lives, including 50 civilians and 15 military personnel.

After 30 years of looting and destruction orchestrated by Armenia, Azerbaijan is carrying out massive restoration and construction work in the Karabakh and Eastern Zangezur regions. However, the massive contamination of these areas seriously hampers this process, and most importantly, it affects the exercise of the inalienable right of hundreds of thousands of IDPs to return to their homes in safety and dignity. Families forced from their homes for nearly 30 years are still unable to return safely until these mines are cleared. Various international organizations also confirm this reality. A report by the United Nations Development Program and the United Nations Mine Action Service following the Mine Action Assessment Mission in Azerbaijan from 10 to 16 December 2020 states that “extensive and costly demining will be a prerequisite for the safe reconstruction of the territory, the return of displaced persons to their homes and sustainable livelihoods . “

Despite repeated calls by Azerbaijan for Armenia to reveal minefield maps to end the threat, Armenia has long denied the existence of such maps. As a result of pressure from the international community, the reliability of the information provided, covering only a small part of the mined areas, was only 25%. More than 55% of recent landmine incidents have occurred outside the areas covered by the information provided.

Armenia’s behavior regarding the mine threat is another blow to the efforts made to achieve sustainable peace and confidence building in the region in the post-conflict period.

However, Azerbaijan remains committed to solving this urgent problem. Azerbaijan has made significant progress in addressing landmine and unexploded ordnance contamination by increasing the capacity of its demining authority. Today, demining operations in Azerbaijan are carried out using the most modern and advanced technologies available worldwide. Consistent efforts are being made to increase the country’s national demining capacity, and capacity in this direction has grown significantly over the past three years.

It should be noted that more than 90% of demining operations are financed from state funds. Meanwhile, Azerbaijan is cooperating with its foreign partners in this field. Unfortunately, given the scale of the mine threat, foreign aid remains very low.

Azerbaijan has continuously demonstrated solidarity by sharing its demining experience with other mine-affected countries, thus contributing to the improvement of international cooperation in the field of humanitarian mine action.

In order to raise awareness of the multi-faceted impact of landmines and to gain collective support for mine mitigation measures, it is planned to hold the 3rd international conference on mine action – “Mining the impact of mines on the environment: mobilizing resources for a safe and green future”, which will take place from 30 to 31 of this year May in Zangilana and Baku.

Azerbaijan believes that demining efforts are directly related to sustainable and long-term development, given the enormous impact of demined areas on the well-being and progress of its people and their importance to the wider perspective of the country’s development. Therefore, humanitarian demining has been officially declared as the 18th national Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) in Azerbaijan.

As Azerbaijan tackles its demining problem, it is making a global contribution to humanitarian demining. As the effects of wars and landmines grow worldwide, Azerbaijan has proposed the establishment of humanitarian demining as the 18th SDG of the United Nations.

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