Landmines Contaminate at Least 58 Countries, UN Reports

Landmines continue to pose a severe threat globally, contaminating at least 58 countries and territories and causing thousands of casualties annually, according to a UN report.

UN Human Rights Commissioner Volker Türk emphasized the critical need for all states to recommit to ending the production, use, and transfer of landmines. He also called for intensified international cooperation in clearing existing mines. This call comes as some countries, including Poland, Finland, and Ukraine, have withdrawn from the international treaty banning landmines, with Poland announcing plans to secure its eastern border with them.

The report highlights Myanmar, Syria, and Afghanistan as having the highest number of victims in 2024, followed by Ukraine, Nigeria, Mali, Yemen, and Burkina Faso. The injuries sustained from landmines fall into three main categories: amputations of legs or feet from stepping on mines, open wounds from nearby explosions, and hand and arm injuries from handling mines. Eye injuries, blindness, and hearing loss are also common among survivors.

Landmines disproportionately affect civilians. In 2024, at least 945 people were killed and 4,325 injured by landmines and explosive remnants of war, with 90% of them being civilians. A separate statement from the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) indicated that in 2025, over 5,000 people were killed or injured by these weapons, the vast majority also being civilians.

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that all states once again commit to ending the production, use and transfer of these weapons and to intensify their cooperation in clearing already laid mines.