Landmine Survivors in Azerbaijan
Kendrah Jespersen,
Edmonton Outreach and Education Coordinator
Mines Action Canada
Presentation given during Edmonton’s Canadian Landmine Awareness Week at the panel discussion:
"We're Acting NOW! Four perspectives on the global landmine crisis"
March 1, 2006, University of Alberta Global Education Program
Introduction: The Forgotten
We often spend a lot of time talking about the technical aspects of the landmine issue, such as mine removal technologies or the technicalities of the types of mines used. Or perhaps we get wrapped up in the political and legal aspects – about negotiations with governments and changes in policy. At times, we in the mine ban movement, get distracted by these issues from the very reason that this movement began – the survivors: the men, women, children, grandfathers and young people who truly know the horror of landmines. The undeserved, unexpected, devastating effect these weapons have had on their lives is why this is a cause worth fighting for.
But, sadly, they are sometimes forgotten in the midst of the work.
And indeed, survivors are an oft-neglected aspect of the global Mine Ban Treaty. One of the obligations of the Mine Ban Treaty is that “each State Party in a position to do so shall provide assistance for the care and rehabilitation and social and economic reintegration, of mine victims and for mine awareness programs”.
The treaty goes beyond simply emergency care for survivors after their accident, but also makes provisions for the full physical and psychosocial rehabilitation of survivors back into their communities - including socioeconomic reintegration. This has a far-reaching effect: when the physical, psychological and economic needs of a survivor are met, it is immensely beneficial to all members of the community by decreasing the number of people living in poverty in the area.
Unfortunately, unlike other aspects of the treaty which have more specific guidelines and measurable outcomes and deadlines, survivor assistance is more nebulous.
One of the key messages of this year’s Canadian Landmine Awareness Week is “No loopholes!” This calls attention to the fact that although the challenge of fulfilling these obligations is great, states and civil society must vigorously commit themselves to fully meeting the needs of all survivors as promised under the Convention. There should be no “loopholes” in the treaty in this particular area.
The State of Survivors Globally
This is not a small issue. Globally, there are believed to be 15,000-20,000 new mine survivors each year. While this number, has, thankfully, dropped in recent years, the total number of survivors in the world continues to grow, and thus the number of people who need rehabilitation and ongoing support grows. Cambodia, Afghanistan and Colombia are the 3 countries with the highest number of victims, but in the past year, casualties were reported in a total of 58 countries. Civilians account for the vast majority of new landmine casualties.
While there are some programs in place in many countries to assist mine survivors, many “loopholes” remain to be filled – socio-economic rehabilitation, in particular needs more attention.
Survivors in Azerbaijan
I want now to turn specifically to my experience in Azerbaijan, as a case study of the situation often faced by landmine survivors.
For the past 6 months, I have been working in Azerbaijan with a small, local non-governmental organization: the Azerbaijan Campaign to Ban Landmines (AzCBL). In the past, this organization has been involved primarily in advocacy work (trying to encourage the government of Azerbaijan to join the Mine Ban Treaty). Another major focus of the organization’s work is research and monitoring of the country’s landmine situation and what is being done about it.
More recently, the organization has moved its attention to the needs of mine survivors, as this is an area of mine action in the country that is not being adequately addressed.
Azerbaijan has not yet joined the mine ban treaty. However, the country has been supportive of the aims of the treaty. Most noteworthy, the state has created the Azerbaijan National Agency for Mine Action, an organization which is undertaking mine clearance operations in some mine affected areas of the country as well as mine risk education. Although the work of this and other organizations has resulted in great progress in the clearance of previously laid mines and protecting communities from future casualties, services for existing mine survivors is one aspect of mine action that yet remains very limited. Much more work must be done by both the state and non-governmental organizations to support this population.
The exact number is unknown, but there are believed to be about 1900 survivors in the country. In 2005, the AzCBL recorded 63 new survivors, 28 of whom were children.
The country does have two rehabilitation centres, which are meeting the basic rehabilitation needs of most survivors. These centres are, however located in the major cities, making it challenging for most survivors – who are largely from the rural areas- to obtain these services.
Additionally, survivors face many other challenges:
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According to the law, there are many legal provisions for mine survivors, but most are only aware of their right to a pension, and not the other 25 rights. Thus survivors do not try to obtain or defend these rights, and are often neglected them.
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Most survivors cannot afford to pay for legal services with their monthly pension of approximately $20-25.
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Most survivors never receive any psychological support following the incident and 92% have expressed a desire to receive this support
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88 % of survivors are unemployed and most are living in poverty
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90.8 % believe ops for employment or education have decreased since the injury
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84% need money for medical treatment
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The majority of survivors live in households of 5 or more people
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The highest concerns among survivors are lack of adequate housing, unemployment and lack of income for basic needs
(* Data taken from two surveys of mine survivors completed by the Azerbaijan Campaign to Ban Landmines and the Azerbaijan National Agency for Mine Action)
Unfortunately, lack of awareness of their legal rights and the lack of mechanisms to ensure that rights due are in fact provided for survivors, mean that many survivors often have their needs neglected. Most survivors do not know where to turn for assistance.
Sadly, some survivors have lost hope in their situation. This is evidenced by the high suicide rate among people disabled by war (many of whom are mine survivors). It is believed that 15-20 % of the 360 war disabled who died in the past year, committed suicide.
Many survivors, do, however want to do something to improve their situation, such as taking training courses in small business operation, literacy, computers and foreign languages to help them take up a new vocation and support themselves and their families. Organizations like the AzCBL hope to meet these needs by developing support services that will provide not only vocational training, but also assist survivors in protecting and claiming their rights, and providing professional and peer psychological support.
Hope
Let me close with two encouraging stories from my work in Azerbaijan.
This man has been a victim of landmines twice: once during the war in Afghanistan, and later in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. He has lost on leg, several fingers on each hand, and has considerable damage to one eye. Yet, he was one of the most cheerful people I met in all of my time in Azerbaijan.
Following his accidents, this survivor took up bee-keeping as a new vocation. He now has a successful honey business and lives on a lovely farm with his family. As is always done in Azerbaijan, he invited us to share several cups of tea with him when we visited – with spoonfuls honey on the side of course! When we left his home, he generously gifted me a large jar of delicious fresh honey. He speaks cheerfully of his situation, and stands as an example to other survivors: that it is possible to get through the pain and trauma and to pull ones life back together again. As part of one of the AzCBL’s future projects, it is hoped that this survivor will help lead seminars on bee-keeping as a potential economic opportunity
for other survivors looking for work. Aside from his bee-keeping skills, he has much hope to offer to other survivors.
Another encouraging experience during my time working on this issue in Azerbaijan, was taking part in the opening of a Safe Play Area. This was a project initiated by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), together with volunteers from local branches of the Azerbaijan National Red Crescent Society. The idea behind the project is to build playgrounds in mine-affected communities to provide a safe alternative place for children to play, aside from potentially mined fields, or the confined areas of their homes.
It was so uplifting to see the joy on these children’s faces as they played for the first time in these areas made just for them. These are children who should never have to worry about the risk of stepping on a mine or accidentally picking up an explosive object. These are children who need never become mine survivors. They are in fact, the reason we continue to work on this issue – so that taking care of landmine survivors is not a problem Azerbaijan must face for the next generations.
For more information on the landmine issue in Azerbaijan, see:
www.icbl.org/lm/2005/azerbaijan
For more information on the mine ban movement and the landmine issue globally, see:
