YOUTH FOCUS
How Youth are Affected by Landmines
In states that have been at war, children are frequently injured by mines. In areas that have been mined, where children naturally work and play in the fields, they are particularly susceptible to the effects of landmines. Often youth collect firewood, take animals to graze, go to the market, pick fruit - all these everyday activities become dangerous in a mine-affected area. Many young people are injured by landmines that look like toys. Some cannot resist the temptation to play with these "toys" even if they are aware of the dangers. Young children can't see mines like taller adults can, and they may not be able to read or recognise warning signs as they stray off safe routes while playing games or taking short-cuts.
As
the pie graph shows, youth represent 22% of landmines injuries. Because
of their size, landmines hurt youth more severely than adults, so a greater
number may die from landmine injuries. A blast mine might destroy the
leg of an adult, but it can kill a small child. Also, children's bodies
may not be able to handle the loss of blood or the shock caused by a mine
blast
In some cases, the life of a child is severely restricted by the presence of mines, even when it is only suspected that mines are planted somewhere. Parents may stop sending their children to school and prevent them from doing their daily tasks. Lack of schooling leads to a loss of education and employment skills training that may make it more difficult for youth to find jobs when they become adults. Landmines really have the ability to destroy a young person's life.
Testimonies to the Danger
Adis, Aged 12, Sarajevo
For the first time in four years, Adis was going to be able to leave the streets of Dobrinja, the neighborhood most penalized by the bombs dropped by the Serbian radicals, and walk down what was the main battle front line during the siege on Sarajevo.
Accompanied by some friends, he entered the ruins left by the conflict and saw a partially covered landmine. "I knew that it was dangerous, but I didn't want anyone to tread on it," he said three days later in the hospital of the Bosnian capital. He had picked it up very carefully and as he was about to put it down on the ground again, it went off. The blast caused him to lose his left eye, a hand was amputated and deep scars disfigure his face.
Altim and Adem, Kosovo
Since
the end of the war in Kosovo, Adem and Altim had grown used to taking
their cow to graze in a field near their house. It was there, on a familiar
path, that a mine exploded. This one mine stole their legs and turned
their childhood into a nightmare. The tremendous noise, violent, deafening,
flying earth, the foot, the ankle, the shin, legs that no longer exist…
After a long and painful hospitalization, they received wheelchairs and their first prostheses(artificial legs), made for them in Pristina. They then went to Austria for three months where they received sturdier, more attractive, better fitting prostheses. Today, Adem and Altim walk with difficulty as the prostheses rub and put pressure on their stumps. The tragedy for youth is that as they grow, the prostheses have to be regularly replaced with larger sizes.
Adem and Altim do not like to talk about the explosion and what happened in the moments that followed. All that they recall of the accident is the type of car they were evacuated in: a Mercedes Benz. "New legs", so that they can walk the 3km to school, are their sole focus.
Rabha Hassa Assad Suyadan, Aged 21, Lebanon
Rabha was 21 when she stepped on a mine that had been placed in the storage room of her house. "I thought I had suffered an electric shock when I walked into the storage room to get some food for our goats. The explosion ripped me off my feet and threw me into the yard. Looking down at my legs, I realized that my left foot was missing. At the beginning it did not hurt, but after half an hour I was in terrible pain and fainted."
It took four hours to evacuate her to the nearest hospital: two cars broke down because of the bad roads and the snow. Rabha now lives with her mother. "Sometimes I feel I have lost everything in my life, that nothing is left, and I start crying. My life has changed. I can no longer work and I have a young son; my husband lives far away in Beirut. My family and neighbours have been very helpful... Now I will try to get a prosthesis. I say to other survivors of mine injuries like myself: we have to keep our hope."
These and other testimonies can be found on the ICBL youth pages.
Check out www.icbl.org/youth/hear/