27/02/2023
“If you ever come across anything suspicious like this item, please do not pick it up, contact your local law e enforcement agency for assistance”.
The deadly legacy of armed conflict continues to claim lives long after the fighting is over. As more and more conflicts take place in population centers, including large towns and cities, so does the grave toll of weapon contamination. Unexploded ordnance hamper movement and agriculture, block access to essential services and life-saving humanitarian assistance, and can reverse socio-economic development gains by decades. In this post, ICRC Legal Adviser Eirini Giorgou lays out the obligations under international humanitarian law (IHL) for States and non-State armed groups with regard to explosive remnants of war, along with recommendations for practical measures to ensure their effective implementation. Even after the guns fall silent, a deadly threat remains. In many parts of the world, explosive remnants of war (‘ERW’) litter landscapes that are no longer battlefields, and continue to kill and maim thousands of civilians during and long after active hostilities have ended. A large proportion of victims are children. With armed conflict increasingly taking place in urban areas, including cities of millions of inhabitants, weapon contamination of urban terrain has become commonplace, with severe and long-lasting consequences. ERW are explosive munitions that have failed to explode after being fired or launched (‘unexploded ordnance’ or ‘UXO’) or have been left behind by a party to the conflict (‘abandoned explosive ordnance’ or ‘AXO’). Artillery shells, grenades, mortar shells, rockets, missiles, and other explosive munitions – as well as improvised explosive devices (IEDs), depending on how they are designed and function – may all become ERW.
Devastating humanitarian consequences
Explosive munitions of every kind have a failure rate that can vary greatly, from one to forty per cent, depending on diverse factors. UXO that fail to explode as intended may explode and kill or injure their victims at an unpredictable point in time. Until then, they remain a latent threat, impeding access to health care facilities and other essential services, preventing the proper operation and maintenance of critical infrastructure, blocking escape routes, and hindering the delivery of life-saving humanitarian assistance. Long after hostilities have ended, UXO continue to hamper agriculture and trade, delay reconstruction efforts, and prevent the return of displaced persons to their places of residence. Ultimately, UXO impede socio-economic development and pose a long-term obstacle to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. The use of heavy explosive weapons in populated areas multiplies these devastating consequences. Recent and ongoing conflicts, be it in the Middle East, the international armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine, or elsewhere, are clear examples. The density of civilian population in cities accounts for more direct and indirect victims and suffering. Moreover, the difficulty of clearing UXO is much greater in urban areas than elsewhere, given the presence of various metal objects and human remains in the rubble.
Photo-Source: blogs.icrc.org
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