Last weekend, a landmine exploded at a school in Heraale in the Galgadud region of Somalia, killing two children and injuring three others. While this is devastating news, it is sadly not surprising. Landmines and UXO are rife in Somalia, especially in the Galgadud region; they have been for 35 years, since the end of the Ethio-Somali War in 1978.
This is Nguyen Thi Len and her seven-year-old son. This past summer, her older son died and became yet another victim of the Vietnam War. Friday, May 29th, marks the 40th anniversary of the day U.S troops left Vietnam after an eleven year active struggle that included massive bombing raids like Operation Rolling Thunder and Operation Linebacker, which does not include time the U.S. spent supporting the French occupation. Although it’s been 40 years, the Vietnam War still has an incredible impact on the people’s lives.
In late January I attended a briefing from the UN’s Refugee Agency (UNHCR) on the humanitarian crisis in Syria. At the time there were nearly 700,000 Syrian refugees who had fled their homes to escape the violence and brutality occurring in their country. Now, just over a month later, that number has grown to over 1 million. According to a recent CNN report, the number of Syrian refugees could double, and possibly triple, but the end of the year if the situation does not change.
Niem, Khaild, Ramadan and their families fled Syria for the Domiz Refugee Camp in northern Iraq in January 2013. Their path from the border to the registration point took them past a known minefield.
MAG Community Liaison teams have been working at the crossing to ensure that the 600 men, women and children arriving every day stay safe.
The 2002 victory of the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) ended a civil war that had raged in the country for over 25 years. Although it’s been more than a decade since conflict has ceased, Angola is still contaminated with landmines and UXO in all 18 of its provinces.
Co-Laureate of the 1997
Nobel Peace Prize
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