The hostilities were over, but there were so many mines that it was impossible to pass. I am not the only one, more of us were injured. Walking through a forest, we came across minefields and that is where got injured, recalls Boro Radiskovic from Stanari near Doboj.
He is one of the 1.758 people who, from 1992 to the present day, according to the data of the Bosnia and Herzegovina Mine Action Center (BHMAC), suffered from these explosive devices. 614 of them did not survive.
European Union (EU) demining projects in BiH
The head of the Department of Operations for Social Development, Civil Society and Cross-Border Cooperation of the Delegation of the EU in BiH, Gianluca Vannini, says that while, as the years go by, the problem of landmines is less and less talked about in BiH, but even though people are much freer, that this does not mean that the problem has disappeared.
“Mines are one of the biggest security and social threats in BiH. About two percent of the territory is still covered with mines. The EU has invested more than 46 million euros since 1996 and we are still helping the authorities, introducing new ways of demining that follow the latest techniques that are more efficient,” says Vannini.
At more than 8.000 locations in 129 cities throughout BiH, there are, according to the estimates of the Mine Removal Center in BiH, 79.000 mines. They directly affect the safety of more than 540.000 citizens, which is about 15 percent of the country’s population.
Different treatment
Landmine victims are discriminated against in multiple ways, claims the president of the Coordinating Body for Aid to Landmine Victims in BiH, Ermin Terko. The aid is divided into entities and cantons, where some are in a better position, and the different treatment does not end there, because even though they suffered as a result of the war, they are treated differently.
“In BiH, I won’t say discrimination, maybe that’s a hard word, but serious differences have been established between the population of those people with disabilities who had the misfortune of having their condition linked to wartime conditions and those linked to some other, non-wartime elements. These differences are established by regulations and, as such, they cause dissatisfaction and constant problems,” says Terko.
From 1996 to 2018, more than 207 square kilometers were cleared of mines. In comparison, it is twice the area of Barcelona, Slobodna Evropa writes.
E.Dz.
