Clearing the Mines 2025 – Report Reveals Worst-Ever Violations of the Mine Ban Convention and Urges Action by States Parties


Mine Action Review today published Clearing the Mines 2025, its annual global assessment of anti-personnel (AP) mine contamination, survey, and clearance, ahead of the TwentySecond Meeting of States Parties to the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention (APMBC), taking place in Geneva on 1–5 December.

The report warns that the APMBC is facing the most serious challenges in its more than 25-year history, with treaty violations, withdrawals, and a mounting funding crisis threatening decades of progress. The report highlights grave breaches of the Convention arising from Ukraine’s use of anti-personnel mines and its July 2025 attempt to unlawfully suspend its obligations under the APMBC.

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Source: Reliefweb News


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