ÿş<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">  <HTML><HEAD><TITLE>Al Jazeera - objective and balanced global news coverage and analysis- Humanitarian</TITLE> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=UTF-16"> <META http-equiv=Content-Type><LINK href="article-landmines_files/style.css" type=text/css rel=stylesheet> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2722.900" name=GENERATOR></HEAD> <BODY leftMargin=0 topMargin=10 rightMargin=0> <DIV align=center xmlns:UDF="http://mycompany.com/mynamespace" xmlns:msxsl="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:xslt"> <CENTER> <TABLE style="BORDER-COLLAPSE: collapse" borderColor=#111111 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0> <TBODY> <TR> <TD style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 10px" align=left><IMG src="article-landmines_files/banner.gif"></TD></TR> <TR> <TD><IMG src="article-landmines_files/mainheader.jpg"></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></CENTER></DIV> <DIV align=center> <CENTER> <TABLE id=AutoNumber2 style="BORDER-COLLAPSE: collapse" borderColor=#999999 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=770 border=1> <TBODY> <TR> <TD> <TABLE id=AutoNumber3 style="BORDER-COLLAPSE: collapse" borderColor=#111111 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0> <TBODY> <TR> <TD class=dates id=hDate dir=ltr style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px" width="80%" bgColor=#cccccc></TD> <TD dir=ltr width="20%" bgColor=#cccccc></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE> <TABLE id=AutoNumber4 style="BORDER-COLLAPSE: collapse" borderColor=#111111 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=768 border=0> <TBODY> <TR> <TD width=565> <TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0> <TBODY> <TR> <TD colSpan=2 height=5></TD></TR> <TR> <TD style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px" colSpan=2> <TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0 xmlns:UDF="http://mycompany.com/mynamespace" xmlns:msxsl="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:xslt"> <TBODY> <TR> <TD class=indicationLink2 vAlign=top><A class=indicationLink href="http://www.thememoryhole.org/media/al-jazeera/index.html">Homepage<IMG src="article-landmines_files/spacer.gif" width=2 border=0></A><IMG src="article-landmines_files/spacer.gif" width=3 border=0><IMG src="article-landmines_files/spacer.gif" width=3 border=0>/ <IMG src="article-landmines_files/spacer.gif" width=2 border=0><A class=indicationLink href="http://www.thememoryhole.org/media/al-jazeera/topics/index6eb1.html?cu_no=1&template_id=278&temp_type=42">Humanitarian<IMG src="article-landmines_files/spacer.gif" width=3 border=0></A>/ </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR> <TR> <TD colSpan=3 height=6></TD></TR> <TR> <TD width=10></TD> <TD><INPUT id=item_cu_no type=hidden value=1 xmlns:UDF="http://mycompany.com/mynamespace" xmlns:msxsl="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:xslt"><INPUT id=item_no type=hidden value=519 xmlns:UDF="http://mycompany.com/mynamespace" xmlns:msxsl="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:xslt"><INPUT id=version type=hidden value=1 xmlns:UDF="http://mycompany.com/mynamespace" xmlns:msxsl="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:xslt"><INPUT id=date1 type=hidden value=23/03/2003 xmlns:UDF="http://mycompany.com/mynamespace" xmlns:msxsl="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:xslt"><INPUT id=dateTime type=hidden value=" 8:58PM" xmlns:UDF="http://mycompany.com/mynamespace" xmlns:msxsl="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:xslt"><INPUT id=articalText type=hidden value="<P><FONT face=Arial size=2>Thousands of Iraqi citizens fleeing their homes for safer areas in Iraq or neighbouring countries risk entering landmine-littered fields, experts and activists say. </FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial size=2>“In a situation where you have a large number of refugees, it is likely that some people will be ignorant of the danger they are facing,” said Michael Parker, who is the project manager in northern Iraq for Mine Advisory Group (MAG). “They might enter minefields,” he said.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial size=2>Iraq is&nbsp;peppered with eight to 12 million landmines and an unspecified number of unexploded mortars, shells, grenades and other deadly war debris, according to the UK-based MAG. <BR>&nbsp;<BR>MAG has been operating in northern Iraq since 1992, clearing more than 91,000 mines and almost 346,000 unexploded ordnance as of January 2003. </FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial size=2>A confidential UN document issued in December 2002 warned that the minefields would constitute “a formidable hazard to refugees and IDPs (Internally Displaced Persons).”<BR>&nbsp;<BR>Heavily-mined areas are along the dividing line between the Saddam Hussein-controlled territory and the region of northern Iraq that has been autonomous from Baghdad and run by different Kurdish factions since the 1991 Gulf war. </FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial size=2>Thousands of Iraqis are expected to cross this line and seek shelter in the north of the country. Parker voiced his concern over the possibility of people fleeing through the dividing line after sunset. “In the dark they might not be able to see the warning signs near minefields,” he said.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial size=2>MAG, which also conducts mine awareness activities, does not operate in the Baghdad-controlled territory due to Iraq's refusal to issue visas for its staff.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial size=2>According to the UN document, the rural population has acquired some knowledge about living in a mine-infested environment, but most of the urban population does not have the information required. </FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial size=2>&nbsp;“Even if we make all the information about landmines available, and even with demarcation, people knowingly and unknowingly will still enter minefields,” Parker said.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial size=2>Parker advised Iraqis who might cross into neighbouring countries or go to the Kurdish-held areas to avoid entering open ground. “People should&nbsp; stick to the roads and hard surfaces and refrain from touching anything.” </FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial size=2>The number of refugees expected to cross into neighbouring countries from Iraq are between 500,000 and 600,000, according to Ruud Lubbers, head of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The international agency does not count citizens seeking shelter within the borders of Iraq, considering them as IDPs.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial size=2>Lubbers said last month that most refugees would probably head for Iran and Turkey, and a smaller&nbsp;number would probably go to Syria and Jordan.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial size=2>Unlike during the1991 Gulf War in which most of the 1.3 million Iraqis who fled to Iran crossed from northern Iraq, authorities in the Islamic republic are this time expecting a flow of refugees from the southern part of the country. </FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial size=2>Preparations are underway in Iran to host 200,000 to 250,000 refugees, said UNHCR public information officer, Fernando Delmundo. “Iranian authorities have identified 10 sites that would provide shelter to refugees, but preparations are going on in only three,” Delmundo said. </FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial size=2>The authorities would not open up the remaining camps until “the need arises” due to a shortage of funds, he said. </FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial size=2>A possible emergency requires an initial $60 million to accommodate 600,000 refugees throughout the region. “This money will be allocated to cover setting up camps and for water, transportation and relief items such as blankets, jerry cans, tents and kitchen sets,” Delmundo elaborated.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial size=2>“We will provide supplementary food for the sick, the elderly, malnourished women and children. But the primary food needs will be handled by the world food program,” he said.&nbsp;He refused to give details on the amount of money that has been already granted by the donor states.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial size=2>The three camps in Iran are located in the western provinces of Ilam and Kermanshah and the southern province of Khuzestan that borders mainly Iraqi Shiite areas. “They expect many people to come from there,” Delmundo said. Other refugee camps will be set up when the need arises due to a shortage of funds. </FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial size=2>Iran, the world’s largest Shiite country, provides a haven for the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, a Shiite Muslim group whose objective is to topple the Iraqi government.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial size=2>The three provinces are strewn with hundreds of thousands of landmines that were laid during the 1980-1988 Iraq-Iran war. Iranian officials blame Iraq for planting 12-16 million landmines in an area of over four million hectares, according to the Landmine Monitor Report released last year by the International Campaign to Ban Landmines.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial size=2>”There&nbsp; is a real threat for populations in the event of movements towards&nbsp; neighbouring&nbsp; countries, especially if temporary camps are set up inside Iraq&nbsp; along borders that are heavily contaminated with landmines,” said Matthieu Soupart, head of the Mine Action Programmes at the International Committee of the Red Cross.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial size=2>Delmundo said that Iranian officials have conducted clearance operations in the areas housing the camps. Still, the possibility that Iran might decide to close the border to prevent the flood of refugees from entering its territory could force them to enter Iran through landmine-infested areas.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial size=2>“That’s a possibility and we are very concerned,” Delmundo said. On what could be done about it, he said: “Not very much. We have no access to the border. We only have access to the area where the camps are.” </FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial size=2><STRONG>Al Jazeera<BR></P></STRONG></FONT>" xmlns:UDF="http://mycompany.com/mynamespace" xmlns:msxsl="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:xslt"> <TABLE id=AutoNumber5 style="BORDER-COLLAPSE: collapse" borderColor=#111111 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0 xmlns:UDF="http://mycompany.com/mynamespace" xmlns:msxsl="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:xslt"> <TBODY> <TR> <TD> <TABLE id=AutoNumber5 style="BORDER-COLLAPSE: collapse" borderColor=#111111 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0> <TBODY> <TR> <TD dir=ltr width="100%"><A href="http://www.thememoryhole.org/media/al-jazeera/xml/topics/printarticle9dd9.xml?cu_no=1&item_no=519&version=1&template_id=278&parent_id=258"><IMG hspace=5 src="article-landmines_files/print.gif" align=right vspace=5 border=0></A><IMG onmouseover="this.style.cursor = 'hand' ;" onclick=SendByEmail(); onmouseout="this.style.cursor = '' ;" hspace=5 src="article-landmines_files/email.gif" align=right vspace=5 border=0></TD></TR> <TR> <TD height=5></TD></TR> <TR> <TD class=articalTitle>Landmines pose risk to fleeing refugees</TD></TR> <TR> <TD height=15></TD></TR> <TR> <TD id=artical vAlign=top></TD></TR> <TR> <TD height=12></TD></TR> <TR> <TD width="100%" background=article-landmines_files/h-dotedline-bg.gif><IMG height=1 src="article-landmines_files/spacer.gif" width=1></TD></TR> <TR> <TD height=10></TD></TR> <TR> <TD dir=ltr width="100%"><A href="http://www.thememoryhole.org/media/al-jazeera/xml/topics/printarticle9dd9.xml?cu_no=1&item_no=519&version=1&template_id=278&parent_id=258"><IMG hspace=5 src="article-landmines_files/print.gif" align=right vspace=5 border=0></A><IMG onmouseover="this.style.cursor = 'hand' ;" onclick=SendByEmail(); onmouseout="this.style.cursor = '' ;" hspace=5 src="article-landmines_files/email.gif" align=right vspace=5 border=0></TD></TR> <TR> <TD height=5></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE> <SCRIPT language=JavaScript1.2 xmlns:UDF="http://mycompany.com/mynamespace" xmlns:msxsl="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:xslt"> if(document.all.artical) document.all.artical.innerHTML = document.all.articalText.value ; </SCRIPT> </TD> <TD width=10></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD> <TD dir=ltr width=1 bgColor=#cccccc><IMG height=1 src="article-landmines_files/spacer.gif" width=1 border=0></TD> <TD vAlign=top width=202> <TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0> <TBODY> <TR> <TD colSpan=3 height=10></TD></TR> <TR> <TD width=10></TD> <TD><A href="http://www.thememoryhole.org/media/al-jazeera/index.html"><IMG src="article-landmines_files/homepage.gif" border=0></A></TD> <TD width=10></TD></TR> <TR> <TD colSpan=3 height=8></TD></TR> <TR> <TD width=10></TD> <TD></TD> <TD width=10></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></CENTER></DIV> <SCRIPT language=JavaScript1.2> if( document.all.date1 ) { docDate = document.all.date1.value ; } </SCRIPT> <SCRIPT language=JavaScript src="article-landmines_files/HomeMenu.js"></SCRIPT> </BODY></HTML>