Mr. Speaker, one of the greatest barriers to international development efforts comes as a result of the devastating impact of buried land mines. I would like to draw to the attention of the House the fact that there are 110 land mines buried in 62 countries across the world. Each month 800 people, many of them children, die as a result of stepping on one of these. The problem is getting worse because the international community can only clear about 100,000 mines in a year. In the same time frame nearly two million more are buried.
Land mines obstruct post-war reconstruction.
In Mozambique, a serious drought has been exacerbated. Land mines do not stop for foreign aid. They do not stop for development and they do not stop for peace. They are always at war. I call on our government to work carefully and closely with our international partners to find the solution to this modern day plague.