The suffering and irreversible destruction they cause cannot be calculated. Mines cannot distinguish between civilians and combatants. Between 1,000 and 2,000 people are maimed and killed by mines every month, mostly civilians. Mines not only kill but cause the breakdown of social and economic life by isolating local communities, depopulating entire areas and preventing refugees from returning home. In addition, minefields are often not mapped when originally sown and modern antipersonnel mines are made of plastic to escape discovery by metal detectors.
Mines also slow down and hamper relief efforts.
Faced with a humanitarian tragedy of terrible proportions, the Red Cross movement took the unprecedented step of calling for a global campaign to bring about the total ban on the use of anti-personnel mines. From a humanitarian point of view, a worldwide ban on anti-personnel mines is the only totally effective solution. The Red Cross is calling for a massive increase in resources for the care and rehabilitation of mine victims awareness education for affected communities. The work of the Red Cross' 23 hospitals and rehabilitation centres in 10 countries, and of those run by governments and other humanitarian organizations, still only benefit a fraction of mine victims. Yet landmines continue to take a heavy toll and only intensive and long-term care for individual victims can mitigate their horrible effects.