A Child Rights Guide to the 1996 Mines Protocol Landmines are horrific weapons of mass murder. So often used indiscriminately, mines kill and mutilate 8,000-10,000 children a year, and severely impede the healthy development of millions more. Even when mines have been used in accordance with the rules of international law, their ability to remain active and deadly for decades makes their effects indiscriminate. For children living in a mine-affected area, the simple act of going outside the home may become a matter of life and death, survival or disaster.
Mines deprive children of the chance to enjoy many of their basic rights.
In addition to the assault on their right to life, their rights to health, protection and a safe environment for work and leisure are all acutely affected. The same merchants of death and disablement that forced children and their families to flee a conflict zone may block their return for months, even years. And when they return, they may find their once fertile agricultural land rendered useless by the pollution of mines. In some instances, their homes may even have been mined. Until that day comes, the Office of Emergency Programmes will continue its efforts to protect and care for children affected by the blight of landmines.