Kosovo declared free of landmines, 27 years after war ended
Pristina: Some 27 years after the Kosovo War ended, a humanitarian mission to clear the country of landmines has concluded.
The Halo Trust, a mine-clearance charity, announced this week that its work in the country was done, claiming the cleared land has “paved the way for Kosovo’s recovery”.
More than 800,000 people were displaced during the Kosovo War (1998-1999). When refugees returned home, they found a ravaged landscape littered with mines. According to the Halo Trust, 150 people were killed or injured by mines in the first month alone.
Kosovo is a different place today. Cleared land has paved the way for agriculture and infrastructure projects, helping the country’s post-war economy to flourish. According to the World Bank, average life expectancy is now 78 — just one year less than it is in the US.
“Kosovo shows us that the real impact of removing landmines and cluster bombs is not measured in hectares cleared, but in what that land makes possible over time,” said Atholl Stewart, programme manager for Halo Kosovo.
