In at least 58 states and territories recorded anti-personnel mines, the UN warns

Dispersion from anti-personnel mines was in at least 2025 58 states and territories, according to a report from the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, which warns of the dramatic consequences on civilians.

"It is deeply worrying that, nearly 30 years after the adoption of the Convention on the Prohibition of Anti-personnel Mines, these explosive weapons continue to kill and injure people, often decades after they were placed," High Commissioner Falker Turk said.

"It is necessary for all states to commit themselves to putting an end to the production, use and transport of these weapons and to double efforts to cooperate in removing the mines already placed," he completed.

According to this report, based on information from government agencies, MKOs, humanitarian organisations and civil society, At least 1,945 people were killed and 4,325 wounded by land mines and explosive war remains in 2024.

Among the main countries affected are Myanmar, Syria, Afghanistan, Ukraine, Nigeria, Mali, Yemen and Burkina Faso.

In a separate press release, also published today, the International Campaign for the Prohibition of Drugs against Personnel (ICBL) mentions more than 5,000 dead or injured in 2025 in 40 countries, confirming that 90% of the victims are civilians.

A finding shared by the UNHCR, which adds that children account for more than 40% of the civilian victims recorded since 1999.

The contamination of land by mines turns certain zones into areas of restricted access, endangering the exercise of many rights and causing displacements of populations, the UN agency stresses.

Also, mines located along the transport corridors can prevent access to the necessary services and hinder the transport of humanitarian aid, the UNHCR recalls.

"States which have not yet ratified the Convention should do so without delay and those that have left should be reinstated soon. The Member States must respect the provisions of good faith," urged Turk who welcomed Lebanon's recent decision to join the Ottawa Convention on the Prohibition of Mines.

The report, which will be presented next week to the UN Human Rights Council, also warns that in the seven years before 2025, contributions to the United Nations Volunteer Fund for Aid in the Battle against Mines have been reduced From $125 million to $46 million.