Sri Lanka bans land mines

Seven years after the end of civil war, Sri Lanka today decided to ban land mines describing it an "important" move for the resettlement of people displaced during the conflict with the LTTE.
Sri Lanka has decided to ratify the anti-personnel mine ban convention also known as the Ottawa Convention, Gayantha Karunathilake, the Cabinet spokesman and the Minister of Media, said.
Northern and Eastern provinces in Sri Lanka have been severely affected by land mines and explosives due to the conflict situation prevailed in Sri Lanka.
Demining process is important for the resettlement of internally displaced persons, he said.
Karunathilake said the Cabinet had approved a joint proposal made by the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Minister of Prison Reforms, Rehabilitation, Resettlement.

According to UN figures, up to 100,000 people were killed in the three-decade long civil war that ended in 2009. Hundreds of people are still missing.

The Ottawa Convention was adopted on September 18, 1997 and entered into force on March 1, 1999. The landmark humanitarian and disarmament treaty seeks to end the suffering caused by land mines.
By joining the convention, each state undertakes to destroy all stockpiled anti-personnel mines it owns or that are under its jurisdiction or control, not later than four years after the entry into force of this convention.
According to the latest figure, to date, 162 states have joined the convention.

UNHCR Mid-year Trends 2014' published by the UN agency said 1,23,028 persons of Lankan origin were refugees, another 16,190 were asylum-seekers (pending cases) and 30,847 were declared IDPs, either protected or assisted by UNHCR as of June 2014.