Inside Geneva: who controls landmines and drones?

On Inside Geneva, we are discussing weapons contamination and the harm it causes.

Inside Geneva

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“We have at least one casualty every single day in Afghanistan – someone killed or injured –and it is most likely a child,” says Nick Pond, the Chief of Mine Action Section in the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA).

From old conflicts to new.

“Ukraine is the breadbasket of Europe and billions of square metres of land are suspected to be contaminated, which means the land can’t be farmed,” says Paul Heslop, from the UN Mine Action, Ukraine.

And from old weapons to new.

“This is proliferating well beyond Ukraine. Ukraine and Russia are the two leaders in drone technology, but the level of proliferation is scary,” says Sean Moorhouse, technical adviser for mine action, at the UN Development Programme.

In response to Russian aggression, the Baltic states are pulling out of the Mine Ban Treaty.

“We did not say yes to landmines; we said no to unilateral disarmament constructs,” says Jonatan Vseviov, Secretary General of the Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

But others are joining.

“We heard that Lebanon will be joining the convention. This is a massive achievement and a massive push for the convention itself,” says Rana Elias, from the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining.

As warfare changes, weapons contamination becomes more complicated. Who is responsible when a weapon fails to hit its target and harms someone years later? Who should pay for the clean‑up? And are we turning away from our opposition to indiscriminate weapons?

Join host Imogen Foulkes on Inside Geneva to listen to the full episode.

Find out more about the ‘Inside Geneva’ podcast and our other Swiss podcasts in English here.

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