In brief
North Lebanon: More than 60,000 sq.m. of land demined
On 24 April, the Handicap International team in Lebanon restored two plots of cleared land to villagers from Toula, in the district of Batroun as part of a demining project launched 20 months earlier. More than 60,000 sq.m. of land were manually cleared by deminers, who advanced slowly, metre by metre, to avoid exposing themselves to danger in the mountainous terrain of North Lebanon where anti-personnel mines and explosive remnants of war dating from the civil war have posed a threat to the local population for more than 30 years.
The work performed by Handicap International, the only humanitarian demining operator in the region, has been welcomed with relief by the populations at risk from these weapons. The project's dual aim - reducing the threat to inhabitants and improving the socio-economic development of the region - immediately gained the support of the local population. Eliminating the danger of mines will benefit 33,000 people living in the region. Plans are already being made to use this land, now free of danger, to grow olives and restore or build new facilities. Some projects were launched in strategic areas as soon as the land had been decontaminated , including the widening of a road, the erection of electric pylons and the completion of a bridge. Mission accomplished for the twelve brave deminers trained and managed by Handicap International!
Handicap International is continuing its demining activities in North Lebanon and aims to clear all potentially dangerous sites earmarked as priorities by the Lebanese National Demining Centre in the district of Batroun. Many years of work still lie ahead. Lebanon has made an international commitment to demine its territory by 2020.
* cofunded by the European Union and the Agence Française de Développement.
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