On February 24, 2022, EUFOR representatives held a presentation to IUS students on land mines and unexploded ordnance (UXO). The aim of the lecture was raising awareness among young people about this problem which still poses a considerable danger in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
There is great number of mine fields in our country, and what makes it even worse is the fact that a large number of these fields are not appropriately marked or irresponsible citizens remove the signs marking the mined areas. Another problem is at the same time a felony: failure to declare explosives and their inappropriate disposal in dumpsters, abandoned buildings/houses or green areas.
In the period between 1996 and 2021, 617 people were killed by land mines in Bosnia and Herzegovina and a large number was wounded. Land mines are a long-term problem and mine clearance is an expensive and slow process, but it is tackled with every day. Mines are especially dangerous because they are hard to spot and come in many forms, so the lecturers emphasized the importance of being careful when visiting high risk sites, such as former dividing lines, ruins, abandoned buildings and houses, unknown or remote overgrown areas, strategic and military areas.
The lecturers warned about the fact that unknown objects must not be moved and such a site must be clearly marked. They also pointed out the importance of reporting spotted explosives to the competent institutions (the police and civil defense) to protect not only their own lives but the lives of other people as well.
In the end, the lecturers presented an app showing the locations of mined areas in BiH. You can download the app using the link: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.minesuspectedareas&hl=en&gl=US
