Oral question asked in the House of Lords, by Lord Dubs (Labour). It was answered on Tuesday, 29 January 2008.

Falkland Islands: Unexploded Ordnance

Question: My Lords, is it not rather depressing that on a British territory, 25 years after the conflict, these landmines and other ordnance are still there as a potential danger? What hope is there for other countries in the world where there are millions of these weapons lying about posing a great danger to civilians? Does my noble friend agree that the case for banning cluster munitions is therefore even stronger? Will she please say that I am pushing at an open door on this?

Answer: My Lords, the noble Lord certainly cannot be accused of not pushing. It has taken time to get to this stage—a feasibility study that is now being looked at extremely seriously and will be put in front of Ministers very shortly—because we have been working alongside the Argentinian people on this, and I do not need to tell noble Lords that that has meant that negotiations on de-mining the Falklands have been detailed, complex and extensive. However, we now hope to be looking seriously at the next steps. We are aware that cluster munitions around the world are maiming and killing people, particularly in developing countries. That is why DfID spends £2 million per year assisting with de-mining across the world. I hope that my noble friend will take encouragement from the fact that in March 2007 we removed from use the so-called dumb cluster munitions that were under our control. We are working in the Oslo and CCW organisations to ensure the eventual removal of all cluster munitions.

Secondary information

Type: Oral question
Reference: 698 c544
Session: 2007-08
Oral question type: Supplementary
Chamber / Committee: House of Lords chamber
Related items: Deposited Paper DEP2008-0319
Wednesday, 30 January 2008
Deposited papers
House of Lords
Subjects: Armed conflict Bomb disposal Landmines Falkland Islands Argentina
Link: View this Oral question on www.publications.parliament.uk