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Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Answer

Mr. Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what his estimate is of the number of Argentine landmines remaining in the Falklands Islands. [R] [100015] Mr. Battle: The Ministry of Defence estimate that around 16,600 mines remain in the Falkland Islands. The Argentine armed forces laid 127 minefields on the Falklands in 1982. MOD estimate that 18,000 mines of all types were laid, including 14,000 anti-personnel mines. British forces carried out some clearance immediately after the conflict, lifting about 1,400 mines, but stopped after several injuries to those involved. The remaining 101 minefields are marked and fenced, and therefore not an immediate hazard. The garrison conduct a public campaign to warn of the dangers. They make regular patrols and destroy mines which become exposed on the surface of the ground. The Argentines have given us their minefield records. The Argentine government offered to assist with their clearance, and during President Menem's visit to the UK in October 1998 we agreed, as a first step, to work with Argentina to evaluate the feasibility and cost of clearing them. Work on a Memorandum of Understanding on how this study will be carried out is under way. Both Governments restated their commitment to co-operate on mine clearance in the Joint Statement of 14 July 1999. We are fully committed to the Ottawa Convention, which requires us to clear all anti-personnel mines from the Falkland Islands within 10 years of entry, unless we can show good reasons why an extension should be granted. Such reasons may include humanitarian, environmental and technical considerations. Mine clearance in the Falkland Islands is both difficult and dangerous and we shall be keeping these points in mind.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

340 c159-60W; 100015

Session

1999-00

Registered interest declared

Yes

Subjects

Bomb disposal Landmines Falkland Islands Argentina

Contains statistics

Yes