View allAll Photos Tagged HALOTrust
Farmer Mohamed Ahmed Abdillahi Hirsi draws water for his livestock from a well built after HALO's clearance of the area.
Mullah Neoka is a wheat farmer in Afghanistan's Herat province. He explains how he's benefitted from a UK-supported project to clear land mines:
“Before this area was de-mined no one came here because it was unsafe. Now we can”.
“When my land was cleared I found I had 60% more than I thought and it is good for growing crops”.
My son used to go to Iran which was dangerous, but now he drives a tractor on my cleared land”.
The Department for International Development has supported the HALO Trust, an international de-mining organisation, in a five-year project to safely remove land-mines across Afghanistan, so that communities can reclaim their land.
Herat was once known as 'the bread basket of central Asia'. Depsite it's barren appearance, the land here is incredibly fertile, as long as it is irrigated in a controlled way. Now that HALO have cleared Mullah Neoka's fields of land mines, he's been able to start working them again.
To find out more about how UK aid is working in Afghanistan, please visit: www.dfid.gov.uk/afghanistan
Image: Catherine Belfield-Haines/Department for International Development
Sudarana, a 20 year-old Sri Lankan woman trained as de-mining technician by the UK charity HALO Trust at work in a paddy field near Thunukkai, northern Sri Lanka.
She's one of a growing number of women that have been recruited by HALO with the help a £500,000 UKaid grant from the Department for International Development. Working alongside the Sri Lankan authorities, HALO has already made safe more than 16,000 land mines in the first two months of 2010 alone.
To find out more please visit: www.dfid.gov.uk/Media-Room/Case-Studies/2010/Landmine-lad...
For more on the HALO Trust, visit: www.halotrust.org
Image © Russell Watkins / Department for International Development
During her visit to Afghanistan, International Development Secretary Priti Patel saw a HALO Trust training site where UK funding is helping staff learn to identify and safely remove mines and other unexploded ordnance, saving lives and reclaiming land that can be used for agriculture and building.
Picture: Rob Oxley/DFID
Saila, a 29-year-old mother of two, is one of a growing number of women in Sri Lanka that have been recruited and trained by the UK de-mining charity HALO Trust - supported by UKaid funding from the Department for International Development.
Working seven hours a day in the baking heat, manual de-mining is slow, painstaking work. Scanning a square metre at a time with a metal detector, every beep over a certain strength means a slow, careful dig into the parched, solid earth - finger-tip work in case she’s found another mine. Working alongside men, with equal status, dozens of women like Saila are slowly helping clear mines from hundreds of acres of prime rice-producing land.
There are an unknown number of land mines littering the once verdant landscape of the Vanni. They’re a deadly legacy of the violent 26-year-long conflict between the Sri Lankan government and the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, or ‘Tamil Tigers’) movement, which finally ended in May 2009. Saila knows all too well just how violent this conflict was; it cost her husband his life:
"I used to work as a co-ordinator in a rehabilitation centre, but had to leave because of the conflict. Then my husband was killed in the fighting. Now my mother has to look after my daughters, while I do this work”.
To read more about Saila's story, please visit: www.dfid.gov.uk/Media-Room/Case-Studies/2010/Landmine-lad...
For more on the HALO Trust, visit: www.halotrust.org
Image © Russell Watkins / Department for International Development
During her visit to Afghanistan, International Development Secretary Priti Patel saw a HALO Trust training site where UK funding is helping staff learn to identify and safely remove mines and other unexploded ordnance, saving lives and reclaiming land that can be used for agriculture and building.
Picture: Rob Oxley/DFID
Mullah Neoka, a wheat farmer and mullah of the shura in Koshan, Herat.
“Before this area was demined no one came here and children didn’t play because it was unsafe. Now we can”.
“When my land was cleared I found I had 60% more land than I thought and the land is good for growing crops”.
My son used to go to Iran to work as a smuggler, which was dangerous, but now he drives a tractor on my cleared land”.
In Herat, one of HALO’s projects has transformed the village of A Islam Qala, in the Koshan district, located less than 5 km from the Iranian border. Between 2002 and 2006, Herat Province suffered from the largest number of mine and UXO casualties of any province in Afghanistan.
In 2006 Herat alone accounted for 14% of the total number of recorded mine and UXO accidents in Afghanistan. Casualties now stand at an average of 9 per month. In Kohsan district over 1,096 hectares of minefields have been cleared - benefitting over 9,928 families directly and 12,362 indirectly.
The Department for International Development in Afghanistan has funded the HALO Trust, an international demining organisation to remove these dangerous objects to allow thousands of children to play in fields, farmers to grow crops, local communities to build schools, and entrepreneurs to start businesses.
Jalini, aged 30, is a female de-mining technician trained by the UK charity HALO Trust, at work in a paddy field near Thunukkai, northern Sri Lanka.
Around 300,000 people were displaced in the latter stage of stages of the long-running conflict (between the forces of the Sri Lankan government and the LTTE 'Tamil Tiger' movement) in 2008-2009. As of March 2010, more than 200,000 of these displaced people are now in the process of being allowed to return to their homes - having spent many months living in camps.
As part of this process, specialist de-mining agencies such as HALO Trust have clearly marked dangerous areas and are clearing residential and agricultural land of mines and un-exploded ordnance left over from the conflict.
Working in conjunction with the Sri Lankan authorities, this vital work by HALO is being supported with funding provided by UKaid from the Department for International Development. In the first 10 weeks of 2010 alone, HALO has already safely disposed of nearly 16,500 anti-personnel mines in just a few districts in northwestern Sri Lanka– illustrating the scale of the challenge that lies ahead.
To find out more, please visit: www.dfid.gov.uk/Media-Room/Case-Studies/2010/Landmine-lad...
Image credit: Russell Watkins / Department for International Development
During her visit to Afghanistan, International Development Secretary Priti Patel saw a HALO Trust training site where UK funding is helping staff learn to identify and safely remove mines and other unexploded ordnance, saving lives and reclaiming land that can be used for agriculture and building.
She also met female HALO workers who identify and map the location of mines for disposal, as well as educating communities and children on the dangers of unexploded ordnance.
Picture: British Embassy Kabul
Saila, a 29-year-old mother of two, is one of a growing number of women in Sri Lanka that have been recruited and trained by the UK de-mining charity HALO Trust - supported by UKaid funding from the Department for International Development.
Working seven hours a day in the baking heat, manual de-mining is slow, painstaking work. Scanning a square metre at a time with a metal detector, every beep over a certain strength means a slow, careful dig into the parched, solid earth - finger-tip work in case she’s found another mine. Working alongside men, with equal status, dozens of women like Saila are slowly helping clear mines from hundreds of acres of prime rice-producing land.
There are an unknown number of land mines littering the once verdant landscape of the Vanni. They’re a deadly legacy of the violent 26-year-long conflict between the Sri Lankan government and the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, or ‘Tamil Tigers’) movement, which finally ended in May 2009. Saila knows all too well just how violent this conflict was; it cost her husband his life:
"I used to work as a co-ordinator in a rehabilitation centre, but had to leave because of the conflict. Then my husband was killed in the fighting. Now my mother has to look after my daughters, while I do this work”.
To read more about Saila's story, please visit: www.dfid.gov.uk/Media-Room/Case-Studies/2010/Landmine-lad...
For more on the HALO Trust, visit: www.halotrust.org
Image © Russell Watkins / Department for International Development
Saila, a 29-year-old mother of two, is one of a growing number of women in Sri Lanka that have been recruited and trained by the UK de-mining charity HALO Trust - supported by UKaid funding from the Department for International Development.
Working seven hours a day in the baking heat, manual de-mining is slow, painstaking work. Scanning a square metre at a time with a metal detector, every beep over a certain strength means a slow, careful dig into the parched, solid earth - finger-tip work in case she’s found another mine. Working alongside men, with equal status, dozens of women like Saila are slowly helping clear mines from hundreds of acres of prime rice-producing land.
There are an unknown number of land mines littering the once verdant landscape of the Vanni. They’re a deadly legacy of the violent 26-year-long conflict between the Sri Lankan government and the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, or ‘Tamil Tigers’) movement, which finally ended in May 2009. Saila knows all too well just how violent this conflict was; it cost her husband his life:
"I used to work as a co-ordinator in a rehabilitation centre, but had to leave because of the conflict. Then my husband was killed in the fighting. Now my mother has to look after my daughters, while I do this work”.
To read more about Saila's story, please visit: www.dfid.gov.uk/Media-Room/Case-Studies/2010/Landmine-lad...
For more on the HALO Trust, visit: www.halotrust.org
Image © Russell Watkins / Department for International Development
During her visit to Afghanistan, International Development Secretary Priti Patel saw a HALO Trust training site where UK funding is helping staff learn to identify and safely remove mines and other unexploded ordnance, saving lives and reclaiming land that can be used for agriculture and building.
Picture: British Embassy Kabul
Sudarana, a 20 year-old Sri Lankan woman trained as de-mining technician by the UK charity The HALO Trust at work in a paddy field near Thunukkai, northern Sri Lanka.
She's one of a growing number of women that have been recruited by HALO with the help a £500,000 UKaid grant from the Department for International Development. Working alongside the Sri Lankan authorities, HALO has already made safe more than 16,000 mines in the first two months of 2010 alone.
To find out more please visit: www.dfid.gov.uk/Media-Room/Case-Studies/2010/Landmine-lad...
For more on the HALO Trust, visit: www.halotrust.org
Image © Russell Watkins / Department for International Development
Renu, aged 21, a Sri Lankan woman trained as a de-mining technician by the UK charity HALO Trust at work early in the morning, in a paddy field near Thunukkai, northern Sri Lanka.
Around 300,000 people were displaced in the latter stage of stages of the conflict (between the forces of the Sri Lankan government and the LTTE 'Tamil Tiger' movement) in 2008-2009. As of March 2010, approximately 200,000 of these displaced people are in the process of being allowed to return to their homes - having spent many months living in camps - but only after specialist de-mining agencies such as HALO have clearly marked dangerous areas and, where possible, cleared residential and agricultural land of mines and un-exploded ordnance left over from the conflict. Working in conjunction with the Sri Lankan authorities, areas that have been mined are being clearly marked with warning signs and then systematically cleared before people are allowed to return. This vital work by HALO is being supported with funding provided by UKaid from the Department for International Development. In the first 10 weeks of 2010 alone, HALO has already safely disposed of nearly 16,500 anti-personnel mines in just a few districts in northwestern Sri Lanka– illustrating the scale of the challenge that lies ahead.
To find out more please visit: www.dfid.gov.uk/Media-Room/Case-Studies/2010/Landmine-lad...
For more on the HALO Trust, visit: www.halotrust.org
Image © Russell Watkins / Department for International Development
Saila, a 29-year-old mother of two, is one of a growing number of women in Sri Lanka that have been recruited and trained by the UK de-mining charity HALO Trust - supported by UKaid funding from the Department for International Development.
Working seven hours a day in the baking heat, manual de-mining is slow, painstaking work. Scanning a square metre at a time with a metal detector, every beep over a certain strength means a slow, careful dig into the parched, solid earth - finger-tip work in case she’s found another mine. Working alongside men, with equal status, dozens of women like Saila are slowly helping clear mines from hundreds of acres of prime rice-producing land.
There are an unknown number of land mines littering the once verdant landscape of the Vanni. They’re a deadly legacy of the violent 26-year-long conflict between the Sri Lankan government and the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, or ‘Tamil Tigers’) movement, which finally ended in May 2009. Saila knows all too well just how violent this conflict was; it cost her husband his life:
"I used to work as a co-ordinator in a rehabilitation centre, but had to leave because of the conflict. Then my husband was killed in the fighting. Now my mother has to look after my daughters, while I do this work”.
To read more about Saila's story, please visit: www.dfid.gov.uk/Media-Room/Case-Studies/2010/Landmine-lad...
For more on the HALO Trust, visit: www.halotrust.org
Image © Russell Watkins / Department for International Development
Saila, a 29-year-old mother of two, is one of a growing number of women in Sri Lanka that have been recruited and trained by the UK de-mining charity HALO Trust - supported by UKaid funding from the Department for International Development.
Working seven hours a day in the baking heat, manual de-mining is slow, painstaking work. Scanning a square metre at a time with a metal detector, every beep over a certain strength means a slow, careful dig into the parched, solid earth - finger-tip work in case she’s found another mine. Working alongside men, with equal status, dozens of women like Saila are slowly helping clear mines from hundreds of acres of prime rice-producing land.
There are an unknown number of land mines littering the once verdant landscape of the Vanni. They’re a deadly legacy of the violent 26-year-long conflict between the Sri Lankan government and the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, or ‘Tamil Tigers’) movement, which finally ended in May 2009. Saila knows all too well just how violent this conflict was; it cost her husband his life:
"I used to work as a co-ordinator in a rehabilitation centre, but had to leave because of the conflict. Then my husband was killed in the fighting. Now my mother has to look after my daughters, while I do this work”.
To read more about Saila's story, please visit: www.dfid.gov.uk/Media-Room/Case-Studies/2010/Landmine-lad...
For more on the HALO Trust, visit: www.halotrust.org
Image © Russell Watkins / Department for International Development
Saila Jan, aged 29, a Sri Lankan woman trained as a de-mining technician by the UK charity HALO Trust, pictured at work early in the morning, on the edges of a paddy field near Thunukkai, northern Sri Lanka.
"I used to work as an co-ordinator in a rehabilitation centre in Jaffna, but had to leave because of the conflict. My husband was killed in the fighting. Now my mother has to look after my daughters, while I do this work. “This job is important as it means I am able to earn some money and I’m happy that I’m helping to make the land safer for people. The work is hard, but I don’t mind as I’m helping my family. I just want my children to be able to go to school and live in peace.”“There were very bad times, but now things are getting better”.
To find out more please visit: www.dfid.gov.uk/Media-Room/Case-Studies/2010/Landmine-lad...
For more on the HALO Trust, visit: www.halotrust.org
Image © Russell Watkins / Department for International Development
Although initially planned as a hybrid meeting, the Nineteenth Meeting of the States Parties to the Convention on the prohibition of anti-personnel mines had to be carried out in a fully virtual format, due to sudden Covid-19 restrictions in The Hague. Over 500 registered delegates from all over the world attended the formal diplomatic sessions from 15-19 November.
Photos are free to use in the context of the Convention, as follows, ®AP Mine Ban Convention ISU, or ®Ottawa Convention ISU. For other uses, please email us: press(at)apminebanconvention.org.
For more information on the meeting: bit.ly/19MSP.
Saila, a 29-year-old mother of two, is one of a growing number of women in Sri Lanka that have been recruited and trained by the UK de-mining charity HALO Trust - supported by UKaid funding from the Department for International Development.
Working seven hours a day in the baking heat, manual de-mining is slow, painstaking work. Scanning a square metre at a time with a metal detector, every beep over a certain strength means a slow, careful dig into the parched, solid earth - finger-tip work in case she’s found another mine. Working alongside men, with equal status, dozens of women like Saila are slowly helping clear mines from hundreds of acres of prime rice-producing land.
There are an unknown number of land mines littering the once verdant landscape of the Vanni. They’re a deadly legacy of the violent 26-year-long conflict between the Sri Lankan government and the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, or ‘Tamil Tigers’) movement, which finally ended in May 2009. Saila knows all too well just how violent this conflict was; it cost her husband his life:
"I used to work as a co-ordinator in a rehabilitation centre, but had to leave because of the conflict. Then my husband was killed in the fighting. Now my mother has to look after my daughters, while I do this work”.
To read more about Saila's story, please visit: www.dfid.gov.uk/Media-Room/Case-Studies/2010/Landmine-lad...
For more on the HALO Trust, visit: www.halotrust.org
Image © Russell Watkins / Department for International Development
A woman and her son stand in front of their temporary home, which is surrounded by marked mine-fields, near Mallavi in northern Sri Lanka.
Around 300,000 people were displaced from the 'Vanni', or 'rice bowl', region of Sri Lanka, in the latter stage of stages of the conflict (between the forces of the Sri Lankan government and the LTTE 'Tamil Tiger' movement) in 2008-2009.
As of March 2010, approximately 200,000 of these people are in the process of being allowed to return to their homes - having spent many months living in camps - but only after specialist de-mining agencies such as HALO have clearly marked dangerous areas and, where possible, cleared land of mines and un-exploded ordnance left over from the conflict.
Working alongside the Sri Lankan authorities, areas that have been mined are being clearly marked with warning signs and then systematically cleared before people are allowed to return. This vital work by HALO is being supported with funding provided by UKaid from the Department for International Development. In the first 10 weeks of 2010 alone, HALO has already safely disposed of nearly 16,500 anti-personnel mines in just a few districts in northwestern Sri Lanka– illustrating the scale of the challenge that lies ahead.
To find out more please visit: www.dfid.gov.uk/Media-Room/Case-Studies/2010/Landmine-lad...
For more on the HALO Trust, visit: www.halotrust.org
Image © Russell Watkins / Department for International Development
A land-mine is detonated in a controlled explosion using a High Order Burning Box (HOBB) device, by the UK de-mining charity HALO Trust, in northern Sri Lanka.
De-mining agencies working in Sri Lanka are not allowed to use detonators or explosives to destroy mines - so the HOBB device works by incinerating the mine until it explodes. The mine is placed on a grill above sawdust soaked in gasoline - this is then ignited and burns the mine. The 10mm thick steel 'box' contains the blast when the mine eventually detonates, and directs the force of the explosion, and any shrapnel, directly upwards. Technicians observe a safe distance away - the burning process takes around 20 minutes. Mines are only moved if it is felt safe to do so; if not then HALO inform local residents of the risk, leave the mine clearly marked in-situ, then inform the Sri Lankan Army, giving the precise GPS co-ordinates of the mine. The SLA then come and carry out a controlled explosion.
Around 300,000 people were displaced in the latter stage of stages of the conflict (between the forces of the Sri Lankan government and the LTTE 'Tamil Tiger' movement) in 2008-2009. As of March 2010, approximately 200,000 of these displaced people are in the process of being allowed to return to their homes - having spent many months living in camps - but only after specialist de-mining agencies such as HALO have clearly marked dangerous areas and, where possible, cleared residential and agricultural land of mines and un-exploded ordnance left over from the conflict. Working in conjunction with the Sri Lankan authorities, areas that have been mined are being clearly marked with warning signs and then systematically cleared before people are allowed to return. This vital work by HALO is being supported with funding provided by UKaid from the Department for International Development. In the first 10 weeks of 2010 alone, HALO has already safely disposed of nearly 16,500 anti-personnel mines in just a few districts in northwestern Sri Lanka– illustrating the scale of the challenge that lies ahead.
To find out more please visit: www.dfid.gov.uk/Media-Room/Case-Studies/2010/Landmine-lad...
For more on the HALO Trust, visit: www.halotrust.org
Saila, a 29-year-old mother of two, is one of a growing number of women in Sri Lanka that have been recruited and trained by the UK de-mining charity HALO Trust - supported by UKaid funding from the Department for International Development.
Working seven hours a day in the baking heat, manual de-mining is slow, painstaking work. Scanning a square metre at a time with a metal detector, every beep over a certain strength means a slow, careful dig into the parched, solid earth - finger-tip work in case she’s found another mine. Working alongside men, with equal status, dozens of women like Saila are slowly helping clear mines from hundreds of acres of prime rice-producing land.
There are an unknown number of land mines littering the once verdant landscape of the Vanni. They’re a deadly legacy of the violent 26-year-long conflict between the Sri Lankan government and the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, or ‘Tamil Tigers’) movement, which finally ended in May 2009. Saila knows all too well just how violent this conflict was; it cost her husband his life:
"I used to work as a co-ordinator in a rehabilitation centre, but had to leave because of the conflict. Then my husband was killed in the fighting. Now my mother has to look after my daughters, while I do this work”.
To read more about Saila's story, please visit: www.dfid.gov.uk/Media-Room/Case-Studies/2010/Landmine-lad...
For more on the HALO Trust, visit: www.halotrust.org
Image © Russell Watkins / Department for International Development
Paskar, a Sri Lankan de-mining technician with the HALO Trust, ignites an anti-personnel land mine in a High Order Burning Box (HOBB), a device which is used to safely destroy mines without using explosives or detonators.
De-mining agencies working in Sri Lanka,are not allowed to use detonators or explosives to destroy mines - so the HOBB device works by incinerating the mine until it explodes.
The mine is placed on a grill above sawdust soaked in gasoline - this is then ignited and burns it. The 10mm thick steel 'box' contains the blast when the mine eventually detonates, and projects the force of the explosion directly upwards. Technicians observe a safe distance away - the burning process takes around 20 minutes.
Mines are only moved if it is felt safe to do so; if not then HALO inform local residents of the risk, leave the mine clearly marked in-situ, then inform the Sri Lankan Army, giving the precise GPS co-ordinates of the mine. The SLA then come and carry out a controlled explosion.
Around 300,000 people were displaced in the latter stage of stages of the conflict (between the forces of the Sri Lankan government and the LTTE 'Tamil Tiger' movement) in 2008-2009. As of March 2010, approximately 200,000 of these displaced people are in the process of being allowed to return to their homes - having spent many months living in camps - but only after specialist de-mining agencies such as HALO have clearly marked dangerous areas and, where possible, cleared land of mines and un-exploded ordnance left over from the conflict. Working in conjunction with the Sri Lankan authorities, areas that have been mined are being clearly marked with warning signs and then systematically cleared before people are allowed to return.
This vital work by HALO is being supported with funding provided by UKaid from the Department for International Development. In the first 10 weeks of 2010 alone, HALO has already safely disposed of nearly 16,500 anti-personnel mines in just a few districts in northwestern Sri Lanka– illustrating the scale of the challenge that lies ahead.
To find out more please visit: www.dfid.gov.uk/Media-Room/Case-Studies/2010/Landmine-lad...
For more on the HALO Trust, visit: www.halotrust.org
Paskar, a supervisor with the UK charity HALO Trust, talks about the risks of landmines to two women in northern Sri Lanka whose temporary home is surrounded by mine-fields.
Around 300,000 people were displaced in the latter stage of stages of the conflict (between the forces of the Sri Lankan government and the LTTE 'Tamil Tiger' movement) in 2008-2009.
As of March 2010, approximately 200,000 of these displaced people are in the process of being allowed to return to their homes - having spent many months living in camps - but only after specialist de-mining agencies such as HALO have clearly marked dangerous areas and, where possible, cleared residential and agricultural land of mines and un-exploded ordnance left over from the conflict.
Working alongside the Sri Lankan authorities, areas that have been mined are being clearly marked with warning signs and then systematically cleared before people are allowed to return.
This vital work by HALO is being supported with funding provided by UKaid from the Department for International Development. In the first 10 weeks of 2010 alone, HALO has already safely disposed of nearly 16,500 anti-personnel mines in just a few districts in northwestern Sri Lanka– illustrating the scale of the challenge that lies ahead.
To find out more please visit: www.dfid.gov.uk/Media-Room/Case-Studies/2010/Landmine-lad...
For more on the HALO Trust, visit: www.halotrust.org
Image © Russell Watkins / Department for International Development
Renu, aged 21, a Sri Lankan woman trained as a de-mining technician by the UK charity HALO Trust at work early in the morning, in a paddy field near Thunukkai, northern Sri Lanka.
Around 300,000 people were displaced in the latter stage of stages of the conflict (between the forces of the Sri Lankan government and the LTTE 'Tamil Tiger' movement) in 2008-2009. As of March 2010, approximately 200,000 of these displaced people are in the process of being allowed to return to their homes - having spent many months living in camps - but only after specialist de-mining agencies such as HALO have clearly marked dangerous areas and, where possible, cleared residential and agricultural land of mines and un-exploded ordnance left over from the conflict. Working in conjunction with the Sri Lankan authorities, areas that have been mined are being clearly marked with warning signs and then systematically cleared before people are allowed to return. This vital work by HALO is being supported with funding provided by UKaid from the Department for International Development. In the first 10 weeks of 2010 alone, HALO has already safely disposed of nearly 16,500 anti-personnel mines in just a few districts in northwestern Sri Lanka– illustrating the scale of the challenge that lies ahead.
To find out more please visit: www.dfid.gov.uk/Media-Room/Case-Studies/2010/Landmine-lad...
For more on the HALO Trust, visit: www.halotrust.org
Image © Russell Watkins / Department for International Development
Kandasani, aged 36, digs down to a suspected land mine in a paddy field near Thunukkai, northern Sri Lanka. A former resident of the area, he was forced to leave his home in July 2008 by retreating LTTE, 'Tamil Tiger' forces. He was subsequently caught up by and injured in the fighting during the latter stages of the conflict between September 2008 and May 2009.
Having recovered from his injuries, he's now been recruited by the UK de-mining charity HALO Trust, and has been trained as a de-mining technician. He works 7 hours a day, in hot, difficult conditions, painstaking surveying and clearing fields near his village of land mines, so that they can be farmed again.
"I used to reasonably well off, but now I am poor and have very little. My home was destroyed in the conflict, so I am building a new one from the tin sheets we were given. I'm working hard to rebuild my life for my family. I don't get scared by this work - it's just what I have to do"
As of March 2010, approximately 200,000 people like Kandasani are in the process of being allowed to return to their homes - having spent many months living in camps - but only after specialist de-mining agencies such as HALO have clearly marked dangerous areas or, where possible, cleared them of mines and un-exploded ordnance left over from the conflict.
This vital work is being supported with funding provided by UKaid from the Department for International Development. In the first 10 weeks of 2010 alone, HALO has already safely disposed of nearly 16,500 anti-personnel mines in just a few districts in northwestern Sri Lanka– illustrating the scale of the challenge that lies ahead.
To find out more please visit: www.dfid.gov.uk/Media-Room/Case-Studies/2010/Landmine-lad...
For more on the HALO Trust, visit: www.halotrust.org
Image © Russell Watkins / Department for International Development
Saila, a 29-year-old mother of two, is one of a growing number of women in Sri Lanka that have been recruited and trained by the UK de-mining charity HALO Trust - supported by UKaid funding from the Department for International Development.
Working seven hours a day in the baking heat, manual de-mining is slow, painstaking work. Scanning a square metre at a time with a metal detector, every beep over a certain strength means a slow, careful dig into the parched, solid earth - finger-tip work in case she’s found another mine. Working alongside men, with equal status, dozens of women like Saila are slowly helping clear mines from hundreds of acres of prime rice-producing land.
There are an unknown number of land mines littering the once verdant landscape of the Vanni. They’re a deadly legacy of the violent 26-year-long conflict between the Sri Lankan government and the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, or ‘Tamil Tigers’) movement, which finally ended in May 2009. Saila knows all too well just how violent this conflict was; it cost her husband his life:
"I used to work as a co-ordinator in a rehabilitation centre, but had to leave because of the conflict. Then my husband was killed in the fighting. Now my mother has to look after my daughters, while I do this work”.
To read more about Saila's story, please visit: www.dfid.gov.uk/Media-Room/Case-Studies/2010/Landmine-lad...
For more on the HALO Trust, visit: www.halotrust.org
Image © Russell Watkins / Department for International Development
Huge numbers of landmines remain in the ground across Afghanistan, the majority of them dating from the conflict between the Mujahadeen and the Russians in the 1980s. They have injured and killed thousands of people over the last 30 years.
Mines have also meant that vast areas of land which were previously used by farmers to farm melon and wheat, and where children used to play, were abandoned for years. This meant that small rural communities were confined to small areas to live, and made it difficult to resume a normal life after living through over 30 years of conflict.
The Department for International Development in Afghanistan has funded the HALO Trust, to remove these dangerous objects to allow thousands of children to play in fields, farmers to grow crops, local communities to build schools, and entrepreneurs to start businesses.
In Herat, one of HALO’s projects has transformed the village of A Islam Qala, in the Koshan district, located less than 5 km from the Iranian border. Work in clearing the fields around the village started several years ago, and so far 22,230 people have benefited from the programme. The village, which children and farmers were too scared to use before is now a transformed place, with hundreds of farmers cultivating crops.
850 families living in each of the two shuras now have hope that they can resume a normal life and can plan a brighter and more prosperous future.
Chief of one of these villages, Qalata Mirmakim, says: “We didn’t farm here before the land was cleared. We had lots of car and tractor accidents from landmines, but now animals can roam the land. Now we are safe”.
A red-painted wooden triangle marks the location of a suspected land-mine, buried in a paddy field in northern Sri Lanka.
Around 300,000 people were displaced from the 'Vanni', or 'rice bowl', region of Sri Lanka, in the latter stage of stages of the conflict (between the forces of the Sri Lankan government and the LTTE 'Tamil Tiger' movement) in 2008-2009.
As of March 2010, approximately 200,000 of these people are in the process of being allowed to return to their homes - having spent many months living in camps - but only after specialist de-mining agencies such as HALO have clearly marked dangerous areas and, where possible, cleared land of mines and un-exploded ordnance left over from the conflict.
Working alongside the Sri Lankan authorities, areas that have been mined are being clearly marked with warning signs and then systematically cleared before people are allowed to return. This vital work by HALO is being supported with funding provided by UKaid from the Department for International Development. In the first 10 weeks of 2010 alone, HALO has already safely disposed of nearly 16,500 anti-personnel mines in just a few districts in northwestern Sri Lanka– illustrating the scale of the challenge that lies ahead.
To find out more please visit: www.dfid.gov.uk/Media-Room/Case-Studies/2010/Landmine-lad...
For more on the HALO Trust, visit: www.halotrust.org
Image © Russell Watkins / Department for International Development
An anti-personnel land mine in a High Order Burning Box (HOBB), a device which is used by the UK de-mining charity HALO Trust to safely destroy mines without using explosives or detonators.
De-mining agencies working in Sri Lanka are not allowed to use detonators or explosives to destroy mines - so the HOBB device works by incinerating the mine until it explodes.
The mine is placed on a grill above sawdust soaked in gasoline - this is then ignited and burns it. The 10mm thick steel 'box' contains the blast when the mine eventually detonates, and projects the force of the explosion directly upwards. Technicians observe a safe distance away - the burning process takes around 20 minutes.
Mines are only moved if it is felt safe to do so; if not then HALO inform local residents of the risk, leave the mine clearly marked in-situ, then inform the Sri Lankan Army, giving the precise GPS co-ordinates of the mine. The SLA then come and carry out a controlled explosion.
Around 300,000 people were displaced in the latter stage of stages of the conflict (between the forces of the Sri Lankan government and the LTTE 'Tamil Tiger' movement) in 2008-2009. As of March 2010, approximately 200,000 of these displaced people are in the process of being allowed to return to their homes - having spent many months living in camps - but only after specialist de-mining agencies such as HALO have clearly marked dangerous areas and, where possible, cleared land of mines and un-exploded ordnance left over from the conflict. Working in conjunction with the Sri Lankan authorities, areas that have been mined are being clearly marked with warning signs and then systematically cleared before people are allowed to return.
This vital work by HALO is being supported with funding provided by UKaid from the Department for International Development. In the first 10 weeks of 2010 alone, HALO has already safely disposed of nearly 16,500 anti-personnel mines in just a few districts in northwestern Sri Lanka– illustrating the scale of the challenge that lies ahead.
To find out more please visit: www.dfid.gov.uk/Media-Room/Case-Studies/2010/Landmine-lad...
For more on the HALO Trust, visit: www.halotrust.org
De-mining technicians from the UK charity HALO Trust at work early in the morning, on the edges of a paddy field near Thunukkai, northern Sri Lanka.
Around 300,000 people were displaced in the latter stage of stages of the long-running conflict (between the forces of the Sri Lankan government and the LTTE 'Tamil Tiger' movement) in 2008-2009. As of March 2010, more than 200,000 of these displaced people are now in the process of being allowed to return to their homes - having spent many months living in camps.
As part of this process, specialist de-mining agencies such as HALO Trust have clearly marked dangerous areas and are clearing residential and agricultural land of mines and un-exploded ordnance left over from the conflict.
Working in conjunction with the Sri Lankan authorities, this vital work by HALO is being supported with funding provided by UKaid from the Department for International Development. In the first 10 weeks of 2010 alone, HALO has already safely disposed of nearly 16,500 anti-personnel mines in just a few districts in northwestern Sri Lanka– illustrating the scale of the challenge that lies ahead.
To find out more, please visit: www.dfid.gov.uk/Media-Room/Case-Studies/2010/Landmine-lad...
Image © Russell Watkins / Department for International Development
A team of women de-miners in Sri Lanka, recruited and trained by the UK de-mining charity HALO Trust - supported by UKaid funding from the Department for International Development.
Working seven hours a day in the baking heat, manual de-mining is slow, painstaking work. Scanning a square metre at a time with a metal detector, every beep over a certain strength means a slow, careful dig into the parched, solid earth - finger-tip work in case they've found another mine. Working alongside men, with equal status, dozens of women are slowly helping clear mines from hundreds of acres of prime rice-producing land.
There are an unknown number of land mines littering the once verdant landscape of the Vanni. They’re a deadly legacy of the violent 26-year-long conflict between the Sri Lankan government and the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, or ‘Tamil Tigers’) movement, which finally ended in May 2009.
To find out more please visit: www.dfid.gov.uk/Media-Room/Case-Studies/2010/Landmine-lad...
For more on the HALO Trust, visit: www.halotrust.org
Image © Russell Watkins / Department for International Development
De-mining technicians from the UK charity HALO Trust at work early in the morning, on the edges of a paddy field near Thunukkai, northern Sri Lanka.
Around 300,000 people were displaced in the latter stage of stages of the long-running conflict (between the forces of the Sri Lankan government and the LTTE 'Tamil Tiger' movement) in 2008-2009. As of March 2010, more than 200,000 of these displaced people are now in the process of being allowed to return to their homes - having spent many months living in camps.
As part of this process, specialist de-mining agencies such as HALO Trust have clearly marked dangerous areas and are clearing residential and agricultural land of mines and un-exploded ordnance left over from the conflict.
Working in conjunction with the Sri Lankan authorities, this vital work by HALO is being supported with funding provided by UKaid from the Department for International Development. In the first 10 weeks of 2010 alone, HALO has already safely disposed of nearly 16,500 anti-personnel mines in just a few districts in northwestern Sri Lanka– illustrating the scale of the challenge that lies ahead.
To find out more, please visit: www.dfid.gov.uk/Media-Room/Case-Studies/2010/Landmine-lad...
Image © Russell Watkins / Department for International Development
Sri Lankan technicians from the UK charity HALO Trust shelter from the sun during a break from de-mining a paddy field near Thunukkai, northern Sri Lanka.
Around 300,000 people were displaced in the latter stage of stages of the conflict (between the forces of the Sri Lankan government and the LTTE 'Tamil Tiger' movement) in 2008-2009. As of March 2010, approximately 200,000 of these displaced people are in the process of being allowed to return to their homes - having spent many months living in camps - but only after specialist de-mining agencies such as HALO have clearly marked dangerous areas and, where possible, cleared residential and agricultural land of mines and un-exploded ordnance left over from the conflict. Working in conjunction with the Sri Lankan authorities, areas that have been mined are being clearly marked with warning signs and then systematically cleared before people are allowed to return. This vital work by HALO is being supported with funding provided by UKaid from the Department for International Development. In the first 10 weeks of 2010 alone, HALO has already safely disposed of nearly 16,500 anti-personnel mines in just a few districts in northwestern Sri Lanka– illustrating the scale of the challenge that lies ahead.
To find out more please visit: www.dfid.gov.uk/Media-Room/Case-Studies/2010/Landmine-lad...
For more on the HALO Trust, visit: www.halotrust.org
Image © Russell Watkins / Department for International Development
Kandasani, aged 36, digs down to a suspected land mine in a paddy field near Thunukkai, northern Sri Lanka. A former resident of the area, he was forced to leave his home in July 2008 by retreating LTTE, 'Tamil Tiger' forces. He was subsequently caught up by and injured in the fighting during the latter stages of the conflict between September 2008 and May 2009.
Having recovered from his injuries, he's now been recruited by the UK de-mining charity HALO Trust, and has been trained as a de-mining technician. He works 7 hours a day, in hot, difficult conditions, painstaking surveying and clearing fields near his village of land mines, so that they can be farmed again.
"I used to reasonably well off, but now I am poor and have very little. My home was destroyed in the conflict, so I am building a new one from the tin sheets we were given. I'm working hard to rebuild my life for my family. I don't get scared by this work - it's just what I have to do"
As of March 2010, approximately 200,000 people like Kandasani are in the process of being allowed to return to their homes - having spent many months living in camps - but only after specialist de-mining agencies such as HALO have clearly marked dangerous areas or, where possible, cleared them of mines and un-exploded ordnance left over from the conflict.
This vital work is being supported with funding provided by UKaid from the Department for International Development. In the first 10 weeks of 2010 alone, HALO has already safely disposed of nearly 16,500 anti-personnel mines in just a few districts in northwestern Sri Lanka– illustrating the scale of the challenge that lies ahead.
To find out more please visit: www.dfid.gov.uk/Media-Room/Case-Studies/2010/Landmine-lad...
For more on the HALO Trust, visit: www.halotrust.org
Image © Russell Watkins / Department for International Development
Jalini, aged 30, a Sri Lankan woman who has been trained as de-mining technician by the UK charity HALO Trust.
Around 300,000 people like Jalini were displaced in the latter stage of stages of the conflict (between the forces of the Sri Lankan government and the LTTE 'Tamil Tiger' movement) in 2008-2009.
As of March 2010, over 200,000 of them are now in the process of being allowed to return to their homes - having spent many months living in camps - but only after specialist de-mining agencies lke HALO have clearly marked dangerous areas and, where possible, cleared land of mines and un-exploded ordnance left over from the conflict.
This vital work by HALO is being supported with funding provided by UKaid from the Department for International Development. In the first 10 weeks of 2010 alone, HALO has already safely disposed of nearly 16,500 anti-personnel mines in just a few districts in northwestern Sri Lanka– illustrating the scale of the challenge that lies ahead.
To find out more please visit: www.dfid.gov.uk/Media-Room/Case-Studies/2010/Landmine-lad...
For more on the HALO Trust, visit: www.halotrust.org
Image © Russell Watkins / Department for International Development
Farmer Mohamed Abdi stands amongst his papaya trees just beyond the former Duber Bridge minefield, now cleared by HALO.
Hosi Ger Ahmad, one of the members of the A Islam Qala Shura in western Herat, stands on land that only a year ago was too dangerous to use.
He tells the assembled HALO Trust representatives of the transformation that the de-mining of the land has made to the village and to his family and children’s future. He said, “Many people in the village have been killed or lost legs and hands, but now it is not a problem anymore”.
The Department for International Development has supported the HALO Trust, an international de-mining organisation, in a five-year project to safely remove land-mines across Afghanistan so that communities can reclaim their land.
Image: Catherine Belfield-Haines/Department for International Development
De-mining technicians from the UK charity HALO Trust at work early in the morning, on the edges of a paddy field near Thunukkai, northern Sri Lanka.
Around 300,000 people were displaced in the latter stage of stages of the long-running conflict (between the forces of the Sri Lankan government and the LTTE 'Tamil Tiger' movement) in 2008-2009. As of March 2010, more than 200,000 of these displaced people are now in the process of being allowed to return to their homes - having spent many months living in camps.
As part of this process, specialist de-mining agencies such as HALO Trust have clearly marked dangerous areas and are clearing residential and agricultural land of mines and un-exploded ordnance left over from the conflict.
Working in conjunction with the Sri Lankan authorities, this vital work by HALO is being supported with funding provided by UKaid from the Department for International Development. In the first 10 weeks of 2010 alone, HALO has already safely disposed of nearly 16,500 anti-personnel mines in just a few districts in northwestern Sri Lanka– illustrating the scale of the challenge that lies ahead.
To find out more, please visit: www.dfid.gov.uk/Media-Room/Case-Studies/2010/Landmine-lad...
Image © Russell Watkins / Department for International Development
HALO survey officers, locally recruited, have received extensive training in map reading, GPS usage, mapping, etc, which allows them to transit with confidence through the rough areas of the Andes mountain range.
Paskar, a Sri Lankan de-mining technician with the HALO Trust, carefully places an anti-personnel land mine in a High Order Burning Box (HOBB), a device which is used to safely destroy mines without using explosives or detonators.
With a £500,000 grant from UKaid, and working with the Sri Lankan authorities, HALO has already made safe more than 16,000 mines in the first two months of 2010 alone.
To find out more please visit: www.dfid.gov.uk/Media-Room/Case-Studies/2010/Landmine-lad...
For more on the HALO Trust, visit: www.halotrust.org
HALO’s teams also conduct assessments in other mine affected areas in Colombia to establish how suitable it is to start survey.
In the west of Herat province in western Afghanistan, just a few miles from the border with Iran, what looks like a desert is being transformed into fertile, arable fields. A brand new tractor appears to be busily at work, ploughing a vast tract of land.
But as you get closer, you realise that this is no ordinary tractor; it's armoured, and it's not ploughing. It's actually digging up landmines.
Herat is a historically fertile area, once described as the 'bread basket of central Asia'. But for much of the last 30 years, it's fertile soil has been a no-go area for local farmers. During the late 1980’s, during the conflict between the Afghan Mujahadeen and Russia, a large number of landmines were laid throughout the country which have injured and killed thousands of people.
The Department for International Development has supported the HALO Trust, an international de-mining organisation, in a five-year project to safely remove land-mines across Afghanistan so that communities can reclaim their land.
Image: Catherine Belfield-Haines/Department for International Development
Abdul Rafah, 24-years-old, from Herat, has been trained as a de-miner by the HALO Trust.
He's working hard outside a local corner shop in the Jebrail district of Herat City, as part of a de-mining operation which involves clearing and area close to where local children playing football on adjoining fields and women go to buy bread for the families evening meal. It’s hot, tiring work, and he clears up to three square metres of land per day. He said: “I used to work as a laborer on a building site but I find this work much more interesting”.
The Department for International Development has supported the HALO Trust, an international de-mining organisation, in a five-year project to safely remove land-mines across Afghanistan so that communities can reclaim their land.
Image: Catherine Belfield-Haines/Department for International Development