§ 1. Mr. HarrisTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is Her Majesty's Government's policy on the export of land mines.
§ The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Mr. David Davis)The United Kingdom has not produced or exported anti-personnel land mines for some years.
§ Mr. HarrisI thank my hon. Friend for that answer. Can he say precisely for how many years the Government have not exported land mines? Does he agree that it is important to get over to the public at large and to those 908 organisations that have a proper interest in and concern about land mines exactly what is the policy of Her Majesty's Government?
§ Mr. DavisMy hon. Friend asked for how long we have not exported anti-personnel mines. It is certainly a decade. The policy of Her Majesty's Government was best described by my own announcement on 27 July this year, when I announced an indefinite moratorium on anti-personnel land mines without self-destruction or self-neutralising capacity. That is important because, as my hon. Friend will be aware, a large number of civilian deaths are caused each year by improperly used land mines and the aim of our policy is to reduce and eliminate that as much as possible.
§ Ms QuinDoes not the Government's decision to exclude self-destructing land mines from their ban actually mean that we are now lagging behind other countries rather than taking a lead? Is the Minister aware that the problem of land mines is so great that new killing fields are being established throughout the world because of land mines, and that at the present rate of clearance it will take 5,000 years to clear the land mines in countries such as Afghanistan? Is it not more important for the Government to announce a complete ban on the export of land mines and to intensify international efforts to deal with the problem effectively so that a real start can be made?
§ Mr. DavisOn the contrary. For example, the American proposals on land mines are close to our code of conduct and we are actively seeking to ensure that the international community adopts a regime that gets the most adherence possible. The problem with land mines is not just their type but how they are used. The UK armed forces adhere to the UN weapons convention and the principles thereof to ensure that no civilian risks arise from land mines, and that is one of the major routes to improving the position. However, in my judgment, self-destructing and self-neutralising land mines are the best possible route for our policy.
§ Mr. RobathanI congratulate my hon. Friend on his response and on the Government's policy. Will he confirm that, to the best of his knowledge, the British Government have never sold any land mines to the Soviet Union—which laid millions in Afghanistan—that no civilian in Afghanistan, Cambodia, Angola or Mozambique has been injured by a British anti-personnel mine, that other countries are responsible for this awful tragedy in all those countries and that we should be congratulated on our excellent policy in this matter?
§ Mr. DavisMy hon. Friend is absolutely right. What is more, the British Government have contributed some £7 million in the past three years, together with personnel and funds, to try to clear up the problems created by other people.