§ 13. Mr. TouhigTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is his Department's estimate of the number 13 of anti-personnel land mines currently deployed throughout the world. [25106]
§ Mr. FreemanWe understand that the United Nations estimates there to be more than 110 million land mines emplaced.
§ Mr. TouhigWith so many anti-personnel land mines scattered indiscriminately around the globe, does the Minister agree that now is the time to seek an international agreement to ban all such mines? Are not anti-personnel mines causing serious problems for our troops in their humanitarian mission in Bosnia?
§ Mr. FreemanI think that the whole House would agree with the hon. Gentleman that it is a humanitarian problem —mines having been scattered indiscriminately in many countries throughout the world —and a major military problem. To seek an international ban on manufacture, ownership and deployment would not work; it would be ineffective. The Government's view is that the Army needs, justifiably, some anti-personnel land mines. We must, therefore, protect the Army's ability to procure such land mines and to deploy them within the strict terms of the weaponry convention. I agree that we need to improve the convention and to seek increased observance of its present provisions. That will be more effective than seeking an outright ban.
§ Mr. LesterDoes my right hon. Friend agree that the Government set an excellent example in spending a great deal of money lifting other people's mines laid in civil wars and in moving forward the humanitarian effort?
§ Mr. FreemanI am grateful to my hon. Friend. The Government have spent about £14.5 million on mine-clearance work. I congratulate the Mines Advisory Group on its hard work. The indiscriminate sowing of mines, especially in the Falkland Islands, will remain a problem for many years to come.