Deaths and injuries from landmines and unexploded ordnance surged to their highest level in four years in 2024, driven by conflicts in Syria and Myanmar and by European countries moving to withdraw from the global treaty banning their use, according to a new report released Monday.
The Landmine Monitor 2025 recorded more than 6,000 incidents last year, including 1,945 deaths and 4,325 injuriesโthe highest annual toll since 2020. Nearly 90% of victims were civilians, almost half of them women and children.
Myanmar accounted for the largest share, with over 2,000 incidents linked to increased mine use by both the army and non-state armed groups. In Syria, returning residents faced growing risks from unexploded ordnance following the fall of former President Bashar al-Assad.
The Mine Ban Treaty, also known as the Ottawa Convention, came into force in 1999 and binds 166 statesโrepresenting 85% of the worldโto prohibit the use, stockpiling, production, and transfer of anti-personnel mines. It also obliges signatories to clear contaminated areas and assist victims.
But the report warned of โdangerous erosionโ of the treaty, with Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland moving to exit in response to perceived military threats from Russia. Ukraine formally withdrew on June 29, with analysts saying the move could help slow Russian advances more than three years into Moscowโs full-scale invasion.
The report also cited new Ukrainian mine use, allegations by Thailand that Cambodian forces deployed mines in a July border clashโdenied by Phnom Penhโand extensive use by Russia and Myanmar, neither of which are treaty signatories.
Funding cuts have compounded the crisis, with reduced survivor support and the termination of several humanitarian mine action programs, including from the United States.
Activists renewed calls for a global ban on landmines, describing them as weapons that devastate communities long after wars end. States party to the treaty are meeting in Geneva this week to discuss the findings.
