Blog #8

The Miami Herald reported on a Syria disarmament ordnance. the UN counted 37,000 incidents of heavy weapon use during the Syrian civil war which took place over three years. The UN Mine Action Service head commented that civilians will have to use the roads and infrastructure damaged by these weapons, and especially in areas that are contaminated with land mines. It is imperative that these mines be removed in order for the safety of the citizens of Syria, and for humanitarian efforts. So far, Syrian President Bashar Assad has disagreed with all talks that are drawing plans for disarmament. The rest of this article went on to discuss the dangers of IEDs and land mines, and that thousands of people are killed or maimed because of them. In Syria, the estimated amount of  mines are much larger than the estimated amount in Afghanistan.

This is a very frightening prospect. Syria is a very hostile country at the moment, and the lack of cooperation from the President is worrisome for its people If the President doesn't want to allow humanitarians to come in and make the country safe for its citizens, it will make it difficult to prevent injuries and deaths. The Syrian government doesn't seem to have a problem with harming its own people in order to complete goals they have, so it doesn't make it hard to believe that contaminated zones with land mines won't be solved with ease. It will take a lot of work probably over many years for these areas to be safe. The UN's job to get rid of these weapons not only is to do it themselves but to also train the country to disarm these areas on their own. It may be a problem to not only do it on their own but to also train Syrian officials and trust them to keep disarming aftery the Mine Action Service leaves.