Today, Sri Lanka Campaign to Ban Landmines (SLCBL) met the National Mine Action Center (NMAC) of Sri Lanka and presented a translated
version (Sinhala and Tamil) of Sri Lanka's section of Landmine and Cluster Munition Monitor 2021.
During
the discussion with the NMAC, SLCBL thanked the Government of Sri Lanka
(GoSL) for presenting the Bill on the Mine Ban Treaty (MBT) to
the Parliament on the 10th of November 2021. We hope the
Bill will be passed and become part of the national legislation, whereby
accepted norms and provisions will be implemented in the country
without delay. The SLCBL also highlighted the importance
of having the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
(CRPD) and Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM) principles incorporated
into national legislation in order to implement convention norms and
provisions without delay. Sri Lanka ratified the
CRPD in 2016 acceded to the MBT and CCM in 2017 and 2018 respectively.
As of December 2021, 13.1.km2
of mine-affected lands are to be cleared in Sri Lanka. The NMAC
informed the SLCBL today, that subsequent to the completion of the
ongoing Non-Technical Survey (NTS) in March 2022, land in need clearance
may increase given the current survey statistics.
Further, NMAC revealed to SLCBL, that the new Mine Action Strategy will
be developed in March 2022, after the completion of NTS with the
support of Geneva International Center for Humanitarian Disarmament
(GICHD).
The
participants on this occasion included: Mr. V. Premachandran Deputy
Director NMAC; Mr. Mahinda Bandara Wickremasinghe Assistant Director
NMAC; Mr. Rohana
Jayalath IMSMA (Information Management System for Mine Action) Officer
at NMAC; Mr. Vidya Abhayagunawardena Coordinator SLCBL and Ms. Nimaya
Dahanayake, Youth Campaigner SLCBL. The translation work of the Landmine
and Cluster Munition Monitor was supported
by the Investing in Action, a project of the International Campaign to
Ban Landmines and Cluster Munition Coalitions.
SLCBL
will continue in its efforts to reach out to the South Asian region on
advocacy
on the MBT and CCM. Since 2018, the SLCBL secretariat, the Forum on
Disarmament and Development (FDD) has been advocating the ratification
or accession to several Disarmament Conventions by the Regional Governments. In this regard, FDD advocated the accession
to the CCM by the Governments of Maldives and Bangladesh. The
successful advocacy work by the FDD, led to accession of the Maldives
Government to the CCM on the 27th of September 2019. The FDD is
continuously advocating the accession to the CCM by the Government
of Bangladesh.
