Finland announces destruction of over 1 million stockpiled landmines

Finland declared on Wednesday that it has concluded the destruction of its remaining stockpiled anti-personnel mines ahead of the committed deadline.

The announcement was made on the third day of the Fourteenth Meeting of the States Parties to the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention, or Ottawa Convention, taking place until Dec. 4 here at the UN headquarters in Geneva.

"Finland is proud to declare that the destruction process of well over 1 million stockpiled mines which began in 2012 is now complete," Paivi Kairamo, Ambassador of Finland to the United Nations in Geneva, announced.

The Ottawa Convention was adopted in Oslo in 1997, opened for signature in Ottawa the same year and entered into force in 1999.

By joining the Convention, each State Party undertakes to destroy all stockpiled anti-personnel mines it owns or that are under its jurisdiction or control, not later than four years after the entry into force of this Convention.

Finland's destruction deadline was set for 1 July 2016, but the last landmines were destroyed by the Finnish armed forces at a mass demolition camp in Ville Broijer on 15 August 2015, almost a year prior to its deadline.

According to the latest figure from the ongoing Meeting of the States Parties, to date 162 states have joined the Convention with 158 of these reporting that they no longer hold stocks, and together these States Parties have destroyed over 47 million stockpiled landmines. Enditem