Making land safe

Clearing landmines is the essential first step in rebuilding lives after conflict. The fighting may be over but as long as landmines and explosives are in the ground, people in war-torn countries continue to live in fear. They can’t return home, let alone plant crops, fetch water or let their children walk to school.

We take such day-to-day activities for granted, but for the innocent victims of conflict, safe steps are too often a dream.

HALO works with local communities to make land safe so that confidence can be restored and life can begin again.

Sadzurai Kamoyo is mother to three sons. Until HALO cleared the landmines, her home village of Sadzabaya in Zimbabwe was trapped between two deadly minefields.

Grandmother Nagaratnam and her family were forced to flee their village during Sri Lanka’s civil war. Even when the fighting ended, the thousands of landmines left behind meant it was too dangerous to return. HALO's Sri Lankan deminers finished clearing part of the village and, 21 years after she left, Nagaratnam was finally able to come home.