Conflicts have left Lebanon heavily contaminated with landmines and cluster bombs. MAG has worked in Lebanon since 2001 to clear contamination and to deliver risk education. The number of refugees fleeing the crisis in neighbouring Syria has intensified the need to clear land.

Decades of civil and external conflict through the 1980s, 1990s and in 2006, have left Lebanon with an extensive legacy of landmine and cluster bomb contamination.

More than 400,000 landmines were laid on the Blue Line, a politically sensitive area on Lebanon’s southern border. This has created a barrier minefield stretching 120km. In 2006, four million cluster bombs were dropped on Lebanon, of which an estimated 40 per cent did not explode on impact, and are still live.

Conflict in neighbouring Syria saw over 1.2 million people displaced into Lebanon, a country with a resident population of around four million. This has placed immense strain on a nation already suffering from the effects of mine and cluster bomb contamination. This pressure on resources has led to an increase in accidents, as people move through unfamiliar land or seek to cultivate it despite the risks.

Agriculture is the primary livelihood activity for communities in the south, yet large areas of fertile land remain inaccessible. Making this land safe will improve livelihoods, create more employment opportunities, and provide safety. Spillover from the conflict in Syria into Lebanese territory has led to new contamination including landmines of an improvised nature, and MAG is conducting survey and clearance in the north-east border region to address this.

Working in different parts of the country, MAG has specialist teams of deminers, many of them women, clearing landmines, cluster munitions and other unexploded bombs. Using handheld detectors and armoured machinery, teams can clear up to 800 landmines per month, with mines being found barely a metre apart on the Blue Line.

MAG also uses innovative risk education, including puppet shows in schools, Virtual Reality and Digital means, to teach vulnerable Lebanese communities and Syrian refugees about the dangers of landmines and unexploded bombs.