Norwegian People's Aid condemns Finland's plans to acquire one million anti-personnel mines
Finland's security concerns are legitimate, but investing in indiscriminate weapons that have caused immense civilian suffering for decades is a dangerous and misguided response.
Anti-personnel mines cannot distinguish between civilians and combatants, harming civilians both during conflict and their devastating consequences persisting long after conflicts end. Reintroducing anti-personnel mines to Finland’s military defense will not provide more security, but an increased risk to the safety of their own population.
Finland's withdrawal from the Mine Ban Treaty was already an unwise and irresponsible decision in a time where humanitarian values, international law and protection of civilians are more needed than ever. Moving ahead with the production and stockpiling of these weapons further underlines this fiasco. In addition to having very limited military utility, there is a strong global norm against the use, production, stockpiling, and transfer of anti-personnel mines precisely due to their devastating consequences. The way forward is not investing in weapons from the past.
We urge Finland to abandon these plans and ensure their effective defense capabilities do not put civilian lives at an unacceptable risk for generations to come.
