On the 11th of November, Andrew Rosindell M.P. took part in a Falkland Island APPG meeting to celebrate the Falkland Islands being declared mine free on the 14th of November.
This marks the UK’s fulfilment of its clearance obligation under the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention. This is a significant achievement as the UK Government will be able to declare that the UK and its territories are now mine free.
Click on this link for more information about the Falkland Islands Mine Clearance Programme.
The meeting was chaired by Derek Twigg M.P. Also present were other members of the APPG as well as Falkland Islands Representative to the UK, Richard Hyslop.
To commemorate this moment, the following Early Day Motion has been tabled:
"That this House recognises the Falkland Islands will officially be declared mine-free on November 14 2020, fulfilling the UK's commitment of its clearance obligation under the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention; notes that with this declaration the entire UK and her Overseas Territories will be mine-free; pays tribute to the members of the UK armed forces who contributed to mapping, fencing and clearing the minefields between 1982 and 2009 and the de-mining team from SafeLane Global Ltd who between 2009 and 2020 have destroyed over 10,000 mines and other items of unexploded ordnance; and understands that the project has released 23 million square meters of land allowing the access to large areas of ground which had been fenced off for 38 years."
