De-mining dogs: Clearing landmines in Sri Lanka
Case Study
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| Teacher's Notes | Student Activities |
| De-mining dogs: Clearing landmines in Sri Lanka |
Have you ever watched dogs running along sniffing the ground? What are they smelling? Can you smell the same scents as dogs?
Dogs have a very keen sense of smell. They can detect smells and scents that we cannot and this is why they are very important as trackers to find the scent of lost people. Dogs can also be trained to sniff for certain smells and scents. They are used by customs officers at airports and shipping ports to sniff out drugs in luggage, and there are some very highly trained dogs who have been taken with their dog handlers to work in Sri Lanka.
Four dogs and four skilled dog-handlers arrived in a city called Jaffna in northern Sri Lanka in July 1999. They were cheered when they arrived and their pictures were in all the papers. Why were they given such a warm welcome and what had they come to do?
The Jaffna Peninsula in Sri Lanka has been an area where there has been a war between the army and people called the Tamil Tigers who are fighting the Government for independence. There has been conflict and violence here since 1983. Both sides have used mines designed to explode when people step on them or drive over them. These landmines were planted in agricultural land, in gardens and under roads and buildings.
During the worst time in the war most of the townspeople and villagers moved away from the areas where there was fighting. Some of these villagers became refugees in Southern India; others moved to safer parts of Sri Lanka. The United Nations (UN) reports that as well as the refugees and displaced people, over 10,000 residents of this small area have been killed and at least as many were injured and unable to work. In 1995/6 the Sri Lankan army won back the Jaffna Peninsula from the 'Tamil Tigers' and the families began to return home.
The Sri Lankan Army began to clear the landmines but they were unable to do it all so the UN called for other countries to help. In July 1999, the Australian Government sent four mine detection teams to Jaffna. Since they arrived, 577 landmines and 42 unexploded ordnance (UX0) have been detected. In 2000 Australia will give $1.1 million for teams to take their dogs to detect more mines, as well as people to clear away the mines and to educate the villagers, especially children, about the mines.
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| Since July 1999, sniffer dogs have detected more than 572 landmines and 42 unexploded ordnance in the Jaffna Peninsula. |
The local people are trained to gather information which is used to produce maps of areas where mines could be found. Then the 'de-mining dogs' are brought in. The mine dog team usually has a handler and two dogs. The dogs work in pairs, sniffing the ground to detect scents and vapours given off by explosives in mines. The second dog is used to check the work of the first dog.
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| Local people are trained to produce maps of where landmines may be found. |
Once the mines are found, the areas are clearly marked so nobody enters. Local people are also being trained how to recognise where the landmines are and to understand the signs, which mark out the minefield. In every school, teachers show children how to identify minefield signs and what to do in emergencies. They also teach the students conflict resolution skills in class, through songs, stories, puppets and children acting out scenes. The children are learning non-violent ways of resolving conflict and working for lasting peace.
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| Once landmines are found, the area is marked out so nobody enters. |
The Australian and Sri Lankans who work on these projects, as well as the dogs who sniff out the landmines and the people who then carefully dig them out of the ground, are helping to establish peace in a community that has been torn apart by conflict.
© Commonwealth of Australia