[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 32, Number 27 (Monday, July 8, 1996)]
[Pages 1159-1160]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Statement on the United States Demining Initiative in Bosnia

June 29, 1996

    I am pleased to announce a new U.S. initiative to develop an 
indigenous demining capability in Bosnia. Using about $15 million in 
U.S. funds, we will train demobilized soldiers and fund new demining 
programs for former soldiers. U.S. Special Operations Forces will train 
and equip deminers from

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the former warring factions. Training by U.S. military personnel will be 
completed by the time IFOR leaves. No U.S. personnel will participate 
directly in mine clearance operations nor will U.S. forces enter active 
minefields.
    Achieving rapid progress on demining is vital to the success of 
rebuilding Bosnia. Demining supports IFOR's mission, ensures that 
humanitarian assistance gets to places it is needed, helps create 
conditions for refugees to return, and enables the rapid reconstruction 
of infrastructure and the country's basic economy.
    The United States has taken the lead in establishing the Mine Action 
Center (MAC) in Sarajevo, which coordinates all landmine-related 
activities, including collecting and disseminating landmine data, 
coordinating mine awareness campaigns, conducting mine surveys, and 
overseeing mine clearance operations. The new initiative I am announcing 
today builds on what we have accomplished so far.
    With an estimated 3 million landmines, Bosnia is one of the five 
most heavily mined countries in the world. The landmine problem in 
Bosnia is typical of a post-conflict state: inadequate and inaccurate 
minefield records, little institutional memory of where mines were laid, 
no experience in clearing mines to humanitarian standards, and a growing 
need for large numbers of people to move about.
    Returning refugees and displaced persons are vulnerable and the 
risks to children are enormous. Children often ``play war,'' but in 
Bosnia the toys available to them are real; bunkers and fighting 
positions are often stocked with weapons caches, landmines, grenades, 
and other forms of dangerous materials found in a battlefield.
    We must all work together to accelerate demining activity in Bosnia, 
so that economic reconstruction can proceed, assistance reaches those 
most in need, our soldiers in IFOR can go about their job without fear 
of accident and, above all, the people of Bosnia can get on with their 
daily lives.