What Went Right: 27 years later, the last landmines are cleared

Landmine clearance in Kosovo.

I mean, this is 27 years after the war ended.

They're gone.

That's essentially it, isn't it?

Finally.

Yeah.

I mean, I think it's incredible to think, I mean, Kosovo, 27 years ago, it's taken that long to clear up all these thousands and thousands of landmines that... that have obviously been placed there and that that means obviously that land can't be used this is this is prime land that can be used for all kinds of things for living on for farming on for playing on for building on but of course if you've got mines all over the place um it's it's all that all that land is uneconomical you can't use it so halo who are the charity who've been over there have um finally finished clearing up clearing up some of the land which is obviously opening up huge opportunities for new industry and the economy and tourism and things like that.

This seems kind of, you think, 27 years, they must wait till the end of the war to do this.

Because I think that's what I always thought beforehand.

is landmines, you know, those famous images of Princess Diana walking through minefields.

And you think, oh, it's after a conflict has ended that they start doing it.

It's not, it's during.

And when I was out in Ukraine, so the war broke out in the February, didn't it? And the second time I went out there was the June.

And we went out with a team who were looking for mines because for exactly the reason there, it's not so much at that stage as obviously the war is still going on.

At that point, it was all about safety and getting people back into their villages as opposed to thinking, you know, on a bigger scale of the economy and using the land for farming.

That kind of comes afterwards.

But, yeah, at that point, they were volunteers.

Organisations like Halo weren't quite in there yet.

And it was, yeah, volunteer soldiers.

We went out with two British guys who were helping.

And it was very, very simple what they were doing.

And they were quite literally rooting around and, like, scraping up the earth as if...

You know, almost like with metal detectors, it was that kind of simplistic operation that I went out on.

But, you know, it's a huge undertaking.

When you were there, I mean, how do they actually...

Landmine clearance in Kosovo.

I mean, this is 27 years after the war ended.

They're gone.

That's essentially it, isn't it?

Finally.

Yeah.

I mean, I think it's incredible to think, I mean, Kosovo, 27 years ago, it's taken that long to clear up all these thousands and thousands of landmines that... that have obviously been placed there and that that means obviously that land can't be used this is this is prime land that can be used for all kinds of things for living on for farming on for playing on for building on but of course if you've got mines all over the place um it's it's all that all that land is uneconomical you can't use it so halo who are the charity who've been over there have um finally finished clearing up clearing up some of the land which is obviously opening up huge opportunities for new industry and the economy and tourism and things like that.

This seems kind of, you think, 27 years, they must wait till the end of the war to do this.

Because I think that's what I always thought beforehand.

is landmines, you know, those famous images of Princess Diana walking through minefields.

And you think, oh, it's after a conflict has ended that they start doing it.

It's not, it's during.

And when I was out in Ukraine, so the war broke out in the February, didn't it? And the second time I went out there was the June.

And we went out with a team who were looking for mines because for exactly the reason there, it's not so much at that stage as obviously the war is still going on.

At that point, it was all about safety and getting people back into their villages as opposed to thinking, you know, on a bigger scale of the economy and using the land for farming.

That kind of comes afterwards.

But, yeah, at that point, they were volunteers.

Organisations like Halo weren't quite in there yet.

And it was, yeah, volunteer soldiers.

We went out with two British guys who were helping.

And it was very, very simple what they were doing.

And they were quite literally rooting around and, like, scraping up the earth as if...

You know, almost like with metal detectors, it was that kind of simplistic operation that I went out on.

But, you know, it's a huge undertaking.

When you were there, I mean, how do they actually...