Thai Burma Border Landmine Survivor Assistance Program Page Updated

We have updated our Thai-Burma border project page. Check it out here.

YouTube: Myanmar's Landmine Survivors at the Mae Tao Clinic

A video of the clinic we support on the Thai Burma border and an interview with Dr. Cynthia (known as the Asian Mother Theresa) who runs it.

You can read more about our program here.

Ministry of Defense in UK raids Landmine Removal Fund to Pay Repair Bills on Fighter Jets

Source: the Guardian

Money set aside to clear landmines and remove arms from conflict zones is to be raided to pay a private defence contractor to keep Tornado jets flying in Iraq, according to a confidential memo seen by the Guardian. The Ministry of Defence plans to pay BAE Systems from the multimillion-pound Conflict Prevention Fund - which covers projects such as destroying weapons in Bosnia and landmines in Mozambique - to subsidise the �5m-�10m cost of servicing each of the six planes.

The move follows a cost-cutting plan which has backfired for the MoD because of increased military action in Iraq.

The memo acknowledges that the emergency measure is needed because the MoD has closed its own state-of-the-art facility for servicing Tornado jets as a way of saving �500m over 10 years. A scaled-back facility is still not fully equipped for the job. Memos sent to ministers reveal that the ministry has decided to make the request to BAE Systems because the alternative facility, at RAF Marham in Norfolk, has "insufficient capacity".

Read the rest of the article here.