Anti-personnel landmines are weapons “designed to be exploded by the presence, proximity or contact of a person and that will incapacitate, injure or kill one or more persons.” As they cannot distinguish between civilians and combatants, are hard to safely remove, and often fail to self-destruct or self-deactivate, they continue to inflict human suffering long after a conflict ends.
Actions for Congress
- Enact a statutory ban on development, production, acquisition, use, retention, stockpiling or transfer of APLs without geographic exception.
- Block the deployment of landmines by U.S. Department of Defense or their transfer to other parties through immediate legislative measures.
- Work toward accession to the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty (Ottawa Convention), joining the 166 countries that already comprehensively prohibit these weapons.
- Appropriate funds for the accelerated destruction of U.S. stockpiles and require the Department of Defense to provide a clear timeline and mechanisms for public reporting on progress of the stockpile destruction.
Current U.S. Policy on Landmines
Since the ratification of the Mine Ban Treaty in 1997, there has been a global consensus against the use of anti-personnel landmines (APLs). Today 164 countries are party to the Mine Ban Treaty, representing over 80 percent of the world’s states. In 2020, the Trump administration acted counter to that consensus by announcing a revised policy on the use of landmines. This landmine policy allowed the U.S. military to develop, produce, or otherwise acquire APLs, use them without geographic limitations, and moved the authority to deploy them out of the hands of the military’s civilian leadership to the Military Combatant Commanders.
In June 2022, President Biden announced a new policy to align most U.S. actions with the Mine Ban Treaty, aiming to eventually join the agreement. This policy brought back a near-global ban on U.S. use of APLs, except for the Korean Peninsula. However, this position quietly changed in late 2024 when the U.S. sent “non-persistent” antipersonnel landmines to Ukraine, ending a 32-year pause on exporting these weapons.
The most recent major change happened in December 2025, when the Trump administration officially ended the U.S. ban on using APLs. A Department of Defense memo from December 2, 2025, says this policy lets military commanders use these landmines anywhere in the world, removing the earlier “Korean exception” and giving deployment control back to Combatant Commanders. This decision, along with the 2024 transfers to Ukraine, weakens the global rule against these harmful weapons, which caused at least 6,279 deaths or injuries in 2024.
The Illusion of “non-persistent” Landmines
In 2020 the Department of Defense justified the use of APLs once again with a dangerously misleading distinction between “persistent” and “non-persistent” APLs, despite the documented failures of self-destruct and self-deactivation features. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that “smart mines” deployed in the Gulf War failed at a rate 150 times higher than the Department of Defense had reported. The same GAO report found that 6 percent of U.S. Gulf War casualties were caused by APLs.
Additionally, mine fields are no longer carefully mapped or marked—APLs are often scattered by aircraft and artillery often over unmarked terrain. This creates further danger for civilians and aid workers who have no way of knowing whether they are in or entering a minefield, or when the mines may self-destruct. The self-destruct timers on Russia-deployed landmines have created terror among civilians during the ongoing invasion of Ukraine. According to one survivor, whose farm and home were blanketed in scatterable landmines, “the bursts continued throughout the day with intervals around 50 minutes, and the last one was around 3 o’clock the next night after it first landed […] It was lucky that kids didn’t play there that day,” they told the New York Times, “normally they would play in the backyard at the time of the first pieces detonating, but it was rainy that day.”
Militarily Ineffective and Restrictive
In 1995, Former Marine Corps Commandant General Alfred Gray, Jr., said, “We kill more Americans with our own mines than we do anyone else. […] I know of no situation in the Korean War, nor […] in Southeast Asia, nor in Panama, nor in Desert Storm-Desert Shield where our use of mine warfare truly channelized the enemy and brought them into a destructive pattern.” A 2002 report by the GAO on the ‘U.S. Use of Land Mines in the Persian Gulf War’ found that the Defense Department did not provide any data to indicate, either directly or indirectly, that the U.S. landmine use caused any enemy casualties, equipment loss, or maneuver limitations.
Echoing this, retired Lt. Gen. Robert G. Gard, Jr. found in 2014 that use of “high tech land mines” was “counter-productive” because such mines “impeded the maneuverability of our attacking units, slowed their operational tempo and inflicted casualties on our own troops.” The 2002 GAO report also found that US commanders were reluctant to use mines because of their impact on mobility, their potential for fratricide, and other safety concerns.
Civilian Casualties
Landmines are indiscriminate weapons that disproportionately impact civilians, and especially children. Since 1999, there have been 165,724 reported casualties from landmines and other explosive remnants of war (ERW). Ukraine is currently facing massive contamination, representing the most widespread use of antipersonnel mines seen in decades. Following the 2022 Russian invasion, the contaminated area is estimated to cover approximately 105,877km² across nine regions. This contamination is estimated to put over six million people at risk. While clearance efforts are ongoing, Ukraine is currently working under a third extension period with a clearance deadline of December 1, 2033.
According to the 2025 Landmine Monitor:
- Children were at least 46 percent of all civilian casualties from landmines and ERW in 2024.
- In 2024 alone, there were at least 6,279 recorded casualties—the highest annual figure since 2020.
- Civilians accounted for 90 percent of landmine casualties in 2024.
Global Consequences
The 2024 transfers marked a turning point. By transferring APLs to Ukraine, the Biden administration broke a 32-year U.S. ban on exports and went against its own 2022 policy, which had clearly banned such transfers. Proponents of the transfer claimed the mines are safer due to their self-destruct mechanisms, but experts warn these systems often fail, leaving them dangerous for decades. Ukraine’s use and procurement of APL also broke the Mine Ban Treaty, which it is a party to. The 2025 APL policy change to lift the U.S. ban on landmine use further erodes the international norm built by the 166 countries party to the Mine Ban Treaty.
These changes are happening alongside a new challenge to the treaty in Europe. In 2025, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland all began official steps to withdraw from the treaty, with most announcing their intent to withdraw between December 2025 and February 2026. Officials in Finland, Lithuania, and Poland have said they plan to start making mines again once they leave, while Poland has talked about stockpiling up to one million mines to protect its borders. The ICRC called this a breaking apart of global agreement, and UN Secretary-General António Guterres started a new campaign to support humanitarian disarmament norms in response. Critics warn that the combined effect of U.S. policy changes and European withdrawals is normalizing weapons that, by design, cannot tell the difference between a soldier and a civilian.
Compliance with International Law and Practice
The United States was one of the first governments to call for a comprehensive ban on APLs, in 1996 introducing a U.N. resolution calling for an international agreement to end their use. The Ottawa Convention or the Mine Ban Treaty, was adopted in 1997, requiring the 164 states party to:
- Not develop, produce, acquire, use, retain, stockpile, or transfer APLs, or assist others in such actions.
- Destroy all current stockpiles of APLs.
- Identify and clear all mined areas under their jurisdiction or control.
- Assist other states in clearing and destroying mines, if able, and provide assistance to landmine victims.
- Report annually to the U.N. on any landmines under their control, and the status of efforts to destroy them.
A total of 12 states not party to the Mine Ban Treaty continue to develop, produce, or acquire APLs: Armenia, China, Cuba, India, Iran, Myanmar, North Korea, Pakistan, Russia, Singapore, South Korea, and Vietnam. Furthermore, as they legally withdraw from the treaty, officials in Finland, Lithuania, and Poland have indicated they will begin producing mines once their withdrawals take effect.
