BBC Documentaries

Landmines

Loading player...
Hidden landmines and other devices left behind from wars are present in nearly 70 countries and territories, according to the military alliance Nato. Among those is Ukraine, where the war has made it one of the most mine laden countries in the world. Recently, Ukraine joined several other countries bordering Russia in announcing it will withdraw from an international mine ban treaty. Since 1999 that agreement, known as the Ottawa Convention, has prohibited the use, stockpiling and production of anti-personnel mines. We discuss the global impact of the weapon. Researchers say each year more than 5,500 people are killed or injured. Most are civilians. Many are children. We hear from landmine survivors in Ukraine, Iraq, Cambodia, Bosnia and Uganda about how their lives have been changed by landmines. Also, three men in Ukraine, Tajikistan and Syria, discuss why they put their lives at risk by trying to remove landmines. This episode of The Documentary, comes to you from BBC OS Conversations, bringing together people from around the world to discuss how major news stories are affecting their lives.
18 Jul 8PM English United Kingdom Education

Other recent episodes

Tajikistan’s last, lonely hyenas

For decades, conservationists in Tajikistan assumed that the striped hyena – a shy, less vocal cousin of the spotted hyena – was extinct there. But in 2017 a motion-sensitive camera trap in the country’s south-western corner, near the borders with Afghanistan and Uzbekistan, detected the presence of a female with…
11 Aug 8PM 26 min

Yoko Nishina: Japanese calligraphy

Yoko Nishina likes to use black Japanese Sumi ink in her calligraphy work because of the variety of colours , from blues through to browns. Craftsmen still use traditional methods to create the ink from vegetable oil lamps with wicks made of reeds. She creates both large and small works…
10 Aug 8PM 27 min

Has Ghana's ‘Year of Return’ been a success?

Back in 2019, Ghana’s then president sent out an invitation to people with African heritage to come to Ghana. It was called the Year of Return - a campaign by Ghana's tourism board to mark 400 years since the first documented African slaves were taken to America. The campaign built…
9 Aug 8PM 26 min

Why are Chinese micro-dramas so popular?

Secret billionaire husbands, blood-thirsty vampire lovers and being reborn as your great-grandmother: these are some of the outrageous plotlines that can be found in Chinese micro-dramas like My Royal Secret Lover, by producer Lin Yicheng. Micro-dramas are a Chinese short form video trend that has expanded globally, racking up hundreds…
9 Aug 8AM 27 min

Israelis and the war in Gaza

Israel faces growing international pressure to end the war in Gaza. But on Thursday night Israel's security cabinet approved plans to expand military operations, with the aim of defeating Hamas and returning the hostages. The decision has been criticised by world leaders, the United Nations and even the country’s own…
8 Aug 8PM 23 min
All episodes