Team:Edinburgh/mapxmlbhutan



Bhutan <![CDATA[Bhutan

The Kingdom of Bhutan acceded to the Mine Ban Treaty on 18 August 2005 and the treaty entered into force on 1 February 2006.

Bhutan previously stated several times that it had not produced, imported, exported, stockpiled, or used antipersonnel mines. Bhutan’s initial Article 7 report confirmed that it does not have any production facilities for antipersonnel mines. However, Bhutan’s report revealed for the first time that Bhutan in the past acquired and used antipersonnel mines, and still maintains a stockpile.

Bhutan declared a stockpile of 4,491 antipersonnel mines, all of which it has stated it will retain for training purposes.

Bhutan has not provided any details on the intended purposes and actual uses of its retained mines, as agreed by States Parties. This is a very large number of retained mines for a small armed force that does not engage in mine clearance domestically or internationally on an ongoing basis.

Bhutan reported that it previously used antipersonnel mines on tracks to camps maintained by Indian insurgents in Gobarkunda and Nganglam on the Bhutanese side of the Manas Wildlife Sanctuary. In January 2008, the United Liberation Front of Asom, which formerly had camps inside Bhutan, told Landmine Monitor that it had not used antipersonnel mines on the perimeter of its camps, or elsewhere in Bhutan ]]> <![CDATA[]]>