Interview/Peter Hugh Scott Baker, programme manager, The HALO Trust, Sri Lanka
Q: Could you begin by giving us an overview of The HALO Trust as an organisation? What is the trust's mission and goal?
A: Yes, certainly. The HALO Trust is the largest humanitarian demining organisation in the world at present. Its goals and mission are very simple. It is there to protect lives and restore the livelihoods of those that have been affected by conflict. It focuses on protecting lives through the process of removing threats—mines, explosives, or unsupervised weapons. It restores livelihoods by clearing the ground, making it safe, and ensuring that sustainable development can then take place. The third area is to support the management of weapons and ammunition so they can be managed in a controlled way rather than uncontrolled.
Q: How would you describe HALO's primary goals and priorities in Sri Lanka today?
A: For us in Sri Lanka, it very much captures those main themes from the HALO Trust mission statement. Our business is to clear the land. It is to do that in a safe and efficient way in line with the international mine action standards and support the restoration of livelihoods for both returning IDPs and other communities, and to ultimately achieve completion here by removing the remaining mine threats.
Q: How extensive is the problem of landmines and explosive remnants of war (ERWs) in Sri Lanka at present?
A: It is worth reinforcing the context that Sri Lanka was one of the most densely mined countries in the world as a result of 27 years of conflict and an estimated almost 1.5 million mines being laid. Remaining at the moment is just under 23 square kilometres of either confirmed or suspected contamination.
Q: Which regions continue to be the most heavily contaminated and what makes them particularly challenging?
A: The majority of the contamination in the Sri Lankan context is concentrated in the north and the east—the northern and eastern provinces and the north-west and north-central regions. The districts that have been particularly affected and are probably the most heavily contaminated, certainly for HALO, are Jaffna, Kilinochchi, and Mullaitivu. But Mannar and Vavuniya, where the Mines Advisory Group (MAG) is predominantly operating, are also severely affected.
Q: Could you provide recent figures or estimates to help us understand the current scale of the problem—in terms of land still contaminated, number of suspected hazardous areas, or the impact on local communities?
A: Yes, as I mentioned, it is just under 23 square kilometres. That figure is still quite high despite the fact that the mine action sector is clearing about six square kilometres a year. Discovery of new, previously unknown contamination as a result of the completion survey process, which is government-mandated, has identified quite a lot of new contamination. The completion survey is a deliberate process being undertaken by all the mine action operators to conduct detailed interviews with each of the Grama Niladhari village administration areas. So, as I say, the scale is just under 23 square kilometres. We have just over 5,000 IDPs that we know of who are waiting to return to land that is likely to have been contaminated during the course of the conflict. Again, there is quite a large concentration of those where the fighting was most active and where the mine laying was most extensive as well. So, again, we find most of this in the northern and eastern provinces.
Q: What are HALO's achievements and milestones so far in Sri Lanka?
A: Since we began operating here in 2002, we have successfully managed to clear and release over 120 square kilometres of land back to the communities and the IDPs. That is land that has been returned safely to them. I think the estimate is about 8,000 full cricket pitch-sized areas. We've also cleared over 300,000 landmines, which was achieved this year. I think it is the second-highest number of mines that have been detected and cleared by any HALO programme globally since HALO was established in 1989. So, we have achieved a lot. There is still a lot to go.
Q: What types of explosive devices are typically found in Sri Lanka's contaminated areas?
A: There are 17 different types of mines that we train all of our staff to be capable of identifying—those staff that work in the operational fields. The most prominent and most common on the Sri Lankan security forces' side that were laid during the conflict were the P4 mine and the Type 72A, which is a Chinese mine. The LTTE manufactured their own mines. So, the homemade mines—the most common of those that we find are the Jony series.
Q: Are there any distinctive devices or patterns unique to Sri Lanka's conflict history that HALO teams often encounter?
A: Yes, there are. I think because this was a conflict—effectively a civil war—where the government had access to commercially bought landmines, whereas the LTTE, effectively an insurgent group, although it was able to capture some mines at times or even in some instances lift government-laid mines and then use those against other targets. What was unusual was they manufactured, at large scale, almost on an industrial basis, their own landmines—the Jony series. They also produced tilt mines, which were designed to prevent mines being moved or lifted by the security forces, which present particular challenges to us. Hence, the reason it's so important for our deminers to be able to identify all 17 of the mines that are laid here, so they can know exactly which ones they are able to physically remove and which ones, once they've identified them, need to be left and destroyed in place, because there is too much risk with a tilt mine. The Jony series were unique to Sri Lanka, and the mines manufactured by the Tamil Tigers are not found anywhere else, including tilt mines.
Q: Could you explain the different methods The HALO Trust uses to identify, survey and clear contaminated land here in Sri Lanka?
A: The survey sequence is effectively the reconnaissance phase of trying to identify where the mines are quite precisely, finding the type of mines, and preparing our clearance teams who are later going into that particular hazardous area. That involves both direct and indirect information gathering. We are also able to use some new technology here—LiDAR, which is a radar system mounted on an unmanned aerial system or a drone, that can fly over the jungle. We can use radar to penetrate the canopy of the trees and identify where defensive networks are. We know from the tactical doctrine used by both the Sri Lankan security forces and the LTTE that they would often lay mines within a certain distance of their positions to defend them. Using these techniques and satellite imagery gives us the best level of detail that we can get during the survey process. Then the excavation process and the detection process are very much dependent upon the skills of the deminers, using either handheld detectors—Minelabs or HSTAMIDS (handheld stand-off mine detections systems), military-grade dual purpose detection systems, which are provided by the United States government.
With these specialized capabilities, we are able to use our mechanical assets to more deliberately clear an area in a more industrial and mechanised way.
Q: How do you decide which method is most appropriate for a particular site?
A: We can use mechanical assets to advantage where they offer a greater level of protection because of armour fitted on them, both around the cab where the machine operator is working and around the scoop or bucket system. So, if the mines detonate within those, it will control the explosive effects. In certain areas where there are very high levels of contamination—frontline positions or where there is naturally occurring mineralisation in the soil that makes the handheld detectors much more problematic—and where the land is likely to be returned for agricultural or residential purposes, we use our mechanical assets. Muhamalai is the best example of a highly fought-over frontline area which has a very high level of natural contamination. However, in the dense jungle areas, where we have to be very conscious of our environmental footprint, we have to make much greater use of manual detection, then physically excavating by hand where we've detected a signal. It may be just a piece of metal.
Q: Who are the people working as deminers with HALO in Sri Lanka?
A: We try to recruit both our operations and support staff from the communities that were most affected by the conflict, and therefore, in Sri Lanka's case, 98 per cent of our staff are internally displaced persons affected by the conflict. We recruit from the Tamil communities, particularly in the north. There is a personal motivation for wanting to clear the land that is around where their communities exist and making those areas safe as well. Also, 43 per cent of our operational staff are women, so they are going out every day into the field to find the mines and clear them. We are very proud of the fact we have a very high level of women as operational staff.
Q: What kind of socioeconomic impact does this employment have on their lives?
A: It is generally a very positive one. We have a range of staff from the north who go through a rigorous selection and training process to ensure that they are in every way prepared and can operate safely in the minefields. Their employment also brings in a regular wage. We have a number of single heads of household, both female and male. We provide opportunities particularly for our female staff to excel in leadership positions, and with those increased responsibilities comes an increased salary. From our most recent staff survey, we have identified that 60 per cent of our staff reported that the wages and the funds that they have been paid through HALO have enabled them to carry out significant improvements to their homes. Equally, of the remainder, 30 per cent have said it has enabled them to purchase a house or land to build. So, we see the economic advantages. A fantastic part of the job is seeing how quickly the land is returned to productive use.
Q: Demining is known to be a dangerous job. What specific risks do deminers in Sri Lanka face on a daily basis?
A: Yes, another very fair question. To set the context, HALO as an organisation has been operating for the past 36 years, so it has a huge amount of experience with programmes around the world. We are able to share those experiences here too. We have a thorough training regime for assurance, leadership, and supervisory levels for all of our staff. We are very aware that they will go into potentially hazardous environments to clear mines. Hence we have a full range of protective and mitigation measures, everything from the equipment they wear to ensuring we meet international mine action standards, but also the standard operating procedures that we use are very refined and are regularly reviewed through the supervisory and quality assurance methods. We also ensure that we have a very high ratio of medically trained personnel in our team. In every manual demining team, which will have nine staff members, three of those will be qualified with high-level medical training, with one dedicated medic. Additionally, our medically trained staff regularly rehearse our casualty evacuation process.
Q: At the current rate of clearance, how many years are needed to clear the mines in Sri Lanka?
A: The current Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention timeline was 1 June 2028. Due to the amount of new contamination that has been discovered as a result of the completion survey, that period will need to be extended, and that is recognised in the revised National Mine Action Completion Strategy that the Sri Lankan Government and the President endorsed last month. The other factor that we need to take into consideration is our donors providing the funding to enable us to pay for the mine action and the clearance processes that take place. Unfortunately, within the current global context, that funding is under quite a lot of pressure. We are enormously grateful to our international donors who continue to provide us and support us with the life-saving work that we do here. But as I say, the intention of the Sri Lankan Government is to clear the remaining contamination as soon as possible. In March 2027, the government will be seeking through the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention committees to request an extension. So we will be waiting until that point before we confirm the final date for completion.
Q: What factors are affecting the mine clearing progress?
A: I think Sri Lanka has environmental challenges. We have a wet season and a dry season which can affect mine clearance activity. In the dry season, some areas are incredibly hard because they've been baked during the dry season. So we have to use water to soak that ground. During the wet season, the minefields flood, which prevents us from accessing those areas. So we have to plan carefully which tasks we do in the dry season and which tasks we do in the wet season. Other challenges that we face are in some of the forest areas—we must negotiate with the forest department for gaining access, particularly permissions if we want to use some of our mini or, in the future, micro excavators which leave a very small environmental footprint but will help us make the process safer, more efficient, and quicker. So ensuring that we can get the necessary permissions from the forest department through the government of Sri Lanka—the coordination between the government departments is a key factor. That is also important for our ability to import vehicles and spare parts, which we need to replace some of our ageing and heavily used vehicle fleets, particularly for ambulances where we need four-by-four capability to be able to access some of the jungle tracks to get close to a potential point if we do have somebody injured, to be able to evacuate them safely.
Q: How are unearthed explosives destroyed?
A: We have two methods. One is that we are allowed under Sri Lankan army observation to burn certain types of mines that we are able to lift out of the ground. Our demining operators are trained to remove certain types of mines, particularly the P4, Type 72, and Rangan mines. These need to be carefully identified and manually removed to a point where they can then be taken to a central area. These are plastic mines, so we can use burning as a method to mass-destroy those in a controlled way. The other method is for the tilt mines, which have an anti-handling device, which makes it impossible to physically move those, and other mines. We excavate and identify them, then we request the Sri Lankan Army Humanitarian Demining Unit, who work very closely with us, to bring in their explosive ordnance disposal teams, and they will blow those mines up in a controlled way.
Q: What kind of interaction do you have with the Sri Lankan government?
A: We have a positive working relationship. It is a partnership. We work closely with the government of Sri Lanka. We have regularly scheduled meetings—both technical working groups and operational meetings to focus on operational issues pertinent to the field, then a national steering committee and higher-level group which look at some of the strategic issues, particularly related to inter-governmental department issues where we need the support of other government departments to assist us to achieve completion.
Q: Beyond the immediate removal of physical danger, how does demining change the lives of communities in northern and eastern Sri Lanka? How do you measure the socioeconomic benefits of mine clearance?
A: We have survey teams and community liaison teams that will go out six months after we have finished the clearance of a particular area to engage with beneficiaries and IDPs that have benefited from the return of that land. So we get a clearer picture of the progress for the use of that land. Cleared, safe land is critical to Sri Lanka, and in particular for a number of both government programmes and wider investment opportunities. Another is tourism—people are returning to the northern province more for tourism, and there are increasing opportunities in that sector. We are contributing actively not only to the communities there in terms of agriculture and residential use but also to increasing investment opportunities.
Q: The Government of Sri Lanka has set a target of becoming landmine-free by 2028. From your perspective, how realistic is this goal?
A: That date is no longer realistic. That fact has been recognised in the new revised government of Sri Lanka national mine action completion strategy that was issued last month. While the final date has not yet been confirmed, 1 June 2028 is no longer a realistic date for the completion of the additional areas of new contamination that have been identified. A more challenging fact is whether our international donors will continue to fund us at the same level. What we would really encourage them is to stay with us. The positive thing for all of us here is that Sri Lanka is a success story. We have completion in our sights, and it will provide a really fascinating example of a country that has gone from being one of the most densely mined areas in the world to a point where it is going to be mine-impact-free. And we are getting close to that now. It is a success story for the people of Sri Lanka, the government, our international donors, all the mine operators, and particularly the staff that are out there day in and day out, at significant personal risk, making the land of this country safe and creating opportunities for the future for their families.
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Q: On a personal note, you have been a soldier involved in many conflicts around the world. Now you are doing humanitarian work that involves explosives. What do you feel about these two different worlds?
A: It provides an interesting perspective. I was a professional soldier. I was an officer in the British army for 30 years. I spent almost 50 per cent of my career on operations in high-threat environments around the world. What I have seen is the destructive power of conflict—what it can do to people, to communities, and to countries. Part of the reason I joined the military was to protect people. My work here in Sri Lanka is absolutely about that. It is the mission statement of HALO Trust. I very much see it as the personal reason that I chose to join HALO as a second career. It was to protect people. It was to remove the threat in the post-conflict environment of the explosive remnants of war and to make it safe for people. It is work that, for all the challenges every day and the hard physical and mental work that it demands, particularly for the people on the front line—the deminers—there is a huge amount of satisfaction in seeing safe land and restored communities.