The new Trump administration policy leads the US further from joining the international consensus against the development, production, and use of antipersonnel landmines.

Over the past twenty years, the world has rejected antipersonnel landmines through the Mine Ban Treaty – to which 164 countries are States Parties, including every other member of NATO. This new landmine policy sets the US apart from its allies and has drawn international condemnation.

The US Campaign to Ban Landmines urges the US to align itself with its allies and the international community in taking steps to join the Mine Ban Treaty. The U.S. has refrained from using antipersonnel landmines since 1991, including on the Korean Peninsula, in large part due to the stigma against landmines created by the broadly ratified Mine Ban Treaty. U.S. accession to the Mine Ban Treaty would help to convince the other countries not yet party to join, strengthening the norm against antipersonnel mines, thereby ensuring they are not used in the future and create no additional humanitarian and socioeconomic harm.  

As a signal of its support, the U.S. should stop abstaining and start voting in favor of the annual non-binding United Nations General Assembly resolution promoting universalization and implementation of the Mine Ban Treaty.