Kosovo - The Hidden Enemy - Part One

This film was made by Spike Productions in 2004.

"Kosovo: The Hidden Enemy" follows Arthur and his team as they respond to reports from farmers and rural communities still finding anti-personnel mines and cluster bombs scattered across their land. We witness the horrific consequences for children, particularly vulnerable when playing in the woodlands and fields that surround their towns and villages, and see the overwhelming scale of the task faced by MAT and other agencies. It is estimated that if no more landmines were laid, it would still take 1,000 years to rid the world of those already armed and planted in the ground.

Endret Hyseni was just seven when his life was changed forever by a landmine, hidden in the woodland behind the family home. The explosive charge tore Endret's leg from his body and today he is wheelchair-bound and struggling to come to terms with the changes in his young life. In Kosovo, the unemployment rate stands at an astonishing 80% of the population fit to work, leaving Endret's future even more bleak and uncertain as his chances of securing work are next to none.

Cluster bombs dropped by NATO forces present an equally impossible task for the teams of brave individuals risking their own lives to make safe vast swathes of the countryside. Just one BLU cluster canister contains 202 'bomblets' designed to rain down on the enemy and cause utter destruction. Highly effective in their destructive power these cluster bombs unfortunately suffer from a high failure rate, leaving up to 25% of the 'bomblets' unexploded and fully armed. For the teams sent to clear them they present a particularly dangerous prospect as they are known to explode at even the slightest disturbance.

This is an informative and high-impact programme that reveals another aspect of the mighty challenge facing the people of Kosovo in their attempts to return to normality and safety. It further highlights the urgent need for the international community to abandon and outlaw all forms of landmine, cluster and associated weaponry that kill and maim indiscriminately for decades after conflicts end.