Thursday 6November, 2014:Heroes tackling Lebanon’s deadly bomb legacy are at the heart of amajor new exhibition opening in Beirut this month.Running from 6 till 12 November, IMPACT celebrates the men and women ofhumanitarian charity MAG (Mines Advisory Group), and their work to clear the deadly weapons and bombs left behind after war in Lebanon.
Bekim Shala, MAG Lebanon Country Director, commented:“This reportage is about the courage of the men and women fighting against these lethal and indiscriminate remnants of war, who have made their country a safer place for the next generation. “They are the heroes and heroines that have saved so many lives”.
The exhibition is being staged at the West Hall of the Beirut Symposium and features theaward-winning images of conflict photographer,Sean Sutton who first visited Lebanon with MAG in 2002. Spanning 12 years of war and recovery, his images document the impact of MAG’s work and the terrible effect of cluster munitions on Lebanon – one of the most contaminated countries in the world.
“It has been amazing to witness the changes in Lebanon enabled by the work of ordinary, but in many ways, extraordinary people,” says Sean. “Villages that were piles of rubble seeded with the lethal remnants of war are now thriving communities”, he continued.
Sharing a Nobel Peace Prize for its global work, MAG has been in Lebanon since 2000, clearing landmines and other dangerous, explosive items.In 2006, MAG responded to the aftermath of the 34 day conflict, providing emergency clearance from the day of the ceasefire.
“The contamination after the 2006 war was extraordinary,” says Sean. “In the worst-affected communities such as the village of Yokmour, the teams were finding up to 50 unexploded bombs in and around each house. People could not go home or begin to rebuild until the land had been made safe”, he continued.
Between August 2006 and December 2013 MAG has cleared over 17.1 million square meters of land in Lebanon for communities to access their homes, grow crops for market, and return to normal life. In 2013 alone, MAG’s work benefitted 80,579 men, women and children in Lebanon