mr president today we are appealing to the eu countries who are not currently planning to sign the convention against cluster munitions to do so
cyprus estonia finland greece poland romania slovakia and slovenia alongside eu aspirants serbia and turkey please join the other eu countries and more than a hundred states worldwide in signing this convention
for whom are we making this appeal
for suraj ghulam habib of herat in afghanistan who when six years old lost both his legs when he found a cluster bomb he thought was a kind of food
he now finds it almost impossible to get to school or to play with his friends from within his wheelchair
for mrs chanhthava of sepone district in laos who lost a leg and damaged her sight after she accidentally struck a cluster bomb while working to gather food for her family in the rice fields
she now has to send her daughter out to the same dangerous fields to collect the rice
for the thirteen year-old georgian boy beka giorgishvili who this year whilst at a friend's house became one of the newest victims as he was helping to pump up his friend's new bicycle tyre
beka lost part of his skull and shrapnel remains inside
it is hypocrisy for eu countries to condemn russian aggression in georgia yet fail to condemn the means of that aggression which causes excessive harm to civilians wherever cluster munitions are used
it is also a hollow excuse for countries to seek to justify stockpiling cluster bombs as part of adhering to the landmines ban when cluster munitions are equally deadly and have caused even greater humanitarian damage in the world
my own member state the uk has already started the destruction of some thirty million explosives changed its export control regulations and directly contributed to the clearing of ordnance including cluster munitions in georgia
europe is where these weapons were first used by german and soviet forces in the second world war europe currently stockpiles an estimated one billion bomblets and it is europe which should take the lead in the world in securing their obliteration
