Give children like Caneeoav a safe future

Nowhere is safe. Not even home.

Ismail and his family fled from their village in Sinjar district, Iraq, when the conflict with ISIS made it too dangerous for them to stay. Displaced and unable to return they sought safety but instead they found new dangers.

Landmines were found around the house Ismail and his family settled in. Caneeoav, Ismail’s two-year-old son, had been playing within metres of the dangerous bombs.

Ismail said: “The children found a landmine inside a water-tank near our house. We told the children not to go there.”

Once, not understanding the danger they were facing, some of the children hit a landmine with a hammer. They thought they could break it down and sell it for scrap metal. They were lucky and the bomb didn’t go off, sadly this isn’t always the case.

MAG’s team came and cleared the home of landmines and unexploded bombs, giving the family somewhere safe to stay. Now Caneeoav, his siblings and cousins can play safely around the house. The family still yearns for home, but their village is too dangerous and has been destroyed by the conflict.

“We would like to return again but there are dangers and mines inside our houses. We are too afraid to return.” - Ismail

A gift of £40 today could help save a child like Caneeoav from a hidden landmine. Will you donate today?

For many other families in Iraq landmines are a daily threat. They are still in danger unable to return home.

These landmines are sensitive enough to be triggered by a child’s footstep, but powerful enough to rip apart a car. Together we must find every landmine - before a child does.