DEMIRA, or DEMIRA Deutsche Minenräumer e.V. (''German mine clearers''), is an international, humanitarian,
non-governmental organization
A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in h ...
(NGO) registered in Germany. DEMIRA was founded in 1996 in order to provide humanitarian mine clearance, EOD (explosive ordnance disposal), as well as emergency medical aid and disaster relief to people living in postwar countries, and to victims of natural disasters and civil unrest.
History
DEMIRA Deutsche Minenräumer e.V. was founded in 1996 by Martin Auracher. The headquarters were based in Munich until his death in 2016. In 2017, Marcia Auracher-Hamzat became executive director of DEMIRA e.V.. The headquarters are located in Sauerlach, German
Operations
DEMIRA has carried out:
* Humanitarian
mine clearance
Demining or mine clearance is the process of removing land mines from an area. In military operations, the object is to rapidly clear a path through a minefield, and this is often done with devices such as mine plows and blast waves. By contra ...
, EOD and destruction of unexploded ordnance (UXO) in
Angola
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Mozambique
Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...
,
Namibia
Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...
, and
Bosnia
Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and He ...
&
Herzegovina
Herzegovina ( or ; sh-Latn-Cyrl, Hercegovina, separator=" / ", Херцеговина, ) is the southern and smaller of two main geographical region of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the other being Bosnia. It has never had strictly defined geogra ...
.
* Provided emergency medical aid and disaster relief after the
tsunami
A tsunami ( ; from ja, 津波, lit=harbour wave, ) is a series of waves in a water body caused by the displacement of a large volume of water, generally in an ocean or a large lake. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and other underwater explo ...
in Sri Lanka, in the earthquake region of Kashmir / Pakistan, during the conflict in Lebanon, in the earthquake region in Java / Indonesia and in the Tohoku region in Japan after it was hit by a tsunami.
* Carried out minefield surveys and assessments in Somaliland, Lebanon, Croatia, Serbia and in Turkey.
* Conducted research and development of multi-sensor technology and mechanical mine clearance in cooperation with the Research Centre of the European Commission in Ispra / Italy, FOERSTER Reutlingen, TNO Netherlands and EMRAD Englan
See also
*
Ottawa Treaty
The Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction of 1997, known informally as the Ottawa Treaty, the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention, or often simply the Mine ...
*
List of mine clearance agencies
A mine clearance organization, or demining organization, is an organization involved in the removal of landmines and unexploded ordnance (UXO) for military, humanitarian, or commercial reasons. Demining includes mine clearance (actual removal and d ...
External links
*
*
Organizations established in 1996
Mine warfare and mine clearance organizations
Charities based in Germany
Non-profit organisations based in Bavaria
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