"Landmines are weapons that kill and maim indiscriminately, whether it be civilians, soldiers, elderly people, women, children or animals. They cause injury and death long after the official end of a war. Contrary to trends in the rest of the world, rather than reduce or abolish the use of landmines, the SPDC has actually increased production of anti-personnel landmines and at least in the case of the Burma-Bangladesh border, is actively maintaining minefields. In Asia, Burma is currently second only to Afghanistan in the number of new landmine victims, surpassing even Cambodia. The SPDC has not signed the Mine Ban Treaty and abstained from the 1999 UN General Assembly vote on the treaty, saying, ?A sweeping ban on landmines is unnecessary and unjustified. The problem is the indiscriminate use of mines, as well as the transfer of them.” Although the SPDC is not known to export landmines, mines from China, Israel, Italy, Russia and the United States have been found planted inside Burma, indicating past or present importation of them. By their own admission, accepting transferred (imported) landmines makes them part of the problem..."