Description
A common path for forced migrants to walk on to get to Bosnia and Herzegovina is the Balkan Route. In 1999, this route was subjected to a cluster bombing by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). This left thousands of landmines, cluster, weapons, and unexploded ordnances (UXOs) – that is, artillery shells designed to explode upon impact, such as hand grenades, mortar rounds, and other live aerial explosives. According to the International Organization for Migration, approximately 130,000 out of 180,000 UXOS in the region have been removed. But this still leaves thousands of unmapped UXOs in Bosnia and Herzegovina along the Balkan Route. To deal with these UXOs, the European Union developed an initiative called the Bosnia and Herzegovina Mine Action Centre (BiH MAC). Their goal was to map the remaining landmines in the region. Unfortunately, not all landmines can be mapped. Also, not all maps can be easily updated unless people are actively on site and see a suspicious object that could be a UXO.
To mitigate this, the BiH MAC developed an app called BiH Mine Suspected Area. This app allowed ordinary citizens to input possible locations of UXOs. They can take a picture of the UXOs with a mobile phone and upload it to the app, and use the app to call for help. Once the UXO’s location is recorded, people with proper training in identifying landmines will decide whether to add the new mine to the map. This app also interfaces with Google Maps, allowing users to get notifications that will alert them if they are in the proximity of a UXO. But since not everyone wants to be tracked, the app does not collect user data.
Over time, the app has shifted from just citizens to include the increasing number of tourists who visit BiH and forced migrants crossing the Balkan Route. It gives users a warning of mine suspected areas, allowing people to plan ahead to avoid and navigate around known risks. Prior to this app, forced migrants could only know of UXO locations and how to identify UXOs if they had reached processing centers. They will only receive the training if they get to these centers, but now they will have a way to get life-saving information while being on the move.
Connection To Mobile Networked Creativity
Mobile Networked Creativity is about people coming together, using existing technology to connect with resources in a particular social space. While most are small grassroot examples, they can still be larger groups of people, like the BiH Mine app. This app entails a collaborative effort among several stakeholders, such as the locals, the European Union Force (EUFOR), the Norwegian People’s Aid, and the United Nations Development Program. Despite the stakeholders, its core goal is the same as any other small example: working together to use existing technologies to address a community’s needs, or in this case, it was about giving people the ability to ensure safe mobility through different areas.
Mobile Networked Creativity is about people coming together, using existing technology to connect with resources in a particular social space. While most are small grassroot examples, they can still be larger groups of people, like the BiH Mine app. This app entails a collaborative effort among several stakeholders, such as the locals, the European Union Force (EUFOR), the Norwegian People’s Aid, and the United Nations Development Program. Despite the stakeholders, its core goal is the same as any other small example: working together to use existing technologies to address a community’s needs, or in this case, it was about giving people the ability to ensure safe mobility through different areas.
Location
Bosnia and Herzegovina
To Learn More
- Donnie Sackey et al., “Perspectives on Cultural Rhetorics & Posthumanism: A Symposium,” Rhetoric Review 38, no. 4 (October 2, 2019): 375–401.
- Emma Wallis, “Migrants Warned of Dangers of Landmines on Balkan Route,” InfoMigrants, August 11, 2021.
- IOM, “Migrants Warned of Dangers of Land Mines on the Balkan Route,” International Organization for Migration, August 10, 2021.
- Mine Action Review, “Bosnia and Herzegovina: Article 5 Deadline,” 2019.
- News Brief, “Landmines in Croatia Pose Threat to Incoming Refugees,” The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction 19, no. 3 (December 1, 2015).