A memorial ceremony was held for the FSD fallen comrade Mr. Dominique Morin “Momo” on Thursday, 13th May at 4.00pm at the UN compound, 202-204 Bauddhaloka Mawatha, Colombo 07 and was attended by around 60 individuals from Ministry of Economic Development, High Commissions, UN organizations and INGOs.

Momo was killed tragically by an uncontrolled explosion during routine operations in Kakkayankulam West in GN Division in Mannar District on Monday, 10 May 2010. He was dealing with an item of unexploded ordnance which inadvertently exploded. Momo was immediately transferred to Vavuniya hospital where he subsequently died from his injuries. On the same day, 13th, the body of Dominique Morin was repatriated to his wife Mrs. Murielle Morin in France where he was laid to rest over by his family and friends upon the funeral activity.

Dominique was born in Falaise in France on 17th July 1955. He joined the French Navy in 1972 as an operator for Navy commando unit “TREPEL” and was promoted up to Deputy Operational Officer. During his 28 years tenure in Navy he specialised in submarine clearance operation & maritime counter terrorism, demilitariasation of ammunitions/mines, conception & remote dislocation of improvised items and combat diving. He has vast experience in working for many years as a Technical Advisor in different demining agencies in a variety of countries, such as, Democratic Republic of Congo, Lebanon, Albania, Iraq, Sudan, Lao, Guinea Bissau, Tajikistan and Sri Lanka and spared no effort to assist in clearing land from the deadly threat of landmines and explosive remnants of war. He has trained hundreds of national deminers and protected them from accidents by his very professional training and supervision.

FSD’s operations in Mannar, Vavuniya and Mullaitivu are aimed at facilitating the safe return and resettlement of over 55,000 IDPs where some of them have already returned during the land release process. Momo unselfishly sacrificed his family time, personal career advancement opportunities, and eventually life while engaged in humanitarian mine clearance activities that would brighten the lives of vulnerable communities in Sri Lanka at the end.

Mr. Neil Buhne, Resident Coordinator of United Nations in Sri Lanka and the Ambassador of France in Sri Lanka Her Excellency Madame Christine Robichon conveyed their condolences during the memorial ceremony.

“Momo was thoroughly professional in everything that he did and was very strict with himself as well as the teams he was responsible for. If you ever had the chance to visit ‘his’ minefields then you would have seen a 100% dedication to perfection in his approach and execution. He put the safety of his staff as an absolute priority” stated Mr. Nigel Robinson, Programme Manager of FSD in Sri Lanka.

The Senior National Supervisor, Mr. Rajinikanth briefed that it was a privilege to work under such an expert like Momo. He further explained that the team could learn a lot from Momo and the memories with him will never die. “Thinking of Momo is his big smile”

There is a danger for us all that the demining sector can be distilled down to statistics of ‘square meters’, mines destroyed, etc or to proposals, spreadsheets and presentations, but let us please remember that there are real people out there, like Momo and his colleagues, who are every day on the humanitarian front line achieving extraordinary things in the most trying of circumstances.

The memorial ceremony was drawn to a close with a one minute silence to remember Momo’s life of dedication and service to other people.

FSD appreciates the presence of all the participants at the ceremony while thanking the enormous support rendered particularly by UNDP, French embassy to Sri Lanka and the colleagues at the FSD Headquarters in Geneva during this difficult time.