Contamination and Impact

Mines

Western Sahara is significantly contaminated with mines as a result of earlier armed conflict between the government of Morocco and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Saguía el Hamra and Río de Oro (Polisario). A berm (defensive earthen wall) of more than 2,000km in length was built during conflict in the 1980s, and remained after the 1991 cease-fire between Morocco and Polisario. Moroccan troops laid antipersonnel and antivehicle mines in and around the berms. According to the British NGO Action on Armed Violence (AOAV), Western Sahara is one of the most heavily mined territories in the world.[1]

An AOAV-managed survey concluded at the end of 2008 covering the area east of the berm identified 37 mined areas; an additional mined area was identified in 2010.[2] The total suspected mined area covered 134km² as of March 2011.[3] Further survey is still required in the 5km buffer zone on the east of the berm. Available information has indicated that the areas around the berm are the most seriously affected, although mines have also been laid around settlements and have been reported in and around waterholes, well-used roads and paths.[4]

As of mid-June 2012, AOAV was working on the first of the 38 confirmed mined areas. This “nuisance” mined area is estimated to cover 74km² and clearance was expected to take at least one year. With existing capacity, clearance was estimated by AOAV to require more than 20 years of work.[5]

Cluster munition remnants

There remains a significant problem of cluster munition remnants in Western Sahara, although clearance was expected to be completed by the end of 2012. As of mid-June 2012, a total of 23 cluster munition strike sites remained to be cleared from an estimated area of 3.88km².[6] AOAV had identified three previously unrecorded areas as recently as 4 June.[7] The AOAV-managed survey determined that unexploded submunitions pose the greatest threat to people and animals.[8]

Other explosive remnants of war

There is also contamination from many other explosive remnants of war (ERW). The AOAV-managed survey found one area containing unused ammunition and identified 433 spot clearance tasks.[9] Of these, 233 explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) spot tasks had been completed as of March 2011.[10] The remainder (outside the buffer zone close to the berm) were cleared by the end of 2011.[11]

Mine Action Program

The UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) manages a Mine Action Coordination Center (MACC),[12] which was upgraded from a mine action “cell” in February 2008.

Land Release

Land release is conducted by Polisario and local staff under the supervision of AOAV in areas of Western Sahara east of the berm. AOAV conducted only battle area clearance (BAC) and EOD in 2011, as it did the two previous years.[13] It uses only manual clearance techniques.[14] In the first six months of 2011, AOAV worked with three BAC teams and one EOD team for a total of four teams. Following a new contract with the UN in October 2011, it changed into three teams, two multipurpose teams for minefield clearance and one BAC team.[15]

Release of cluster munition contaminated areas in 2011

In 2011, AOAV cleared 72 cluster strike areas through visual subsurface and instrument-assisted clearance, over a total area of 7.8km². A total of 3,814 submunitions were destroyed, of which 1,748 were BLU 63, 1,022 were MK-118 Rockeyes, and 1,044 were M42 submunitions.[16] In 2010, AOAV cleared 75 cluster-munition-contaminated areas over some 2km².[17]

Clearance of cluster munition remnants in 2011[18]

Quality management

AOAV uses its own standing operating procedures, working in accordance with a memorandum of understanding (MOU) it signed with MINURSO and in accordance with a contract of work for the UN Mine Action Service (through the UN Office for Project Services), as well as in accordance with a MOU with Polisario.[19] BAC quality management is conducted by the AOAV operations officer, the technical advisor, and the chief of operations, as well as by MINURSO.[20] The MACC operations/quality assurance officer visits AOAV teams every two weeks and conducts quality assurance/quality control of their operations.[21]

Demining accidents

One AOAV deminer was killed in an accident on 19 June 2011.[22]

Casualty Overview

In 2011, Landmine and Cluster Munition Monitor identified 11 mine/explosive remnants of war (ERW) casualties in Western Sahara.[1] Where details were available, the casualties included one boy and one girl.[2] Three casualties were military personnel injured in Moroccan-controlled Western Sahara (west of the berm[3]). A deminer was killed while clearing unexploded ordnance in Polisario[4]-controlled Western Sahara (east of the berm).[5] Two additional civilian casualties occurred in Polisario-controlled Western Sahara, both of whom were injured, and five civilian casualties (one killed, four injured) occurred in Moroccan-controlled Western Sahara. One casualty from a cluster munition remnant was identified, a four-year old girl who was injured in Polisario-controlled Western Sahara while herding goats with her cousins.[6]

The 11 casualties identified in 2011 represented a significant decrease from the 25 casualties reported in 2010, though casualty data is not comprehensive and therefore insufficient to determine clear casualty trends.[7]

The total number of mine/ERW casualties in Western Sahara is not known, though it has been estimated there were some 2,500 since 1975.[8] In 2012, Morocco reported 2,482 mine/ERW casualties, 824 persons killed and 1,658 injured, from 1975 to the end of 2011; it was unknown how many of these occurred in Morocco versus Moroccan-controlled Western Sahara.[9] As of May 2012, the Saharawi Association of Landmine Victims (ASAVIM) had collected detailed information on 884 mine/ERW and cluster munition victims as well as other war victims with disabilities in and around the Rabouni refugee camps on the Algerian border with Western Sahara.[10]

At least 10 casualties from unexploded submunitions incidents were recorded between 1998 and 2011.[11]

Victim Assistance

From 1975 to the end of 2011, Morocco has reported a total of 1,658 mine/ERW survivors.[12] While these figures did not specify casualties that occurred in Morocco, it is likely that most occurred in Moroccan-controlled Western Sahara. However, this figure did not include the many casualties in Polisario-controlled Western Sahara.[13] As of May 2012, ASAVIM had collected data on 884 war victims with disabilities in Polisario-controlled Western Sahara; most were mine/ERW survivors.[14]

Victim Assistance since 1999

Victim assistance in Polisario-controlled Western Sahara, extremely limited since monitoring began in 1999, is worsened by the fact that most survivors live in extreme poverty in refugee camps. A lack of public transportation in the region made it very difficult for survivors to access the limited services available. With the start of the Action on Armed Violence (AOAV) mine/ERW clearance program in 2006, AOAV began providing emergency aid and transportation in Polisario-controlled Western Sahara to complement a similar service provided by the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) in Moroccan-controlled Western Sahara. However, given the vast and remote territory, emergency response and transportation remained inadequate.

The Cheid Cherif National Center for Mine and War Victims consistently provided basic medical care for war victims, including landmine survivors. The center also offered vocational training programs (when funding allowed) though demand for services consistently exceeded supply. All medical services in refugee camps were free but facilities lacked adequately trained staff and resources. Rehabilitation and prosthetics improved in 2008 with the start of an ICRC-supported program; before this, obtaining access to physical rehabilitation was virtually impossible as no services were available for those living in nearby refugee camps. There was an acute lack of economic opportunities for survivors and psychological support in the camps was insufficient to address the needs of the population. ASAVIM was founded in 2005 to collect information about survivors and their needs, refer survivors to available services, and advocate on their behalf. There was no government coordination of victim assistance by Morocco or the Polisario government but there was regular coordination between the Cheid Cherif Center and ASAVIM.

Victim Assistance in 2011

As in previous years, there were few changes to the overall accessibility or quality of services and assistance to landmine survivors. Access to all services continued to be very limited but particularly in the areas of economic reintegration and psychosocial support, which was not even recognized as a need. International technical and financial assistance for victim assistance, already limited, decreased as the ICRC Special Fund for the Disabled ceased providing support to the rehabilitation center in Laâyoune, in Morocco-controlled Western Sahara. However, the ICRC continued to provide important support to the Rabouni rehabilitation center, serving Saharawi refugees from Polasario-controlled Western Sahara.

Assessing victim assistance needs

No efforts were made by Morocco in 2011 to assess survivor needs. In February 2012, ASAVIM, with support from the Polisario government and AOAV, launched a survivors’ needs assessment in Polisario-controlled Western Sahara that was completed in May 2012. Through workshops held at the end of May 2012, the results of the survey were shared with representatives of the Polisario government, including the ministries of social affairs, health, education and cooperation, survivors, the ICRC, and other international organizations such as the Spanish Red Cross, UNHCR and MINURSO, in order to improve victim assistance planning, coordination and the provision of services. Following the workshops, the ICRC sought further cooperation with the survey team to improve outreach to survivors.[15]

Victim assistance coordination and survivor inclusion

Western Sahara does not have any official victim assistance coordination or planning. ASAVIM coordinated regularly with the Cheid Cherif Center and with relevant Polisario government institutions to connect survivors to available services.[16] ASAVIM was involved in the design and the implementation of the ongoing needs assessment; members of ASAVIM were trained to interview other survivors and collect data.[17]

Service accessibility and effectiveness

Victim assistance activities[18]

MINURSO staff provided emergency response following mine incidents in Moroccan-controlled Western Sahara, while AOAV provided the same service in Polisario-controlled Western Sahara.[19] However, as in previous years, it was reported in 2011 that emergency response times for people involved in mine/ERW incidents in remote areas could be several hours or even days, resulting in some casualties dying from their wounds before receiving medical attention.[20] Morocco reported having modern medical facilities where survivors could access services for free.[21]

Throughout 2011, demand for services in the Cheid Cherif Center exceeded supply and the center lacked necessary medicines and other supplies. Necessary maintenance and expansion to the physical infrastructure was postponed due to a lack of funds, estimated to cost approximately US$5,000. No vocational training programs could be offered, as had been provided in some previous years, also due to insufficient funds for space to accommodate the program within in the center.[22]

Physical rehabilitation services continued to be available through the ICRC-run Rabouni Rehabilitation Center within Cheid Cherif Center, serving refugee populations in Polisario-controlled Western Sahara. While the ICRC established a referral network with area hospitals and increased outreach visits to refugee camps to identify beneficiaries, the number of survivors receiving prosthetics and other physical rehabilitation services in the Center remained similar to 2010 levels.[23]

Psychological assistance was available through the Rabouni hospital, but survivors were unaware of such services and reported a complete absence of either psychological support or social reintegration programs.[24]

A limited number of vocation training and income generating programs were available to refugees in the Rabouni area through the Polisario government and international organizations, including some targeting persons with disabilities.[25] However, survivors based in refugee camps reported a lack of knowledge about such programs.[26]

Survivors in Moroccan-controlled Western Sahara were entitled to financial assistance from the Moroccan government; however it was estimated that some 15% of survivors lacked the documentation needed to access this assistance which was deemed insufficient to meet basic needs.[27] Morocco also reported having government programs for the economic and social reinsertion of these survivors.[28]

In 2011, the government in Polisario-controlled Western Sahara provided limited financial assistance, in the form of a pension, to persons with severe disabilities, including mine/ERW survivors.[29]

There is no existing legislation in Polisario-controlled Western Sahara protecting the rights of mine/ERW victims or persons with disabilities. In 2011, ASAVIM advocated for the introduction of such legislation.[30]

Support for Mine Action

Western Sahara receives support for mine action from international governments and from the UN General Assembly funds for mine action as part of the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) peacekeeping operation. Since 2007, funding for mine action through MINURSO (US$3,578,450) has accounted for 42% of all mine action funding for Western Sahara. In 2011, peacekeeping assessed funds for mine action were $1,745,300 (54% of the budget).

In 2011, in addition to these contributions, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, and Switzerland contributed a total of almost US$1.5 million towards clearance and risk education activities in Western Sahara.[1]

International contributions in 2011[2]

Summary of international contributions in 2007–2011[3]