United Arab Emirates

Last Updated: 05 October 2012

Mine Ban Policy

Mine ban policy overview

Mine Ban Treaty status

Not a State Party

Pro-mine ban UNGA voting record

Voted in favor of Resolution 66/29 in December 2011 and all previous pro-ban resolutions since 1996

Participation in Mine Ban Treaty meetings

Attended the Eleventh Meeting of States Parties in December 2011, and the intersessional meetings in May 2012

Policy

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has not acceded to the Mine Ban Treaty, although it has on occasion expressed interest in joining. In November 2007, a UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs official told the ICBL that the UAE planned to join the treaty in the near future.[1]

The UAE attended the Eleventh Meeting of States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty in Phnom Penh in November–December 2011 as an observer, as well as the intersessional Standing Committee meetings in Geneva in May 2012, but did not make any statements at either event.

Use, production, transfer, and stockpiling

The UAE has stated that it has not produced, used, or exported antipersonnel mines.[2] While some officials have said that the UAE does not have a stockpile of antipersonnel mines, the Monitor has received conflicting information from another governmental source.[3]

The UAE is party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) and has adopted CCW Protocol V on explosive remnants of war, but not Amended Protocol II on landmines.

 



[1] Interview with Abdallah al-Naqbi, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, at the Mine Ban Treaty Eighth Meeting of States Parties, Dead Sea, Jordan, 22 November 2007.

[2] Ibid.

[3] The Secretary of Defense stated in September 2004 there were no stockpiles. Email from Amb. Satnam Jit Singh, Diplomatic Advisor, ICBL, 7 October 2004. This was also claimed in a presentation by Ali al-Hosni, UAE military officer, at the Workshop on the Risks of Landmines and Explosive Remnants of War (ERW), Sharjah, 8–9 December 2003, organized by the Arab Network for Research on Landmines and ERW. In 2006, an official who asked not to be identified told the ICBL that there were some stockpiles of antipersonnel mines.