Contamination and Impact

Overall Mine Action Performance: AVERAGE[1]

Mines

The Republic of Yemen is contaminated with mines from a series of conflicts dating back five decades (in 1962–1969, 1970–1983, and in 1994) but instability and conflict in the last three years have added significant new contamination. Mines were laid in border areas between North and South Yemen before they unified in 1990, and again in the 1994 internal conflict.[2] The precise extent of contamination remaining is, though, unclear.

A Landmine Impact Survey (LIS) completed in 2000 identified suspected hazardous areas (SHAs) containing mines and explosive remnants of war (ERW) covering an estimated 922km² and affecting 592 mine villages across 18 of Yemen’s 21 governorates. Yemen’s first Article 5 deadline extension request stated in 2008 that 710km² had been released and 457 areas covering 213km² remained to be “addressed.”[3]

However, additional mine contamination resulted from the 2010 insurgency in northern Sada’a governorate led by Abdul Malik al-Houthi[4] and the 2011 insurgency around southern Abyan by militants belonging to Ansar al-Sharia, linked to al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.[5] The Yemen Executive Mine Action Centre (YEMAC) reported that insurgents in Sada’a had laid homemade mines, later clearing some but missing others.[6] In 2011, under former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, Yemen’s Republican Guard reportedly laid thousands of mines in the Bani Jarmoz area near Sana’a. The number of mines and the extent of the area affected remain to be determined. Information provided to YEMAC by local inhabitants in February 2014 suggested 25 villages were affected.[7]

Official data on the extent of mine contamination is inconsistent. Yemen’s March 2013 Article 7 transparency report claimed that 20 of Yemen’s 21 governorates are affected by antipersonnel and antivehicle mines and that 417km² of possible contamination remained, a quarter more than the previous year and almost double the extent of the threat reported in 2008. This included a total of 61km² where work had been suspended and 169km² where work was said to be still “ongoing.” The report said a further 200km² had been “left” for later survey or clearance.[8]

 In December 2013, Yemen’s second Article 5 deadline extension request identified 107 confirmed mined areas covering some 8km² and 438 SHAs covering a further 338km².[9] It added it had still to survey the governorates of Amran, Hajjah, and Sana’a.[10] Then in March 2014 YEMAC reported 106 CMAs covering 7.2km² and SHAs affected by antipersonnel mines covering 132km² from a total SHA of 294km². The total included 22km² of area contaminated by antivehicle mines.[11]

Cluster munition remnants

YEMAC reported it had identified 43 areas amounting to 22km² contaminated by cluster munition remnants in Sada’a governorate in 2012 and 2013 and said it had cleared 3.7km² of it. But it also believes there are cluster munitions affected areas in northwestern Hajjah governorate which it has so far been unable to survey due to insecurity.[12]

Amnesty International reported the presence of unexploded BLU-97 submunitions in June 2010 which it alleged originated from a United States (US) cruise missile attack on 17 December 2009 on the community of al-Ma’jalah in the Abyan area in south Yemen.[13]

Mine Action Program

Yemen established a National Mine Action Committee (NMAC) in June 1998 by prime ministerial decree to formulate policy, allocate resources, and develop a national mine action strategy.[14] NMAC, chaired by the Minister of State (a member of the cabinet), brings together representatives of seven concerned ministries.

YEMAC was established in Sana’a in January 1999 as NMAC’s implementing body with responsibility for coordinating mine action in the country.[15] It is supported by a Regional Executive Mine Action Branch (REMAB) and a National Training Center in Aden also set up in 1999 and another REMAB in al-Mukalla (Hadramout governorate) was added in March 2004. REMABs are responsible for field implementation of the national mine action plan.

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) started a program to support YEMAC in May 1999, switching from UN execution to national implementation in October 2003. In March 2013, UNDP embarked on a new US$10 million, four-year program of support, returning to “direct implementation” and providing an international technical advisor to work with NMAC and YEMAC to develop a national strategy, set priorities, and define national standards. The project document states: “the existing YEMAC technical, operational and financial resources require significant realignment to effectively respond to the challenges of mine action during the next six years: 2014–2019.”[16]

Strategic planning

In March 2008, YEMAC developed a strategic plan for April 2009 through September 2014, within the period it sought in its first Article 5 deadline extension request.[17] In December 2013, Yemen applied for a second five-year extension until 2019, identifying remaining mined area for clearance at 8.14km². The request foresees clearance of more than 1.6km² of mined area a year between June 2014 and May 2019 and allows another year for clearing any additional hazards identified during the extension period. The request identifies total expenditure of more than US$65 million over the five years, equivalent to more than $13 million a year, compared with average annual expenditure of less than $2 million over the past five years.

YEMAC’s 2014 work plan calls for clearance of a total of 2.36km² of ERW-affected areas, including 1,77km² of mine-affected land. It makes no reference to non-technical survey but sets a target of conducting technical survey on areas totaling 38.27km².[18]

Land Release

YEMAC reported releasing a total of 7.2km² in 2013, more than double the area released in 2012. Release through mine clearance was of 1.16km², a 44% drop on the previous year, and some 6km² of battle area clearance,[19] destroying in the process some 440 submunitions. Operations in 2013 were severely constrained by shortage of funds and by insecurity, factors that have carried over into 2014.[20]

Mine and battle area clearance in 2013[21]

Mine clearance in 2013 was conducted mainly in Amran, Hadramout, and Ibb governorates. YEMAC has around 1,000 staff, including 558 field operations personnel operating in six manual demining teams and three mine detection dog teams, as well as 12 technical survey teams and eight explosive ordnance disposal teams. Plans for expansion were constrained by lack of funds.

YEMAC reported conducting non-technical survey in two districts of Abyan in 2013 (Zinjibar and Khanfar) identifying 61 SHAs affected by mines and ERW covering a total of 126km² and affecting 37 villages. It said it did not cancel any land as a result of non-technical survey in 2013.[22] UNDP said technical survey was conducted over an area of 65.4km² in 2013, resulting in 58km² being “reduced” and 7.4km² marked as minefield.[23]

In March 2014, YEMAC said it suspended all clearance operations because of delays in receiving funding pledged by donors.[24] However, it was able to deploy a technical survey team and a clearance team to the area of Bani Jarmoz north of the capital Sana’a to begin demining of areas around 25 villages in two districts affected by mines emplaced by the Republican Guard in 2011.[25]

Clearance has slowed considerably during the last five years.

Mine and battle area clearance in 2009–2013 (km²)

N/R = not reported

Article 5 Compliance

Under Article 5 of the Mine Ban Treaty (and in accordance with the five-year extension granted by States Parties in 2008), Yemen is required to destroy all antipersonnel mines in mined areas under its jurisdiction or control as soon as possible, but not later than 1 March 2015.

In December 2013, Yemen submitted a request for a second five-year extension until 1 March 2020. The request foresees clearance of 8km² of confirmed mined areas at a rate of 1.6km² a year for five years through 2019, leaving the final year for tackling additional mined areas identified during the extension period.[26] It also reported 438 SHAs covering 338km² and says YEMAC has yet to survey significant areas of suspected contamination in Amran, Hajjah, and Sana’a provinces.[27]

The request, however, raised concerns. Contamination data was not consistent with information provided in Yemen’s 2013 Article 7 report. The request foresees expenditure of US$65 million, averaging over $13 million a year, more than triple recent levels of support available to mine action in Yemen. Further, Yemen states in the request that many of its objectives are “based on speculation of what will be identified” during non-technical and technical survey and offered to provide yearly updates on the progress of survey.[28] Yemen officials acknowledged the financial constraints on operations and described the request as an interim document to give it time to more clearly define the remaining contamination.[29]

Among comments on the request at the Standing Committee meetings in Geneva in April 2014, Norway expressed its wish for a revised extension request containing more precise information.[30] The ICBL, noting inconsistencies between data presented in Yemen’s 2013 Article 7 report and the extensio n request, called on Yemen to conduct a comprehensive review of data and submit a revised request in 2014 or by early 2015.[31]

Support for Mine Action

Yemen reported receiving US$4.96 million in 2013, mostly from UNDP, of which $492,000 was carried forward into 2014. YEMAC planning was based on a budget of $7.2 million in 2014 but said it would adjust the plan according to funds received.[32]

Funding 2013[33]

Recommendations

·         Yemen, with technical support, should audit and rationalize its data on ERW contamination and provide a summary document setting out as of the end of 2013 the extent of confirmed and suspected mined areas by governorate.

·         Using cleaned-up data and realistic projections, a revised extension request should be submitted as soon as possible.

·         Yemen should adopt terminology consistent with international mine action standards.