Contamination and Impact

Mines

Egypt is contaminated with mines and explosive remnants of war (ERW), especially with unexploded ordnance (UXO) from World War II. Most of the battles took place in the area between the Quattara depression and Alamein at the Mediterranean coast. Other affected areas lie around the city of Marsa Matrouh and at Sallum near the Libyan border.[1]

The precise extent of contamination remains unknown. The joint Egypt/UNDP project document of November 2006 referred, improbably, to 2,680km² of contamination, which is almost four times the total estimated area of contamination in Afghanistan.[2] An April 2009 assessment by the UN Mine Action Team (UNMAT) cautioned that accumulated data needed to be carefully analyzed in order to not misrepresent the overall mine problem as well as to avoid reporting areas for demining that had already been cleared.[3]

In August 2010, the Executive Secretariat for the Demining and Development of the North West Coast (Executive Secretariat) reported to donors than the army had destroyed 2.9 million mines while clearing 38km² in five areas, leaving “more than 16 million mines” covering an estimated area of 248km².[4] A government statement reported the existence of a further 5.5 million mines in the Sinai and the Eastern Desert.[5]

The government of Egypt has planned to link mine clearance and development of the northwest coast area. Most projects will require demining support before starting. Population movement and population increases have put increased pressure on land usage, placing an ever-growing number of people close to mined areas.[6] Irrigation projects, a priority for Egypt, have experienced delays because of the need to clear mines and UXO.[7]

Cluster munition remnants and other explosive remnants of war

In October 2009, Egypt reported that three-quarters of ordnance remaining from World War II is ERW, while 2.5% are antipersonnel mines, and 22.5% are antivehicle mines.[8] In addition to World War II ordnance, ERW from armed conflicts between Egypt and Israel in 1956, 1967, and 1973 remain to be cleared, especially in eastern areas (the Sinai Peninsula and Red Sea coast).[9] Egypt is not believed to be contaminated with cluster munition remnants.

The Executive Secretariat’s 2010–2015 risk education (RE) strategy document identified males over 18 years of age as the primary target group for mine/ERW risk education as they represent 94% of all casualties. Most mine accidents occur during herding and farming. Young boys are also an important target group as they frequently help in the fields.[10]

Mine Action Program

Key institutions and operators

In 2000, the Prime Minister issued a decree establishing a National Committee for Supervising Mine Clearance and the Development of the North West Coast (National Committee) to supervise the demining of this area. The National Committee serves as the focal body for the North West Coast Development Plan, approved in October 2005 by the Cabinet of Ministers, and for mine action coordination within the Egyptian government. The committee, chaired by the Minister of International Cooperation, oversees and coordinates mine action activities. The committee consists of 20 ministries, four governorates, and five NGOs.

The “Support to the North West Coast Development Plan and Mine Action Program” between the Ministry of International Cooperation and UNDP was signed in November 2006. This project constituted “Phase I” and focused on the establishment of the Executive Secretariat, the development of a communication and resource mobilization strategy, a pilot demining operation, the introduction of mine/ERW risk education, and a plan for a Phase II.

The mine action program has been stalled since 2009 when Phase I was completed. The start of Phase II covering 2011–2015 was supposed to expand mine clearance operations, facilitate development in the region, strengthen the Executive Secretariat, and mobilize more resources, but was again delayed in 2011 due to lack of funding and political events in Egypt.[11] 

In February 2012, a UNDP consultant redrafted the Phase II project document, but according to the Director of the Executive Secretariat, the draft “is not close to being finalized and requires discussion between UNDP and the Egyptian Government.”[12]

Land Release

Egypt reported the release of 38.73km² in 2006–2009, approximately 13% of the baseline estimate of 248km². Since then, there has been no further release of mined or battle areas.[13]

Summary of land release: November 2006–October 2009 (Phase I)[14]

SHA = suspect hazardous area

Mine clearance in 2011

No mine clearance occurred in 2011, nor was there any clearance in 2010.[15]

Risk Education

To date, only limited and ad hoc mine/ERW risk education (RE) activities have been reported in Egypt in the last 10 years. In 2010, 15,000 students were targeted in coordination with the Ministries of Education and the Environment, the Matrouh governorate, the Egypt State Information Service, and the Hanns Siedle Foundation—an international development agency that has been operating in Egypt since 1978.[16] A second RE school campaign was scheduled to begin in 2012.[17]