Contamination and Impact

The Arab Republic of Egypt is contaminated with mines and explosive remnants of war (ERW), especially unexplored 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.

The precise extent of contamination remains unknown and no credible estimate for mine contamination has yet been provided. 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.[1]

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.[2] This appears to be confusing mines and UXO. A government statement reported the existence of a further 5.5 million “mines” in the Sinai and the Eastern Desert.[3]

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. Irrigation projects, a priority for Egypt, have experienced delays because of the need to clear mines and UXO.

Mine Action Program

There does not appear to be a functioning mine action program in Egypt, although nominally an Executive Secretariat has been created at the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation to serve as a coordination unit between civilian Egyptian government departments, the military, and civil society, with the support of UNDP in a project due to end in 2014.[4]

All clearance to date has been performed by the Egyptian Army. No results have been publicly reported over recent years.

In April 2013, a contract was agreed for Egypt to purchase an Armtrac 400 mine-clearance vehicle from the United Kingdom. The contract is said to be worth US$1.2 million.[5]