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The Republic of the Gambia was seemingly contaminated by antipersonnel mines as a result of spillover from violence in the Casamance region of Senegal, as evidenced by a December 2007 mine blast in the Gambia’s Western division that killed two children and injured another in Gilanfari, a village on the border with Senegal’s Casamance region.[1] In December 2010 at the Tenth Meeting of States Parties, the Gambia declared that it no longer has mined areas containing antipersonnel mines in areas under its jurisdiction or control.[2]
In its Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 report covering calendar year 2011, the Gambia again reported suspected mined areas on the outskirts of the villages of Gilanfari and Tamba Kunda in the Foni Bintang District, West Coast region. These villages are close to the border with the southern Senegalese region of Casamance.[3]
On 5 December at the Twelfth Meeting of States Parties, the Gambia declared it had cleared all known mined areas and had completed its Article 5 obligations. The Gambia also stated that it would report isolated landmine incidents in the unstable Casamance border region if they occur. [4]
[1] Modou Jonga, “Gambia: 3 Months After Gilanfari Landmine Explosion, No Sign Of De-Mining,” Foroyaa Newspaper (Serrekunda), 7 April 2008, allafrica.com/stories/200804071791.html.
[2] Statement of the Gambia, Tenth Meeting of States Parties, Geneva, 2 December 2010.
[3] Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report (for calendar year 2011), Form C. This mirrored the Gambia’s Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 report, submitted in early 2010, which cited the same area as being mine-suspected. See Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report, Form C, 2010.
[4] Statement of the Gambia, Twelfth Meeting of States Parties, Geneva, 5 December 2012; and Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report (for calendar year 2012), Form C.
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