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United Kingdom

Last Updated: 18 October 2010

Mine Action

Contamination and Impact

Mines

The United Kingdom is affected by antipersonnel mines by virtue of its control and assertion of full sovereignty over the Falkland Islands/Malvinas,[1] which were contaminated during the armed conflict between the UK and Argentina in 1982. The conflict resulted in many thousands of antipersonnel and antivehicle mines being laid on the Falkland Islands/Malvinas, most by Argentina. The UK has reported that 117 mined areas remain, covering a total area of some 13km2 and containing “just over” 20,000 mines.[2] Of these areas, 113 are minefields totaling 7.35km2 and the other four (5.78km2) are only suspected of containing mines.[3]

No human casualties from mines or UXO have been reported in the Falkland Islands/Malvinas since 1984. The UK has reported that six military personnel were injured in 1982 and a further two injured in 1983. Most military accidents took place while clearing the minefields in the immediate aftermath of the 1982 conflict or in the process of trying to establish the extent of the minefield perimeters, particularly where no detailed records existed.

No civilian mine casualties have ever occurred on the islands.[4] Over the years, however, there have been numerous instances where civilians have deliberately or inadvertently entered a minefield. The Ministry of Defence has reported “infringement” of minefields by a total of six locals and 15 foreign fishermen or tourists between March 2000 and December 2008.[5] On 6 December 2008, three crew members of a Belgian yacht inadvertently entered a minefield at Kidney Cove on East Falklands but were not injured. In October 2002, a Falkland Islander was fined £1,000 (then US$1,503) for entering a minefield on Goose Green.[6] It is a criminal offense on the Falkland Islands/Malvinas to enter a minefield.

The socio-economic impact of contamination in the Falkland Islands/Malvinas is said to be minimal. All 117 areas are reported to have been “perimeter-marked and are regularly monitored and protected by quality stock proof fencing, to ensure the effective exclusion of civilians.”[7] According to the UK, the 13km2 of suspected hazardous area represent “only 0.1% of land used for farming. The mined areas cover a wide range of terrain including sandy beaches and dunes, mountains, rock screes, dry peat, wet swampy peat, and pasture land.”[8] A number of instances of cattle, sheep, or horses entering the minefields have been recorded since 2000, some of which resulted in the animal’s deaths.[9]

Cluster munition remnants

There are an unknown number of cluster munition remnants on the Falklands Islands/Malvinas as a result of use of BL755 cluster bombs by the UK against Argentine positions during the 1982 armed conflict.

In February 2009, in a letter to Landmine Action, the Ministry of Defence stated the following: “According to historical records either 106 or 107 Cluster Bomb Units (CBU) were dropped by British Harriers and Sea Harriers during the conflict. Each CBU contains 147 BL755 submunitions and using the higher CBU figure (107), a total of 15,729 sub-munitions were dropped. Using a 6.4% failure rate assessed during in-service surveillance over 15 years, we would estimate that 1,006 would not explode. Given that 1,378 BL 755s were cleared in the first year after the conflict and that a further 120 have been found and disposed of since (totalling 1,498), clearly there was a slightly higher failure rate. Even if the rate had been closer to 10% and 1,573 had failed, we can only estimate that some 70 remain but that due to the very soft nature of the peat found on the islands, many of these will have been buried well below the surface. We believe that the majority of those remaining are now contained within existing minefields and these will be cleared in due course.”[10]

Other explosive remnants of war

The precise extent of other explosive remnants of war (ERW) contamination on the Falkland Islands/Malvinas is not known, though a number of UXO are believed to remain to be cleared. The UK has also noted the presence of booby-traps on the islands.[11]

Mine Action Program

Key institutions and operators

Body

Situation on 1 January 2010

National Mine Action Authority

NMAA

Mine action center

Falkland Islands Demining Programme Office

National demining operator

One commercial company: BACTEC International Limited

A National Mine Action Authority (NMAA) composed of both the UK and the Falkland Islands governments was established in 2009 to oversee clearance of mined areas on the Falkland Islands/Malvinas.[12] The Ninth Meeting of States Parties noted the UK’s undertaking to provide regular reports on the establishment of a NMAA “and other implementation bodies.”[13]

In May 2009, the UK issued a request to tender for the Falkland Islands Demining Programme Office (DPO). The role of the DPO is to execute the policies of the NMAA and to coordinate mine action activities on the Falkland Islands/Malvinas.[14] In August 2009, the contract to establish the DPO was awarded to Colin King Associates,[15] which subsequently set up the Office at Tenacres, south of Stanley.[16]

In mid-October 2009, it was announced that BACTEC International Limited had been awarded the contract to clear four sites at Fox Bay (East), Goose Green, Sapper Hill, and Surf Bay (near the airport).[17] Clearance was due to start in November and conclude by the end of May.[18] Operations were initiated at the beginning of December 2009.[19]

Land Release

The first formal clearance operations since the UK became a State Party to the Mine Ban Treaty in 1999 took place at the end of 2009. Four sites were chosen for the first phase of operations, with work starting on two of them during December 2009. On 4 December, clearance work started at Surf Bay (site no. SA-008). On 11 December, work started at Sapper Hill (site no. SA-025). On 11 December, work also started on a battle area clearance (BAC) task adjacent to the Sapper Hill demining area. Technical assessments of the two remaining sites at Goose Green and Fox Bay took place in early 2010.[20] The Sapper Hill site was cleared on 25 March 2010.[21]

BACTEC’s mine clearance operations were undertaken by 36 Zimbabwean personnel under the management of two ex-Royal Engineers: a project manager and an operations manager. Both had previously served on the Falkland Islands/Malvinas on bomb and mine clearance projects.[22] There were also 15 Lebanese BAC personnel used for clearance of former battle areas.[23]

In 2009, operations used wholly manual techniques with a combination of full excavation (against the P4B antipersonnel mines which are almost undetectable using metal detectors) and a layered search technique against the SB33 and SB81 mines. A mechanical unit was deployed to the Surf Bay site to accelerate clearance in sandy areas.[24]

Mine clearance in 2009

At Surf Bay (site no. SA-008) a total of 40 SB33 antipersonnel mines and 38 SB81 antivehicle mines were found and destroyed in 2009. At Sapper Hill (site no. SA-025) 12 antipersonnel mines (P4B) were found and destroyed.

Compliance with Article 5 of the Mine Ban Treaty

Under Article 5 of the Mine Ban Treaty (and in accordance with the 10-year extension request granted by the Ninth Meeting of States Parties in November 2008), the UK 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 2019.

Following opposition from a number of States Parties, as well as the ICBL and ICRC, to the UK’s blanket 10-year extension request at its initial presentation, the UK had revised its request to make it explicit that Scenario 5 of the Field Survey (part of the Feasibility Study conducted by Cranfield University) was its clearance plan for fulfillment of its Article 5 obligations.[25] Scenario 5 proposed clearance of all mined areas on the Falkland Islands/Malvinas within a 10-year period, beginning with the establishment of a project office on the Falkland Islands/Malvinas and ending with the handover of all cleared land to a fully fledged mine action center.[26] The UK decided to disregard the Field Survey’s recommendation for trials of clearance methods and to proceed directly to full clearance.[27]

While “a number of substantive concerns were raised,” the Ninth Meeting of States Parties decided to grant the request for an extension until 1 March 2019. The meeting took note of the UK’s agreement to provide as soon as possible, but not later than 30 June 2010, a detailed explanation of how demining is proceeding and the implications for future demining in order to meet the UK’s obligations under Article 5.[28] The meeting also took note that the UK will keep under annual review the possibility of reducing the time necessary to fulfill its obligations. A number of States Parties expressed the wish that the UK proceed with the implementation of Article 5 much faster than suggested by the amount of time requested.[29]

At the June 2010 intersessional Standing Committee meetings, the UK stated that, “We are delighted to announce that the 4-site pilot project started on 4 December 2009, completed on 4 June. A total of 1,246 mines were located and destroyed, of which 568 were anti-vehicle mines and 678 were anti-personnel mines. In addition 2 sub-munitions and 9 unexploded ordnance were destroyed.”[30] The UK stated that the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) “will now analyse the data gathered from this project and make recommendations for future work based on this analysis to the new Government. We intend to report the findings of our analysis and agreed next steps to States Parties at the Meeting of States Parties in November 2010.”[31]

The UK did not announce any further clearance plans. In a statement to the meeting, the ICBL regretted the failure of the UK to meet its undertaking to provide “as soon as possible, but not later than 30 June 2010 a detailed explanation of … the implications for future demining” in order to meet the UK’s obligations under Article 5 of the treaty.[32]

Battle area clearance in 2009

During 2009, one BL755 unexploded submunition was found and destroyed at the Sapper Hill BAC task.[33]

Compliance with Article 4 of the Convention on Cluster Munitions

The UK becomes a State Party to the Convention on Cluster Munitions on 1 November 2010. Its deadline for clearance of all unexploded submunitions will therefore be 1 November 2020.

As noted above, the Falkland Islands/Malvinas are believed to be still affected to a limited extent by unexploded submunitions, with one BL755 unexploded submunition found and destroyed in the first month of operations. A second submunition was found in 2010.[34] According to information provided by the Ministry of Defence in 2009, no unexploded submunitions were cleared in 2008, but a BL755 submunition was destroyed in November 2007.[35] At the Second Review Conference of the Mine Ban Treaty, the UK said that the three areas it was clearing contained unexploded submunitions and other ERW.[36] None were found at the Fox Bay site (no. FB-008W) where part of a submunition had been found in 1983.[37]

Quality management

The clearance program is said to be working to a set of National Mine Action Standards (NMAS), originally drafted by Cranfield University, and closely related to International Mine Action Standards. Following award of the contract for the DPO, a full review of NMAS was carried out and a number of amendments to points of detail were recommended for consideration by the NMAA based in London.[38]

The DPO is conducting quality control over BACTEC’s demining activities to ensure that they meet the required standards.[39]

Safety of demining personnel

No deminers were killed or injured during 2009.[40]

 



[1] There is a sovereignty dispute over the Falklands Islands/Malvinas with Argentina.

[2] UK Article 5 deadline Extension Request, 30 May 2008, p. 2. The estimate of the number of mines remaining to be cleared was higher than the 16,000 reported by Argentina in 2006. See Argentina Article 7 Report, Form C, 4 May 2006.

[3] UK Article 5 deadline Extension Request, 30 May 2008, Tables B.3 and B.4.

[4] Statement of the UK, Standing Committee on Mine Clearance, Mine Risk Education and Mine Action Technologies, Geneva, 27 May 2009.

[5] Letter from Permanent Joint Headquarters of the Ministry of Defence to Landmine Action, 16 February 2009.

[6] Lisa Johnson, “Lucky minefield incident for landing crew in Falklands,” MercoPress, 9 December 2008, www.mercopress.com.

[7] UK Article 5 deadline Extension Request, Executive Summary, 14 November 2008, p. 1.

[8] Ibid.

[9] Letter from Permanent Joint Headquarters of the Ministry of Defence to Landmine Action, 16 February 2009.

[10] Letter from Lt.-Col. Scott Malina-Derben, Ministry of Defence, 6 February 2009.

[11] See, for example, Article 7 Report, Form C, 2 April 2007.

[12] Statement of the UK, Standing Committee on Mine Clearance, Mine Risk Education and Mine Action Technologies, Geneva, 27 May 2009.

[13] Decision on the UK Article 5 deadline Extension Request, Ninth Meeting of States Parties, Geneva, 28 November 2008.

[14] FCO, “UK-London: mine sweeping services 2009/S 97-140126, Contract Notice,” 19 May 2009.

[15] Email from Colin King, Programme Manager, DPO, 19 November 2009.

[16] Juanita Brock, “Falklands: Falklands are ‘Go’ for Demining,” Falkland Islands News Network, 13 October 2009, sartma.com.

[17] BACTEC, “BACTEC Awarded Falkland Islands Project,” 20 October 2009, www.bactec.com.

[18] Juanita Brock, “Falklands: Falklands are ‘Go’ for Demining,” Falkland Islands News Network, 13 October 2009, sartma.com.

[19] “Mine Clearance Begins In The Falklands,” Blog of UK Ambassador John Duncan, www.flickr.com. 

[20] Email from Kathryn Lindsay, Policy Officer, FCO, 3 March 2010.

[21] “First minefield cleared in Falkland Islands – thanks to Zimbabweans,” MercoPress, 25 March 2010, en.mercopress.com.

[22] BACTEC, “BACTEC Awarded Falkland Islands Project,” 20 October 2009, www.bactec.com.

[23] Cory Kuklick, “Falkland-Malvinas Islands Update,” Journal of Mine Action, Issue 14.1 (Spring 2010), maic.jmu.edu. Kuklick claims 37 rather than 36 Zimbabwean deminers.

[24] Email from Kathryn Lindsay, FCO, 3 March 2010.

[25] Decision on the UK Article 5 deadline Extension Request, Ninth Meeting of States Parties, Geneva, 28 November 2008.

[26] Cranfield University, “Field Survey to Examine the Feasibility of Clearing Landmines in the Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas),” 9 July 2007, Executive Summary.

[27] Statement of the UK, Ninth Meeting of States Parties, Geneva, 26 November 2008.

[28] Decision on the UK Article 5 deadline Extension Request, Ninth Meeting of States Parties, Geneva, 28 November 2008.

[29] Ibid.

[30] Statement of the UK, Standing Committee on Mine Clearance, Mine Risk Education and Mine Action Technologies, 22 June 2010.

[31] Ibid.

[32] Ibid.

[33] Email from Kathryn Lindsay, FCO, 3 March 2010.

[34] Statement of the UK, Standing Committee on Mine Clearance, Mine Risk Education and Mine Action Technologies, 22 June 2010.

[35] Letter from Lt.-Col. Scott Malina-Derben, Ministry of Defence, 6 February 2009.

[36] Statement of the UK, Second Review Conference, Cartagena, 2 December 2009.

[37] Statement of the UK, Standing Committee on Mine Clearance, Mine Risk Education and Mine Action Technologies, 22 June 2010.

[38] Email from Kathryn Lindsay, FCO, 3 March 2010.

[39] Juanita Brock, “Falklands: Falklands are ‘Go’ for Demining,” Falkland Islands News Network, 13 October 2009, sartma.com.

[40] Statement of the UK, Standing Committee on Mine Clearance, Mine Risk Education and Mine Action Technologies, 22 June 2010.