Key
developments since March 1999: Mine clearance and mine survey
activities expanded significantly in Somaliland in 1999 and 2000, with donors
contributing some $6.65 million. Clearance at Burao city has allowed the 70,000
residents to begin returning. The needs remain great. In 1999 the government
for the first time tried to systematically collect data on mine victims, and
estimates that there have been more than 3,500 mine casualties since 1988. The
parliament passed a resolution calling for a unilateral ban on landmines; the
President has endorsed the resolution.
Mine Ban Policy
The self-declared Republic of Somaliland cannot
become a signatory of the Mine Ban Treaty (MBT) until it receives international
recognition as an separate state. Nevertheless, on several occasions,
Somaliland affirmed its willingness to abide by the MBT.
On the occasion of the signing ceremony of the MBT in Ottawa, the President
of Somaliland, Mohamed Ibrahim Egal, wrote a letter to Lloyd Axworthy, the
Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs indicating that Somaliland was willing to
sign the MBT.[1] On 1 March 1999,
on the occasion of the entry into force of the Mine Ban Treaty, the Somaliland
House of Representatives passed a resolution urging the government to
unilaterally ban landmines. In a December 1999 meeting with the Landmine Monitor
researcher and representatives of the ICBL, the President of Somaliland
indicated his desire to see the parliamentary resolution become law, but to date
no legislation has been
drafted.[2]
In November 2000, at a regional workshop on the menace on landmines in the
Horn of Africa organized by the Somaliland Coalition against Landmines (SCAL),
the Chairman of the Guurti (Traditional Elders) in the Upper House of
Parliament, affirmed his community’s willingness to cooperate with
international organizations on
landmines.[3] This was confirmed
by the Speaker of the House of Representatives speaking during the opening
session of the workshop.[4]
Production, Transfer, Stockpiling, Use
Somaliland is not known to have ever produced or
exported antipersonnel mines. The Ministry of Defense of Somaliland claims that
its national army has not purchased or transferred any landmines since
reconstituting its National Army in 1991, but admits that large stocks of
landmines have been inherited from the now disbanded army of the Somali
Democratic Republic.[5] Most of
these stocks are thought to be in the hands of militia or private
individuals.[6] The government
has not programmed the destruction of its landmine
stocks.[7] Somaliland does not
appear to be a transit point for landmines.
After two decades of conflict, Somaliland enjoys relative peace, having
resolved its last major internal conflict in 1995 and there is no indication or
evidence that landmines were used in Somaliland after 1995. Moreover,
Somaliland has not been and is not now engaged in armed conflict with any of its
neighbors.
Landmine Problem
At least twenty-four types of AP mines from ten
countries have been identified in Somaliland (Belgium, Pakistan, China, the
U.S., former Czechoslovakia, former East Germany, Egypt, former Soviet Union,
United Kingdom and Italy).[8]
Between 1977 and 1978, the Somali Democratic Republic went to war with
neighboring Ethiopia in the frontier area between northern Somalia (now
Somaliland) and Ethiopia and the corridor between the Ethiopian city of
Dire-Dawa and the border. This border remains heavily mined, including along
important access routes. Between 1981 and 1991, the Somali National Movement
(SNM), a rebel army of mostly northern Somali following, waged an armed
insurrection against the regime of Mohamed Siad Barre which saw indiscriminate
use of landmines against the civilian population and their homes, farmland, and
water reservoirs. The then-regional capital of Hargeisa (now Somaliland’s
capital) was heavily mined around military bases, refugee camps, private homes
and the airport. Between 1994 and 1995 fierce battles in Hargeisa and in the
areas south and east of Hargeisa saw extensively mine use.
According to the Somali Mine Action Center (SMAC), there are twenty-eight
mined roads in Somaliland. There have been several mine incidents on the coastal
road between the port city of Berbera and neighboring Djibouti, and a section of
this road just east of Berbera has at least one minefield of undetermined size.
Sections of the regular Djibouti-Jidhi-Borama road are also mined and traffic
has been diverted into alternate routes for the past eight years. The regular
unpaved road between the largest towns of Somaliland, Burao and Hargeisa, has
been abandoned, in part due to landmine threat.
There are more than eighty minefields in Somaliland, sixty-three of which
have been confirmed by SMAC. The majority of minefields are found near the
Ethiopian border. Somaliland is a pastoral society and the frontier area is the
most important grazing area for Somaliland livestock. Each season, tens of
thousands of nomads and their herds cross the border on foot in search of water
and pasture and are therefore at risk from the mines. No systematic demining has
taken place in this frontier area and there are no paved roads in the area, nor
are there any hospitals or health care centers.
Mine Action Coordination
In 1997, the Somaliland government constituted a
National Demining Agency (NDA) to coordinate all demining, mine awareness and
victim assistance programs by the government and national and international
NGOs. At about the same time, the United Nations Development Program
established a Somali Mine Action Center (SMAC) managed by the Somali Civil
Protection Program (SCCP) of UNDP to coordinate its landmine activities in
Somaliland.
The UN Secretary-General’s October 1999 annual report on Assistance in
Mine Action stated that, “Improved co-ordination and institutional support
would benefit the myriad of demining organisations involved in north-west
Somalia. The implementation of centralised control over data collection and
management activities would ease the ultimate transfer of these responsibilities
to local
authorities.”[9]
Survey and Assessment
In 1999, CARE International completed thirty-eight
Level I and Level II surveys in Awadal and Galbeed regions. HALO Trust started
in September 1999 and completed in 2000 a Level I survey of the entire Awdal
region which added to information gained by
CARE.[10] In 1999, Danish Demining
Group established a base camp at Adadley, a former military camp seventy
kilometers west of Hargeisa, and started Level I and Level II surveys and
clearance.
SMAC is currently negotiating with donors for funding for comprehensive Level
I and Level II surveys and mine clearance projects in Awadal and Togdheer
regions.
Mine Action Funding
In spite of the gravity of the landmine problem,
Somaliland’s status as a self-declared state has made it difficult to
attract funding for mine action projects. While some limited mine clearance took
place between 1991 and 1993, since 1998 a number of mine clearance activities
have been launched. Funding for mine action totaled only some $546,000 in 1998,
but has increased dramatically to about $6.65 million in 1999 and early 2000.
Donors include Denmark, European Commission, Germany, United Kingdom, United
States, and UNDP.
Mine Tech of Zimbabwe was contracted by the UNDP/SCPP in 1998 to began a
small mine action project in the mine-affected city of Burao. The project
budget, funded by UNDP, was $202,000 in 1998 and in 1999-2000 the program was
expanded with a further $400,000 funding.
CARE International received $343,817 from the U.S. in 1998 to start a Level
II survey in Somaliland contracted to Mine Tech and to support the
SMAC.[11] The project started in
March 1999 and has been further expanded with $600,000 in funds from the
European Commission and the U.S. Department of
State.[12]
The Danish Demining Group (DDG) was awarded 4 million Kroner (approximately
$600,000) from the Danish Foreign Ministry in January
1999.[13] After completing an
initial feasibility project, the DDG received another $1.4 million from the
Danish Government to continue and expand its mine clearance project in
Somaliland.
HALO Trust has been funded with $1.25 million in 1999 and approximately $1.3
million for 2000 by the U.S. State Department for a multi-year mine clearance
program.[14] A sub-grant of
$150,000 was awarded for capacity building of the National Demining Agency
(NDA). In addition, the British Ministry of Defense has donated four front
loaders and four bulldozers to HALO Trust for use in
Somaliland.[15]
The Santa Barbara Foundation has received funds from the German government
and private foundations to undertake a $500,000 demining project in the Gabiley
district west of Hargeisa.[16]
The SMAC is spending $400,000 on mine action coordination and mine action
policy formulation.[17] SMAC is
currently negotiating with donors for further funding of $4.25 million for a
comprehensive Level I and Level II surveys and mine clearance projects in Awadal
and Togdheer regions and for clearance of missiles and bombs from around
Hargeisa and Berbera.
Mine Clearance
In 1998, UNDP funded a three-month commercial
demining project to begin the demining of Burao. MineTech of Zimbabwe was
contracted to do a feasibility study using previously trained Somali deminers.
Sixty-three Somali deminers, two mine detection dogs and expatriate technical
advisors have now cleared approximately 73,000 square meters of Burao city
removing 107 antipersonnel mines, fifteen antitank mines and 63 UXOs at a
clearance cost of $2.75 per square meter and a total cost of $202,000. Under a
separate contract from HABITAT, the team also cleared a 1.5 kilometers of road
leading to the water reservoir of nearby Sheikh town. More than 70,000 former
residents of Burao, the second largest Somaliland city, had been unable to
return and live in a makeshift camp on the eastern
outskirts.[18]
The UNDP/Somalia Civil Protection Program expanded their mine clearance
program in 1999 and awarded a demining contract to the UK-based Greenfield
Associates (now European
Demining).[19] Mine clearance in
Buroa has now enabled some sections to be repopulated. The reopening of
important public facilities such as the airport, the bank, a few schools and a
number of main streets have made it possible for the majority of people to move
from a 70,000 strong makeshift town just outside of Burao town.
In 1999, DDG established a base camp at Adadley, a former military camp
seventy kilometers west of Hargeisa, and started Level I and Level II surveys
and clearance in addition to reconstruction of a boarding school and a health
post. To date DDG has cleared UXO from two battlefields at Adadley, in addition
to the road to the stone query at Dheenta, the Dhobato bridge, the Haleya
Bridge, the Makhayada Inanta culvert and the Abdalla culvert. The DDG work
cleared a total of 178,426 square meters of battle area and a total 23,156
square meters of mined areas, destroying twenty-nine AP mines, one AT mine and
15,495 UXO.
In September 1999, HALO Trust started its program with a confirmatory
planning survey and deminer training. In March 2000, HALO Trust deployed five
mine clearance teams, totaling sixty-two demining lanes in important grazing and
cultivation areas. To date it has destroyed 653 AP mines, 94 AT mines and 535
UXO and completed a Level I survey of the entire Awdal region which added to
information gained by CARE in
1999.[20]
In 1999, CARE International completed thirty-eight Level I and Level II
surveys in Awadal and Galbeed regions, trained medical personnel, and started a
mine awareness project with a voluntary youth group.
Mine Awareness
Mine awareness training has not been commensurate
with the need. A number of NGOs have printed Information, Education and
Communication (IEC) messages in the Somali language and one occasionally sees a
poster on a bulletin board, but even known minefields are not marked to warn
civilians. Nomads use branches or sticks to mark suspected landmines, but these
are not easily recognized.
In conjunction with its demining activity SCPP/SMAC trained thirty-five local
women as civilian trainers and educators in the city of
Burao.[21] CARE International
has started, in collaboration with a voluntary youth group, a mine awareness
project in Somaliland. The youth group uses circus performances to promote mine
awareness. CARE and Mine Tech Zimbabwe are also collaborating with the
Somaliland Relief and Rehabilitation Association (SORRA) on comprehensive mine
awareness campaigns throughout Somaliland. A pilot was started on 5 May
2000.[22] The Danish Demining
Group is also working with a local NGO on mine awareness and education. These
projects are in their initial
stages.[23]
Landmine Casualties
In 1992, Physicians for Human Rights conservatively
estimated that there were between 1,500 and 2,000 landmine amputees in
Somaliland.[24] Mine-related
casualties have considerably subsided as people become more aware and avoid
problem zones. Moreover, nomads and local communities especially in the
frontier areas have often hired freelance deminers to demine areas they knew had
landmines. In April 1998, doctors in Berbera Hospital indicated that on the
average they were treating victims from one mine accident every month. Most of
the victims in Berbera were from the heavily mined city of Burao, about two
hours driving distance from
Berbera.[25]
Data on landmine accidents or casualties are not collected systematically. In
a retrospective study, NDA has compiled mine victim statistics for the past ten
years. The data compiled by NDA show that from 1988 to 1998 landmines caused
3,014 deaths and 576 injuries, destroyed 604 vehicles, as well as killing 5,502
camels, 2,391 cattle, 12,713 sheep and goats, and 1,2343 donkeys. NDA has a
breakdown by region and district, which is available from Landmine Monitor.
This datawas collected and compiled by the NDA during the first three
months of 1999. It represents the first effort by the NDA to get an overview of
the mine and UXO victim situation in Somaliland and it is a first step in
systemizing data collection of mine and UXO related problems. The NDA recognizes
that the methodology utilized has been imperfect and that the data obtained may
be questionable in some respects. The survey relied on the recollection of
respondents of events that happened many years ago.
Landmine Survivor Assistance
Somaliland, which even in normal times had few
health care or other social service facilities, has suffered through two decades
of conflict and instability and its entire infrastructure remains in ruins. The
majority of health care workers, like other skilled professionals, have left to
escape the insecurity and have not yet returned. In 1991, during the peak of
mine incidents, there were only eight general surgeons and two orthopedic
surgeons in the whole country. There is no evidence that the picture has
changed at all. There are only three hospitals capable of providing surgery in
Somaliland, and they are all poorly equipped.
Currently, two NGOs provide some post-operative assistance to landmine
victims. The Somaliland Red Crescent Society (SRCS), with funding from the
Somaliland government, and the Norwegian Red Cross provide plastic lower limb
prostheses to amputees. Handicap International (HI) provides orthesis,
crutches, orthopedic shoes and wheelchairs, and runs a physical therapy clinic
for amputees and other handicapped
individuals.[26] Both centers
are located in Hargeisa, and except for occasional travel to other districts,
their patients are confined to victims who can seek assistance in Hargeisa.
Between 1993 and May 1999, the SRCS rehabilitation center provided prosthesis
to 1,082 patients. Forty percent (382) of the patients were mine victims. On
the average, the center makes plastic prosthetics for thirteen to fifteen
patients each month. Handicap International, which makes low-cost wood mobility
devices, also runs a wheelchair-making workshop. Notably, the Somaliland
Handicapped Persons Association does some of the work on wheelchairs. Twenty
percent of HI’s patients were amputees, however, the number of landmine
amputees is not specified. In 1999, HI/Action North South assisted 382
patients including twenty-two amputees. While most mine victims are now assisted
at the Somaliland Red Crescent Society Handicap Center in Hargeisa, HI provided
three below knee prosthesis for mine victim amputees in 1999. A total of 313 of
the 531 SNM veterans disabled by war registered with the 1999 Registration and
Evaluation Program in Hargeisa were mine
victims.[27]
[1] Letter from Somaliland President Mohamed
Ibrahim Egal to the Canadian Foreign Minister Lloyd Axworthy, 26 November
1997. [2] Meeting between Landmine Monitor
and ICBL representatives Jody Williams and Steve Goose and President Egal,
Washington DC, 4 December 1999. [3] SCAL
is an NGO coalition formed in 1998 to work against the use of landmines and
composed of the Institute for Practical Research and Training, the Somali Relief
and Rehabilitation Association, the Somaliland Red Crescent Society, and the
local offices of Handicap International and CARE
International. [4] Report on the Workshop
on the Menace of Landmines in the Horn of Africa, 23-24 November 1999, Hargiesa,
by the Institute for Practical Research and Training, April 2000,
pp.5-7. [5] Interview with Rashid Haji
Abdillahi, Somaliland Minister of Defense, Hargeisa, 20 January 2000.
[6] Interview with Col. .Mohamed Ali
Ismail (ret), Director of National Demining Agency, 26 November
1998. [7] Interview with Rashid Haji
Abdillahi, Somaliland Minister of Defense, 20 January
1999. [8] Human Rights Watch and
Physicians for Human Rights, Landmines: A Deadly Legacy, (New York: Human Rights
Watch, 1993), p. 225. [9]
“Assistance in Mine Action: Report of the Secretary-General to the General
Assembly,” A/54/445, 6 October
1999. [10] Email from Richard Boulter,
Caucasus Desk Officer, HALO to Landmine Monitor (Mary Wareham, Human Rights
Watch), 28 July 2000. [11] Somalia Mine
Action Program (SOMAP), CARE International, October
1998. [12]
www.zimtrade.co.zw/profiles/minetech/index.htm [13]
Berlingske Tidende, (Copenhagen), 20 January
1999. [14] U.S. Department of State,
“FY 00 NADR Project Status,” p.
3. [15] Matthew Hovel, HALO Trust,
Presentation to the Workshop on the Menace of Landmines in the Horn of Africa,
Hargeisa, Somaliland, 23-24 November
1999. [16]
www.stiftung-sankt-barbara.de [17]
Communication from Jab Swart of the Somali Civil Protection Program (UNDP), 10
May 2000. [18] UN Assessment Mission to
Northwest Somalia, June 1998. [19]
www.landmine-solutions.com [20] Email from
Richard Boulter, Caucasus Desk Officer, HALO to Landmine Monitor (Mary Wareham,
Human Rights Watch), 28 July 2000. [21]
UNDP promotional document, 1998 op.
cit. [22] SORRA and Mine Tech are now
running a daily advertisement campaign in the Somali language newspapers.
Interview with Ahmed Mohamed Madar (SORRA) and Mohamed Abdi Galbeedi of SCAL, 5
May 2000. [23] CARE works with the
Hargeisa Voluntary Youth Committee (HAVAYOCO), while DDG works with Mine
Awareness and Information Association
(MISA). [24] Human Rights Watch and
Physicians for Human Rights, Landmines: A Deadly Legacy, (New York: Human Rights
Watch, 1993), pp. 221-223. [25] Meeting
between doctors working for Coperazione Italiano (COOPI) and a visiting
delegation lead by U.S. Ambassador to Djibouti, Hon. Lange Schermerhorn,
Berbera, April 1998. Notes taken by
author. [26] Communication from Florence
Thun, Handicap International Horn of Africa Coordinator, 11 November 1998; and
Karen Perin, Handicap International, 8 May
2000. [27] Dr. Mohamed Abdi
“Arabayte,” Chairman of the Evaluation Committee of the Registration
Program, presentation to the Menace of Landmines in the Horn of Africa,
Hargeisa, 23-24 November 1999.
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