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Iraq Facing the Legacy of Landmines and Explosive Remnants of War

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Iraq Facing the Legacy of Landmines and Explosive Remnants of War Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction Volume 11 Issue 2 The Journal of Mine Action Article 5 April 2008 Iraq Facing the Legacy of Landmines and Explosive Remnants of War Salomon Schreuder United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Follow this and additional works at: https://commons.lib.jmu.edu/cisr-journal Part of the Defense and Security Studies Commons, Emergency and Disaster Management Commons, Other Public Affairs, Public Policy and Public Administration Commons, and the Peace and Conflict Studies Commons Recommended Citation Schreuder, Salomon (2008) "Iraq Facing the Legacy of Landmines and Explosive Remnants of War," Journal of Mine Action : Vol. 11 : Iss. 2 , Article 5. Available at: https://commons.lib.jmu.edu/cisr-journal/vol11/iss2/5 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Center for International Stabilization and Recovery at JMU Scholarly Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction by an authorized editor of JMU Scholarly Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Schreuder: Iraq Facing the Legacy of Landmines and Explosive Remnants of War Coalition Provisional Authority, established general, this dismal situation lowered donors’ refers to “demining” without clear linkages to the National Mine Action Authority under confidence in mine-action support for Iraq. development issues. the Ministry of Planning and Development On the other hand, the support for national The International Compact for Iraq is a Cooperation. The NMAA recently trans- mine-action that NGOs provide is promising blueprint to define international support to ferred from the MoPDC to the Ministry of because of the progress with needs-based mine the government of Iraq. Although Iraq is Iraq Facing the Legacy of Landmines and Environment. The NMAA is responsible for clearance and mine-risk education. RONCO, considered to be one of the most mine/ERW- strategic planning and budgeting, project with funding from the U.S. Department of contaminated countries in the world and the { coordination, donor relations, setting nation- State, established a national NGO—the Iraq ICI supports socioeconomic development, the al mine-action standards and maintaining Mine Clearance Organization—as well as serious threat of mines and ERW is not con- Explosive Remnants of War national mine-action databases. The NMAA Iraq Health and Social Care Organization. The sidered or mentioned at all in the ICI. } includes a Regional Mine Action Centre based UNDP established another Iraqi NGO, the Political commitment by the Iraqi govern- in the Basra governorate and is responsible Rafidain Demining Organization, through its ment to mine action is a prerequisite for effec- In this article, the author describes the recent history and current state of mine-action for the southern region of Iraq. The NMAA contractor, DDG, in Basra. These local NGOs tive and efficient international support in this will develop two additional Regional Mine efforts in Iraq. He argues for a renewed focus on these issues and for a comprehensive Action Centres in central and northern Iraq. In addition, the Iraqi Kurdistan Mine Action approach, linking other humanitarian efforts with mine action. Agency was formed to control mine action in the Iraqi Kurdistan region—Dahuk, Erbil and by Salomon Schreuder [ United Nations Development Programme ] Sulaymaniyah. The IKMAA coordinates with the NMAA but functions independently and reports to the Kurdistan regional government. Office of Project Services as part of the Rapid Response Plan. This sur- vey was not very successful, as the security situation was constantly Progress Thus Far changing. The Iraq Landmine Impact Survey was launched in 2004, The U.N. Mine Action Service Rapid executed by the Vietnam Veterans of America Security Foundation’s2 Response Plan in May 2003 included the Information Management and Mine Action Programs and funded by deployment of MineTech International, the U.S. Department of State. The U.N. Development Programme funded a commercial contractor, for mine clear- the IMMAP team leader for the ILIS with financial support from the ance in the Basra governorate supported European Commission. The ILIS covered 13 governorates but had to be by nongovernmental organisations such as halted in May 2006 due to the deteriorating security situation in the re- Danish Demining Group, DanChurchAid and maining five governorates. Meanwhile, several large-scale reconstruc- INTERSOS. The CPA Mine Action Team took tion projects were halted due to the contamination in southern Iraq—the the lead and it was agreed that the United most prominent being a power-line rehabilitation project by the Ministry Nations would provide Technical Advisors Cluster munitions contaminate large areas in the Basra governorate. of Electricity and the Rumaila Oilfields project by the Ministry of Oil, for the NMAA/RMAC, bearing in mind that PHOTO COURTESY OF DANISH DEMINING GROUP both in the Basra governorate. staff members of these organisations had no As of March 2006, the ILIS revealed 1,622 impacted communities mine-action experience at all. raq, the oil-rich country once considered the pearl of the out of more than 12,000 visited, with 3,673 suspected hazardous areas. U.N. technical advisory support on the Middle East, is heavily contaminated with explosive remnants A total of 1,730 square kilometres (663 square miles) of contaminated ground had to be revisited, however, after the Map showing 13 of 18 governorates covered by the Iraq Landmine Impact Survey. I of war1 such as landmines, unexploded ordnances, explosive land was recorded, out of which 518 square kilometres (200 square miles) bombing of U.N. headquarters in Baghdad 19 PHOTO COURTESY OF Charles Conley / IMMAP ordnances and depleted uranium munitions. Scattered throughout of contaminated land is in Basra governorate alone. These figures only August 2003 and the subsequent relocation of have been fully trained and equipped, reach- area. The new line (responsible) ministry is major cities and rural areas, ERW threaten the daily lives of individuals cover approximately 70 percent of the total area of the country. In the all U.N. staff to Amman, Jordan. Four months ing out to communities through liaison teams the Ministry of Environment. If this min- and communities and impede the delivery of a full spectrum of recon- southern part of the country, where the most intensive battles took place, later, UNMAS terminated the Rapid Response and hotlines to prioritise their operations. istry has a will to advocate for and work on struction, from humanitarian assistance to infrastructure. as much as 90 percent of the contaminated land is agricultural land, Plan and the UNDP became the lead agency Continuous support to such Iraqi NGOs is mine action, it will create an impetus to over- This situation originates from minefields laid during the Iran-Iraq directly impacting the livelihood of most people in these rural areas. for U.N. mine action in Iraq. Meanwhile, the needed to deepen the impact of needs-based come the challenges posed by a lack of politi- war in the 1980s—including a 5-kilometre-wide (3.1-mile) minefield The Iraq Landmine Impact Survey Report, covering 13 of the 18 Iraqi U.S. State Department continued provid- mine clearance and MRE. cal support. However, without moral support belt running along the Iran-Iraq border for about 1,600 kilometres (944 governorates, was completed and has been released recently. ing the NMAA/RMAC with technical advi- The Multi-National Force–Iraq, as well as and financial assistance from donors, the miles)—conflicts between rival ethnic and political parties, military According to the ILIS, 577 recent victims (within the 24 months before sory support through RONCO Consulting the Iraqi National Defense Force, is clearing U.N. mine-action family will not be able to actions of 1990–1991, and the ongoing conflict, which started in 2003. the survey) have been recorded. This figure does not reflect a complete Corporation until September 2006 when the areas within its area of responsibility; however, work with the government of Iraq and NGOs Until recently, the mine/ERW situation was never dealt with by picture as there is no effective victim monitoring and recording structure UNDP took over this role. the clearance is not necessarily being done in to address this challenging environment. a structured and organised mine-action programme, except in the on the ground, while the ILIS records victims solely from impacted The government of Iraq has been allocating accordance with the International Mine Action Lack of institutional capacity. Uncoor- Kurdistan region, where a successful mine-action programme was im- communities. Currently, the UNICEF, the World Health Organization multimillion-dollar budgets every year to the Standards, and no centralised system of record- dinated clearance, MRE and victim-assistance plemented during the Oil for Food Programme from 1997 to 2003 with and the UNDP are at the final preparatory stage to launch a pilot U.N. NMAA. Unfortunately, due to the rigidly cen- ing of clearance exists. The police and military activities, along with disorganised national support from Mines Advisory Group and Norwegian People’s Aid. The joint project on victim monitoring in the governorates of Baghdad, Basra tralised financial system, the lack of capacity have been focussing on the threat of improvised databases, can be attributed to the lack of insti- fact that there were no organised mine-action activities in Iraq exclud- and Erbil. There is a particular focus on capacity development of, among in accounting management and the worsening explosive devices, neglecting mines and UXO. tutional capacity of the NMAA. In addition, ing those in Kurdistan resulted in the mine/ERW threat increasing with other things, emergency rooms and civil defense offices to improve a security situation, most of these budgets have the government has been unwilling to main- each successive conflict since the Iran-Iraq war.
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