OVERVIEW CLEARING THE MINES 2020 A REPORT BY MINE ACTION REVIEW FOR THE EIGHTEENTH MEETING OF STATES PARTIES TO THE ANTI PERSONNEL MINE BAN CONVENTION THIS REPORT IS AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD AT WWW.MINEACTIONREVIEW.ORG 1 October 2020 MINE ACTION REVIEW ADVISORY BOARD: mineactionreview.org i A REPORT BY MINE ACTION REVIEW FOR THE EIGHTEENTH MEETING OF STATES PARTIES TO THE ANTIPERSONNEL MINE BAN CONVENTION Armenia Turkey Bosnia and Herzegovina Tajikistan Sudan India Egypt Somalia Russia United Kingdom (Falkland Islands) Yemen South Sudan Iran Afghanistan Georgia Pakistan Croatia Lao PDR China Angola Peru Myanmar Iraq Ecuador Chad Kosovo Eritrea Vietnam Morocco Sri Lanka Cuba Cambodia Colombia Zimbabwe Mali Palestine Lebanon Somalia Israel Oman Democratic Republic of Congo Cameroon Senegal Ukraine Western Sahara Nagorno-Karabakh Serbia Libya Uzbekistan Thailand Argentina (Malvinas) Azerbaijan Syria Ethiopia Mauritania Kyrgyzstan Niger North Korea Nigeria Cyprus South Korea ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS DISCLAIMER This report was researched and written by Nick Cumming- The report and the views expressed in it are the work of the Bruce, Alex Frost, and Lucy Pinches. The Mine Action Review authors. The designation of armed non-state actors, states, or project is managed by Lucy Pinches. The report was edited territories does not imply any judgement by The HALO Trust, by Stuart Casey-Maslen and laid out by Optima Design in MAG, NPA, the Royal Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the United Kingdom. The HALO Trust, Mines Advisory Group the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs or any other (MAG), and Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA) form the project’s organisation, body, or individual regarding the legal status Advisory Board. Mine Action Review would like to thank the of such actors, states, or territories, or their authorities and Royal Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Swiss institutions, or the delimitation of their boundaries, or the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs for funding its work as status of any states or territories that border them. well as all those who contributed data and information. 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Please send any comments to [email protected] ii Global Clearing contamination the Mines 2020from anti-personnel mines CONTENTS KEY FINDINGS 1 STATES PARTIES 19 Afghanistan 20 Angola 30 3 OVERVIEW Argentina (Malvinas) 41 Summary 3 Bosnia and Herzegovina 42 Global Contamination 4 Cambodia 55 Anti-Personnel Mines of an Improvised Nature 5 Cameroon 69 States that have Completed Anti-Personnel Chad 72 Mine Clearance 6 Chile 79 Clearance in 2019 6 Colombia 86 Article 5 Implementation 8 Croatia 100 Progress in Implementing Article 5 9 Cyprus 111 Completion of Clearance by 2025 12 Democratic Republic of Congo 115 Programme Performance 12 Ecuador 122 The Oslo Action Plan 16 Eritrea 129 Monitoring the Oslo Action Plan 16 Ethiopia 134 Gender and Diversity 17 Iraq 142 Innovation 17 Mali 155 Mauritania 158 Niger 164 Nigeria 170 Oman 174 Palestine 178 Peru 184 Senegal 191 Serbia 197 Somalia 205 South Sudan 215 Sri Lanka 225 Sudan 238 Tajikistan 248 Thailand 257 Turkey 268 Ukraine 276 United Kingdom (Falkland Islands) 286 Yemen 295 Zimbabwe 303 mineactionreview.org STATES NOT PARTY 313 Armenia 314 Azerbaijan 318 China 323 Cuba 325 Egypt 326 Georgia 328 India 332 Iran 334 Israel 337 Kyrgyzstan 340 Lao PDR 341 Lebanon 345 Libya 355 Morocco 361 Myanmar 364 North Korea 372 Pakistan 373 Russia 374 South Korea 376 Syria 378 Uzbekistan 381 Vietnam 382 OTHER AREAS 387 Kosovo 388 Nagorno-Karabakh 394 Western Sahara 398 ANNEX 403 Annex 1: Article 5 of the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention 404 ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS 405 Clearing the Mines 2020 KEY FINDINGS ■ In 2019, a global total of more than 131 square ■ No State Party fulfilled its APMBC Article 5 obligation kilometres was cleared of anti-personnel mines, to survey and clear all mined areas containing with more than 96% of recorded clearance occurring anti-personnel mines in 2019, but Chile declared in States Parties to the APMBC. However, this total completion in February 2020. Since entry into force is a marked decrease on output in 2018 of more than of the APMBC in 1999, 33 States (all States Parties 155 square kilometres, and was the lowest recorded to the APMBC, except for Nepal) and 1 other area clearance globally for more than ten years. The true (Taiwan) have completed mine clearance.1 Mauritania total area of clearance is probably considerably was on this achievement list last year but has since greater, but data recording and reporting problems reported newly discovered mined areas under its prevent accurate reporting of a higher figure, in jurisdiction or control and is seeking a new extension addition to a lack of transparency by several States to its Article 5 deadline. not party. ■ As at 1 October 2020, 57 States and 3 other areas ■ In total, almost 164,000 emplaced anti-personnel were confirmed or suspected to have anti-personnel mines were destroyed during clearance and explosive mines in mined areas under their jurisdiction or ordnance disposal operations (EOD), an increase control,2 an overall increase of one State on the compared to 153,800 in 2018. In addition, 39,700 previous year. While Chile was removed from list, anti-vehicle mines were destroyed during clearance Mauritania and Mali3 were added. of anti-personnel mined areas in 2019, a slight increase Of the 57 affected States, 35 are party to the APMBC. on the 38,500 destroyed the previous year. When As at 1 October 2020, three of the 35 States Parties considered together with the area of land cleared, this ( , , and ) did not have a legal might indicate more targeted and efficient clearance Cameroon Mali Nigeria Article 5 deadline in force, but have ongoing Article was achieved in 2019. 5 obligations due to new contamination from the use of anti-personnel mines of an improvised nature ■ No clearance was recorded or reported for 2019 in by non-State armed groups on areas under their eight States Parties: Cameroon, Cyprus, DR Congo, jurisdiction or control. These States must therefore Eritrea, Mali, Mauritania, Nigeria, and Senegal. A small request an extension to their previously expired amount of mined area was, however, cancelled through deadlines and submit Article 7 reports detailing the non-technical survey in Cyprus and reduced though new contamination and clearance of anti-personnel technical survey in Senegal. Some clearance, including mines of an improvised nature. In addition, Eritrea’s in spot tasks, may also have occurred but which was Article 5 deadline expires on 31 December 2020 after not reported. it was granted an interim extension at the Fourth Review conference in November 2019. However, as at 1 October 2020 Eritrea had yet to request a deadline extension. 1 States Parties: Albania, Algeria, Bhutan, Bulgaria, Burundi, Chile, Rep. of Congo, Costa Rica, Denmark, Djibouti, France, The Gambia, Germany, Greece*, Guatemala, Guinea-Bissau, Honduras, Hungary, Jordan, Malawi, Montenegro*, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Republic of North Macedonia, Palau*, Rwanda, Suriname, Swaziland, Tunisia, Uganda, Venezuela, and Zambia. In addition, State not Party, Nepal, and “other area”, Taiwan, have also completed mine clearance. *Indicates States Parties not listed on the AMPBC Implementation Support Unit (ISU)’s list, “States Parties That Have Completed Article 5”, at: bit.ly/30xgu9r, presumably because they did not officially report having mined areas under the APMBC and/or have not made a formal declaration of fulfilment of their clearance obligations under the Convention. Mauritania declared completion previously in 2018, but has subsequently reported having mined areas under its jurisdiction or control and has therefore been taken off this list. 2 Afghanistan, Angola, Argentina, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cambodia, Cameroon, Chad, China, Colombia, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, DR Congo, Ecuador, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Georgia, India, Iraq, Iran, Israel, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Lao People’s Dem. Rep., Lebanon, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Myanmar, Nagorno-Karabakh, Niger, Nigeria, North Korea, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Peru, Russia, Senegal, Serbia, Somalia, South Korea, South Sudan, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Syria, Tajikistan, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Western Sahara, Yemen, and Zimbabwe. States Parties to the APMBC are in bold. Other areas are in italics. 3 Mali, which faces a rising threat from anti-personnel mines of an improvised nature, as a result of escalating conflict involving armed non-state actors, has been added to Mine Action Review’s list of States Parties to the APMBC with anti-personnel mine contamination. mineactionreview.org 1 ■ Based on Mine Action Review’s assessment of the extent ■ The Oslo Action Plan (OAP) was adopted by the Fourth of contamination in affected States Parties, Afghanistan, Review Conference of the APMBC in November 2019. Cambodia, and Iraq are massively contaminated (defined Mine Action Review has assessed implementation of as covering more than 100km2 of land), while heavy the OAP action items related to survey and clearance contamination (covering more than 20km2) exists in in 2020 and will assess progress annually, through to Angola, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Thailand, Turkey, and the Convention’s Fifth Review Conference in 2024. Our Yemen. In other affected States Parties, the extent of provisional 2020 baseline results of the survey and anti-personnel mine contamination is medium or light. clearance related indicators monitored can be found on the Mine Action Review website, together with a ■ As at 1 October 2020, of the 35 mine-affected States supporting guide to the OAP. Parties, 9 (Cameroon, DR Congo, Eritrea, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Palestine, and Sri Lanka) had yet to The results of Mine Action Review’s 2020 baseline submit an Article 7 report covering 2019, which is a assessment will be finalised following the Eighteenth legal obligation under the APMBC.