AFGHANISTAN| CAUCASUS & BALKANS | KOSOVO |
Map - Mineclearance  Landmines Serb forces (the army, special police forces and paramilitaries) laid many large border minefields on the Albanian and Macedonian borders between 1997 and 1999, laid further minefields in the interior either around their military posts or to deny access to KLA patrols and, finally, quickly laid barrier minefields straddling the Main Supply Routes likely to be used by NATO ground forces in June 1999. Cluster bomb sub-munitions NATO’s bombing campaign against Serb military units and armour lasted 78 days in 1999. On some 333 target areas NATO dropped 1,392 bombs, containing 295,700 cluster sub-munitions. It is still unclear how many of the American and UK manufactured sub-munitions failed to explode, but some estimates put the “failure rate” at up to 20 percent. Those that failed to function either lay on the surface, or in softer ground penetrated subsurface up to 50cm deep – all in a highly sensitive state. Between 1999 and 2001 the UN managed a large clearance programme in Kosovo (under a Security Council resolution giving the UN governance of the province). The implementing agencies for clearance, of which HALO was the largest with over 400 staff, destroyed over 50,000 landmines, cluster munitions and other items of UXO. Between 2002 and 2007 (during which time HALO had returned to Kosovo to resume work) a further 14,000 landmines, cluster munitions and other items of UXO were cleared. Minefields remain either uncleared or only partially cleared in rural areas where the impoverished communities rely on agriculture and woodcutting as their primary sources of income. Although human casualties due to mines are rare, many mine impacted communities have lost cattle and horses over the last few years. The expansion of socio economic footprints through financial necessity around impacted communities will result in an increase in accidents as people and animals are compelled to use the many hectares of land currently denied by landmines. Kosovo’s potentially lucrative tourism industry in the vast picturesque hills in the south will not be realised until the remaining minefields are cleared and visitors can move safely in the area. Many hectares of this region were recently burnt as firefighters were unable to access the area due to landmines detonating. Cluster munitions remain either on the surface or sub surface largely as a result of partially cleared strikes. Between late 2007 and the current date, three cluster munition accidents have caused the deaths of two people and severe injuries to a further five adults and children. This level of accidents is higher than most other cluster munition impacted countries in the world in a similar timeframe. Similarly to the threat posed by mines in Kosovo, cluster munitions impact most on the financially marginalised elements of society who rely on scrap collecting, woodcutting and cultivation for their livelihood. The World Bank's Kosovo Poverty Assessment Report highlights 37 percent of Kosovo's population is classified as “poor”, living on less than €1.42 per day (with 15 percent below the extreme (food) poverty line of €0.93 per day). Many of the poorest communities live in proximity to the remaining minefields and cluster strikes. It is clear that minefields and cluster strikes continue to pose a threat to communities in Kosovo. If Kosovo, now an independent state, is to stand any chance of complying with the Ottawa Mine Ban Treaty or the Oslo Cluster Munition Convention in the next 10 years, more primary clearance resources will be required. In reality this means 300 extra deminers working as part of the national capacity to complete clearance to an acceptable standard within an acceptable timeframe. Requirement for continued clearance The requirement for HALO to play a key role in the continued clearance of Kosovo’s landmines and cluster munitions has been officially requested by both Kosovo’s President and The Prime Minister's Office. This has been endorsed by the UN both in Pristina through the OKPCC, and in New York through UNMAS. HALO currently has two teams accredited and deployed on clearance operations where landmines and cluster munitions are being located and safely destroyed on a daily basis. There is an immediate requirement to fund ten teams. |
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