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Hidden Killers 1998: The Global Landmine Crisis
Chapter III: Mine-Affected Countries |
AFRICA
[Angola | Eritrea | Mozambique | Namibia | Somalia | Sudan]Angola, with an area of 1,246,700 square kilometers, is located in southern Africa, bordering the South Atlantic Ocean on the west and lying between Namibia to the south, Zambia to the east, and Zaire and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north. It has a semiarid climate in the south and along the coast and a narrow coastal plain that rises abruptly to a vast interior plateau. The country is administratively divided into 18 provinces, with Luanda, the capital, located on the northern coastline. Prior to three decades of civil war, subsistence agriculture provided the main livelihood for 80-90 percent of the population but accounts for only 12 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP); approximately 2 percent of the land is arable. As a result of the war, most of Angola's population has fled the countryside and is concentrated in Luanda and the large provincial capitals. A mid-1997 estimate placed the population at 10,548,847 (footnote 6).
Landmine Problem
More than three decades of almost constant internal conflict have left Angola with one of the world's most serious landmine problems. Civil war has been the norm since 1975. Portuguese, Cuban, and South African forces are known to have deployed landmines, but the overwhelming responsibility lies with the National Union for the Liberation of Angola (UNITA) and the Angolan Armed Forces (FAA) (footnote 7).
Characterization of the Problem. The UN estimate of 10 to 15 million landmines in Angola is most often cited, but no comprehensive national survey has yet been completed (footnote 8). The source of the original baseline data remains unknown and the actual number of landmines may never be determined, although 6 million appears to be a more reasonable figure (footnote 9). Some NGOs, based on current clearance experience in Angola, consider the official estimates to be highly exaggerated and believe they should be lowered to less than a million. (The Hazardous Area Life-Support Organization [HALO] Trust placed the estimate at less than 500,000 in 1997 (footnote 10).) Complicating the issue is the fact that landmines continue to be laid in areas contested between UNITA and the FAA. Approximately 60 different types of antipersonnel and antitank landmines have been found during clearance operations in Angola (footnote 11)
Location of Landmines. There are six to eight heavily mined provinces in Angola covering roughly 50 percent of the country in a band from the northwest border with the Congo to the southeast border with Namibia.footnotes 12, 13 Minefields were planted to destroy infrastructure and are concentrated around roads, railways, bridges, and public facilities such as schools, churches, water supply points, and health care facilities. Cuando Cubango province in the southeast has been largely abandoned due to landmine infestation. Most major roads have been demined, but travel by vehicle is extremely dangerous anywhere on the national road network due to bandit attacks. Consequently, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) has been unable to deliver food overland in certain areas; humanitarian efforts to repatriate refugees are particularly dangerous.
Impact. Angola has abundant natural resources, but the economy is in disarray with output per capita among the world's lowest; food production in some areas has been reduced by more than 25 percent. Despite the 1994 Lusaka Accords between the FAA and UNITA, sporadic violence continues, and many farmers are reluctant to return to their fields (footnote 14). Landmines have made resources inaccessible and are a major hindrance to the implementation of humanitarian aid programs, economic reconstruction, and internal movement and resettlement of IDPs, refugees, and demobilized soldiers. While more than one million IDPs have returned to their homes since 1994, the UN estimates that there are still more than 900,000 IDPs in Angola. In addition, the UNHCR estimates that 240,000 Angolan refugees still remain in bordering countries.
Casualties. In 1995, the UN estimated that 1.5 percent of the population had been injured in landmines or UXO incidents (footnote 15). With one amputee per 334 inhabitants (more than 70,000 victims, mostly women and children), Angola has one of the two highest rates of amputees in the world (footnote 16), although it is not absolutely clear that all of these are mine-related injuries. Lack of a national-level victim database hampers casualty estimation, but, in the past two years, the ICRC and the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) have estimated that there are at least 120 new landmine victims per month in Angola (footnote 17).
Country Response
In the past, Angolan mine action activities have suffered from lack of coordination and support between UN organizations as well as the Angolan government. Now, however, the government, supported by the UN Development Program (UNDP) and activities of various NGOs (see below), is making solid progress in identifying minefields, conducting mine awareness training, and training demining personnel. In 1997, a two-year Mine Action Program was agreed upon between the UNDP and the government. Transfer of responsibility for all mine action activities to the government is expected in 1999.
Organization for Demining. A UN Central Mine Action Office (CMAO) was established in 1994, in cooperation with the UN Angolan Verification Mission (UNAVEM) III. In 1995, the government established the National Institute for the Removal of Explosive Obstacles (INAROE) to coordinate NGOs and its own activities. After termination of UNAVEM III in 1997, responsibility for UN demining activities was transferred to the UNDP, and the CMAO became the UN Demining Program-Angola (UNDPA). UNDPA continues to develop a comprehensive mine action plan modeled on operations in Mozambique, Afghanistan, and Cambodia. Technical assistance and support for INAROE are provided through UNDPA.
Mine Clearance. Until 1996, 100 percent of all demining in Angola was conducted by international NGOs. Since 1996, CMAO/UNDPA and INAROE have raised four regional headquarters and seven demining brigades (a total of 16 manual clearance teams) to supplement this capability. Plans to expand the number of brigades to 18 by 1999 are dependent upon funding from the Angolan government and donor countries (footnote 18).
International NGOs and private organizations, such as the Norwegian Peoples Aid (NPA), Mines Advisory Group (MAG), Stiftung Menschen gegen Minen (MgM), The HALO Trust, Stiftung Sankt Barbara, Cap Anamur, and Mechem, provide an extensive mine clearance capability in Angola in support of UNDP and INAROE mine action programs. Not all NGO efforts are coordinated or funded through CMAO/UNDPA or INAROE, and INAROE efforts at coordination have achieved only limited success, given the large number of international organizations and NGOs active in the country. The U.S. State Department is supporting the release of excess property for use by MgM to support clearing and reopening of previously mined roads and bridges. Some NGOs have been suspended from demining operations in Angola because of serious accidents and a lack of adequate supervision.
An extensive mine survey program is now being conducted by INAROE, NPA, and other NGOs to address the lack of reliable information on the location of landmines. Earlier attempts to use NGOs to conduct surveys suffered from lack of support from UNAVEM III and the government. Under the current program, initial surveys to identify mined or suspected mined areas have been completed for nine of 18 provinces, covering about 80 percent of the population. Substantial coverage has been achieved in five other provinces, and all surveys are planned to be completed by the end of 1998 (footnote 19).
Early demining plans called for the establishment of a Central Mine Action Training School (CMATS). After early startup problems-- internecine control disputes among UN entities, lost time and wasted resources, and the exclusion of certain prospective students because of factional differences between UNITA and the FAA-- CMATS completed training the first demining team in February 1996, and continues to produce fully trained deminers. CMATS was handed over to INAROE in February 1997, but it continues to receive support from the UNDP, notably technical advisors. It is envisioned that the complete transition of CMATS to INAROE will occur in 1999 (footnote 20). INAROE recently requested that all NGOs provide current training and safety procedures to CMATS so that it may establish a countrywide standing operating procedure (SOP); NGOs are currently using SOPs adapted from other countries' operations(footnote 21).
Manual clearance rates in Angola at five square meters per day are much lower than in other countries (footnote 22). Some mechanical road clearance techniques have proven successful in areas being demined by MgM, but earlier attempts to use T-55 tanks with rollers by Cap Anamur failed in demining trials. The use of dogs to improve clearance rates has been limited. NPA and other NGOs are increasing their use of dogs, and INAROE will incorporate dogs in its training program at some point (footnote 23). To date, mine clearance efforts have identified 1,766 minefields, destroyed 10,000 landmines and 70,000 UXO, and cleared 2.4 square kilometers of high priority areas and 5,000 kilometers of roadway (footnote 24). There is no research and development (R&D) for demining technologies underway in the country.
Mine Awareness. Indigenous mine education programs are now in place, and an estimated 920,000 individuals have participated in mine awareness activities. Humanitarian organizations have long provided support. CARE (Greenfield Consultants), Medicins Sans Frontieres (MSF), and the Angolan Red Cross are supporting mine awareness training for the national staff and districts. UNHCR and UNICEF support mine awareness campaigns run by MAG, Handicap International (HI), and NPA. The U.S. Government's Agency for International Development (USAID) has provided funds specifically identified for demining activities in Angola. These funds also support CARE International, MAG, NPA, Save the Children-USA, Catholic Relief Services, and World Vision International efforts in various locations (footnote 25).
Victim Assistance. Existing Angolan facilities for rehabilitation of landmine victims are grossly inadequate. Victims are often afraid to leave the confines of rehabilitative centers until the security atmosphere improves. The Swedish and Dutch Red Cross, the ICRC, Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation (VVAF), Medico International, MSF, and Gesellschaft fur Technische Zusammenarbeit mbH (GTZ) have established or are supporting rehabilitative centers in Angola. These centers concentrate upon the production and fitting of prosthetic and orthopedic devices and employ and train indigenous workers. The centers also provide some psycho-social reintegration for the victims (footnote 26).
Other International Support
UNICEF and the WFP support mine awareness as part of their ongoing programs in food distribution and education. For example, the WFP has had a project of demining in support of feeder road rehabilitation through its implementing partner MgM. The UN's Voluntary Trust Fund (VTF) for Assistance in Mine Clearance, during the period 1994-1998, has either disbursed or committed $7.5 million for projects in Angola. The World Bank provided an evaluation of the effectiveness of the earlier mine action program and reported that much remained to be accomplished.
Outlook for the Future
Angola is slowly achieving progress in establishing a viable demining program. A countrywide demining organization has been established, survey and information collection efforts are underway, and the government is expanding upon the significant international clearance effort with its own demining units. It has also developed an extremely high level of mine awareness, but incident rates will probably continue to remain high until more progress is achieved in clearing farmland and returning it to productivity. Primary care facilities are in a state of disarray, leaving much of the rehabilitative effort to the international community. Angola needs to focus on completing minefield surveys, and improving mine clearance operations, particularly with respect to the road network and rebuilding its medical and rehabilitative services. The smooth transfer of all mine action activities to the government would facilitate these efforts.
Footnotes
6. CIA, 1997 World Fact Book, Angola, http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/ag.html, March 20, 1998, 1-3.
7. UNDHA, Landmine Database. Country Report: Angola, http://www.un.org/depts/landmine/angola.htm, February 24, 1998, 8.
8. UNDHA, Landmine Database. Angola, op. cit., 7.
9. AMEMBASSY Luanda message, subject: Angola: Antipersonnel Landmines: Updating Hidden Killers, P16133OZ March, 1998, 1.
10. The HALO Trust Donor Meeting, February 10, 1998.
11. U.S. Department of State, Landmine Database. Comprehensive Report: Angola, March 11, 1998, 11.
12. UNDHA, Landmine Database. Angola, op. cit., 7.
13. AMEMBASSY Luanda, op. cit., 2.
14. CIA, Angola, op. cit., 1-3.
15. UNDHA, Landmine Database. Angola, op. cit., 6.
16. ICRC, Antipersonnel Mines: An Overview, op. cit., 1.
17. U.S. Department of State Landmine Database. Angola, op. cit., 3.
18. AMEMBASSY Luanda, op. cit., 3.
19. Idem.
20. UNDHA, Angola. The Development of Indigenous Mine Capacities, February 1998, 25-28.
21. Ibid., 30.
22. Ibid., 33.
23. Human Rights Watch, Still Killing. Landmines in Southern Africa, May 1997, 33, 49-50.
24. AMEMBASSY Luanda, op. cit., 5.
25. Idem.
26. Human Rights Watch, op. cit., 32.
[End of Section]
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