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Hidden Killers 1998: The Global Landmine Crisis Chapter III: Mine-Affected Countries (continued)

THE MIDDLE EAST
[Iraq (Kurdistan)]

COUNTRY PROFILE: IRAQ (KURDISTAN)

Iraq is located in the Middle East, surrounded by Iran on the east, Kuwait on the southeast, Syria and Jordan on the west, Saudi Arabia on the southwest, and Turkey on the north. Iraq's total area is 3,631 square kilometers, with broad plains and marshes along the southern border and mountains along the Iranian and Turkish borders. The population of 22,219,289 is 75-85 percent Arab and 15-20 percent Kurdish. The economy is dominated by the oil sector, but the war with Iran in the 1980s resulted in massive expenditures that brought financial difficulties; the country suffered losses of at least $100 billion. Iraq's invasion of Kuwait and the military action and economic embargoes that followed further damaged the economy (footnote 201).

Landmine Problem

Northern Iraq (Kurdistan) is severely mine-affected. The region was heavily mined during the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war as the conflict waged throughout the region. Prior to the Gulf War, Iraqi military resources were concentrated in the south, and the northern borders were mined to protect the country from invasion. During the post-war Kurdish uprising, additional landmines were laid in the northern region.

Characterization of the Problem. The UN estimates that there are more than 10 million landmines and a large quantity of UXO in Iraqi Kurdistan. Of these landmines, 8 million are estimated to be antipersonnel and 2 million antitank. It is possible to find almost every variety of landmine manufactured around the world in Iraq. Three types of minefields have been located: regular minefields, laid both in patterns and randomly, were used to ward off army attacks; irregular minefields were laid to control population movements and disrupt communities; and defensive minefields were laid to guard military installations. Some minefields were mapped, but the army has since destroyed those records (footnote 202). The northern region is controlled by two rival Kurdish factions, neither of which has the capacity to conduct clearing or to coordinate a long-term demining program.

 

Location of Landmines. Landmines and UXO are concentrated in the northern Kurdish region, southern Iraq, and the area along the Iran and Kuwait borders, and are commonly found near water sources and in rural farmland. Mining was not restricted to borders; mines are known to be located throughout the northern region in such areas as Penjwin. In addition, the region near Basra in the southeast is heavily mined.

Impact. Following the Gulf War, IDPs and refugees returned to the Kurdish region and settled in the mountainous, heavily mined area. Landmines continue to be the primary obstacle to economic productivity; their clearance and the restoration of the land are essential to the long-term economic self-sufficiency of the region. The presence of landmines has allowed only 50 percent of agricultural land to be cultivated in the region, and in the governorate of Sulaimania alone only 40 percent of the land is usable. Simple chores such as herding animals and collecting firewood have become life-endangering activities (footnote 203).

Casualties. According to hospital statistics, between January 1991 and December 1996, there were 6,715 reported landmine-related casualties, including 2,391 deaths and 4,324 injuries (footnote 204). These numbers probably represent only a fraction of the total, because the records are kept at hospitals, and many victims who are injured in rural regions do not have transportation to make the long journey to a medical facility. HI reports that 30 percent of victims die before reaching hospitals, and most of those who do reach hospitals require amputation (footnote 205).

Country Response

Organization for Demining. The Iraqi government has no known program for demining. The demining activities that have been conducted in Iraq have been in the autonomous Kurdish region in the north.

Mine Clearance. MAG is currently the only organization conducting clearance in northern Iraq. MAG, with financial assistance from the British, Dutch, and Swedish governments, the European Community, and other donors, has been working in the region since 1992, employing almost 500 personnel who work from operational bases at Choman, Diyuna, Halabja, Penjwin, and Chwarta. MAG focuses its work on those areas that pose the greatest potential risk to civilians. It has cleared 1.2 square kilometers of land in 96 of the more than 2,200 minefields that have been recorded, removing more than 37,000 landmines and 2,146 tons (143,493 pieces) of UXO. MAG expects to identify all minefields and remove all heavy concentrations in the region over the next several years (footnote 206).

Mine Awareness. UNICEF and MAG have worked to develop and implement mine awareness programs in northern Iraq. A Community Mine Awareness Program, operating since 1992, focuses on communities that are at high risk in order to give them village-specific information to help reduce accidents while the community waits to be cleared; school children and local governments have been the targets of these programs. Exercise books, visual aids, and other teaching materials have been distributed to schools and, in 1997, UNICEF, MAG, and local officials cooperated to produce a mine awareness sketch book for use in primary schools to help children identify landmines and teach them strategies for avoidance. Despite these programs, Iraqis continue to act recklessly toward landmines; it is common to find Iraqis shooting at landmines, burning minefields, and children collecting landmines (footnote 207).

Victim Assistance. The ICRC has begun to assist the Ministry of Health to meet the needs of amputees. The government's orthopedic centers in Basrah, Najef, and Baghdad were renovated by the ICRC in order to produce prostheses; the Iraqi Red Crescent has opened a center in Mosul; and the French Red Cross partially financed the construction of a center in northern Iraq. In 1996, 1,258 prostheses were manufactured, and prostheses were fitted for 1,203 new amputees (footnote 208).

Other International Involvement

The UN Office of the Humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq has made special provisions under UN Security Council Resolution 986 to grant $2.5 million for mine-related activities. Following its field assessment mission in 1997, the UN developed a provisional project proposal for mine actions in northern Iraq.

Outlook for the Future

The MAG-conducted demining program in the autonomous Kurdish region has resulted in the removal of a small proportion of the landmines and UXO in the region. More mine awareness education is needed to reverse the Kurds' cavalier attitude toward landmines, and more readily available medical treatment is needed to reduce the death rate among landmine victims. Additional involvement from the UN and the international community should increase the rate of clearance and allow the region to begin building a self-sustaining economy.

 

 

Footnotes

201. CIA, 1997 World Fact Book, Iraq, http://www.odci/cia/gov.publications/factbook/bk.html, March 20, 1998.

202. Mines Advisory Group, "Iraqi Kurdistan," http://www.mag.org.uk./kurd1.html, February 26, 1998.

203. UNDHA, Landmine Database. Country Report: Iraq,http://www.un.org/depts/landmine/country/iraq.htm, September 13, 1996.

204. Mines Advisory Group, "Iraqi Kurdistan ö The Local Context," http://www.oneworld.org/mag/kurd4a.html, March 18, 1998.

205. UNDHA, Landmine Database. Iraq, op. cit.

206. Polly Brennan, "Demining Activities in a Fluid Region," Landmines Magazine. Demining News from the United Nations, Vol. 2.2, May 1997, http://www.un.org/Depts/Landmine/ NewsLetter/2_2/mag.htm.

207. UNICEF, Antipersonnel Landmines: Policies, Strategies and Programmes, op. cit.

208. ICRC, Assistance to Mine Victims, op. cit.

[End of Section]

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