Contaminated by: antipersonnel mines (light contamination), antivehicle mines, and explosive remnants of war. 

The Republic of Armenia has 24km² of confirmed and suspected mined area containing antipersonnel mines, antivehicle mines, or a combination of both with unexploded ordnance (UXO). Almost 4km² of this is confirmed antipersonnel mine contamination. In 2015, 0.07km² was cleared, with the destruction of five antipersonnel mines. Armenia has now developed an independent national clearance capacity, following training and support by HALO Trust under a United States (US) government grant.

Recommendations for action 

• Armenia should clarify the extent of remaining mine contamination, including in military restricted zones, and mobilize the necessary resources to finish clearance.
• Armenia should develop a national mine action strategy and set a deadline for completion of mine clearance operations.

Contamination 

Armenia has almost 6.7km² of confirmed mined area and a further 17.3km² of suspected mined area, as set out in the table below. The confirmed and suspected areas contain antipersonnel mines, antivehicle mines, or a combination of antipersonnel mines, antivehicle mines, and UXO.[1]

Of 99 confirmed hazardous areas (CHAs), 57 contain antipersonnel mines, totaling just under 3.9km². Five of the eight suspected hazardous (SHAs), totaling just over 13.5km², may also be mined. The breakdown of contamination by type is detailed in the table.[2]

Contamination as at end 2015[3]

Note: AP = antipersonnel; AV = antivehicle.

Four of Armenia’s 11 provinces still contain CHAs or SHAs. Three provinces are contaminated with both antipersonnel and antivehicle mines, while the fourth is contaminated solely with antivehicle mines, as set out in the table below.[4]

Contamination by province as at end 2015[5]

Note: *There is a small, as yet unexplained discrepancy of 400m² between the total area of CHA in this table and the previous table.

In addition, 14 CHAs and six SHAs contain only UXO. These areas, which total 1.4km² and 6.4km², respectively, are located in the provinces of Gegharqunik, Syunik, and Tavush.[6]

The Armenian Centre for Humanitarian Demining and Expertise (ACHDE) reports that 34,523 people are impacted by remaining mine and explosive remnants of war (ERW) contamination.[7] Priority for clearance is given to agricultural land.[8]

Mine and ERW contamination in Armenia is primarily the consequence of armed conflict with Azerbaijan in 1988–1994, which saw both sides use mines. The heaviest contamination is along the borders and confrontation lines with Azerbaijan, including the area in and around Nagorno-Karabakh and other territories controlled by the Nagorno-Karabakh Defense Forces. Armenia’s border with Georgia has been cleared of mines, whereas the border with Turkey, also mined during the Soviet era, is still contaminated.[9] While non-technical survey (NTS) in 2012–2013 by the Swiss Foundation for Mine Action (FSD) did not find evidence of mines outside the buffer zones in Ararat province, which borders Turkey, certain areas on the border with Turkey remain un-surveyed because they are controlled by Russian border troops.[10]

Following a Landmine Impact Survey (LIS) conducted in 2005, HALO Trust and FSD conducted re-survey in 2012 and 2013, canceling many SHAs and identifying new contaminated areas. The survey was conducted only within the internationally recognized boundaries of Armenia. Fifty SHAs that fall inside a military restricted zone were not included in the survey.[11]

Territory seized from Azerbaijan during the conflict is believed to be significantly contaminated by mines and ERW, including unexploded submunitions.[12] However, the precise extent of contamination in those districts is unknown.

Program Management

The ACHDE is Armenia’s national mine action center.[13] It is a civilian, non-commercial state organization responsible for conducting survey and clearance, and identifying contaminated areas. It can negotiate with international demining organizations, accept international funding, sign contracts, and receive international assistance.[14] The ACHDE has an advisory board, composed of representatives from the ministries of defense, emergency situations, territorial administration, and justice.[15]

Strategic planning

Armenia does not yet have a formally constituted national mine action program or strategy.[16] With the support of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in Yerevan, the ACHDE has been setting up a national mine action program, which will benefit from national funding, guided by a national strategy for mine action and mine action plan.[17]

In 2014, the ACHDE launched an initiative to help improve efficiency in coordinating and directing mine action operations, and ensure a “realistic” land release policy.[18] Criteria used to prioritize clearance tasks include the distance of hazardous areas from local communities, the intended use of land post-clearance, and the potential for development projects on cleared land. To optimize efficient deployment of resources, clearance plans are typically drawn up on a community-by-community basis.[19]

Legislation and standards 

The ACHDE reported that with support from the OSCE office in Yerevan, it began drafting national mine action legislation in 2015, and expected it to be submitted for government approval by the end of 2016.[20] The ACHDE will also propose amendments to national mine action standards covering explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) and the use of mine detection dogs (MDDs).[21]

Operators

Clearance assets deployed in Armenia in 2015 consisted of HALO Trust clearance teams and HALO-led teams from the Armenian Peacekeeping Engineering Brigade (PKEB).

HALO deployed two six-strong manual clearance teams and one three-person mechanical team, operating an armored Volvo frontloader. HALO’s manual and mechanical teams worked from January to the end of July 2015.[22]

HALO built national capacity to the PKEB so that they could manage demining operations to international standards by the end of 2015.[23] HALO conducted training courses in manual demining techniques, battle area clearance (BAC), team leader training, and International Mine Action Standards EOD Level II.[24] HALO led and supervised three manual clearance teams, each with six PKEB deminers.[25] While HALO supervised PKEB deminers in the field, their deployment schedule, support, and staff rotations were determined by the Armenian Ministry of Defense.[26] The PKEB teams worked from May to the end of October 2015.[27]

From August 2013 to January 2015, FSD implemented a capacity-development program, covering: basic EOD training; mentoring ACHDE in tasking, planning, quality assurance (QA)/quality control (QC); International Management System for Mine Action (IMSMA); reporting systems and mechanisms; data collection; and support for the elaboration of standing operating procedures (SOPs) and policy.[28] FSD withdrew from Armenia at the end of January 2015 due to lack of funding.[29]

Land Release

Total mined area released by clearance in 2015 was 0.07km², compared with 0.04 km² cleared in 2014. No area was canceled by NTS.[30]

Survey in 2015

Through survey in 2015, the ACHDE confirmed 25,201m² as mined, and one additional SHA, totaling 377m², was recorded in Syunik province.[31]

Clearance in 2015

In 2015, HALO Trust and PKEB teams cleared seven mined areas in Syunik province, totaling 65,636m², destroying five antipersonnel mines and three items of UXO.[32]

Of the total 65,636m² cleared, 33,385m² was cleared by three HALO teams during January to June 2016, and the remainder by PKEB teams, under HALO supervision.[33]

Progress in 2016

Since HALO Trust’s departure from Armenia in October 2015, only a national capacity for technical survey and clearance remains. The number of manual clearance teams was reduced to two six-strong teams of PKEB deminers and no mechanical clearance was forecast in 2016.[34] The manual PKEB teams started clearance in July 2016.[35]

In addition, six MDD teams were also being introduced in Armenia for the first time in 2016, for use in PKEB’s technical survey. The MDD project is funded by the US Department of State and private donations from US citizens with support from ITF Enhancing Human Security and the Marshall Legacy Institute.[36] As part of the project, Bosnian Mine Detection Dog Center (MDDC) trainers were leading a dog-handler integration course with PKEB dog handlers.[37] As at August 2016, training was ongoing in Syunik Marz.[38] 

Past progress 

Historically, Armenia has not reported systematically on its mine clearance operations, though detailed information was provided for 2014 and 2015. In the past, demining in Armenia has been slow and productivity rates correspondingly low, with the Ministry of Defense reporting only some 2km² of mined area cleared from 2002 to the end of 2008.[39] During 2013, only NTS was conducted (by FSD, with the support of the ACHDE).[40] In April 2014, clearance operations began again in Armenia, and continued in 2015 and 2016. Humanitarian demining was not carried out prior to this, due to a lack of donor funding.[41]

Mine clearance in 2011–2015[42]

The Monitor gratefully acknowledges the contributions of the Mine Action Review supported and published by Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA), which conducted mine action research in 2016 and shared it with the Monitor. The Monitor is responsible for the findings presented online and in its print publications.