Contaminated by: landmines (massive contamination), cluster munitions (extent of contamination unclear), and other unexploded ordnance (UXO).

Mine Ban Treaty Article 5 deadline: 1 January 2020
(Not on track to meet deadline)

Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 4 deadline: 1 September 2023
(Unclear whether on target to meet deadline)

Summary

As of its latest update, the Republic of Chad identified 123 mined areas as of December 2015, but did not specify the total size. In May 2014, Chad reported 103.6km² of confirmed hazardous areas (CHAs). However, the full extent of contamination is not known, as many areas have not been surveyed. In 2016, 0.58km² was released through clearance and technical survey. 16.24km² was confirmed through survey.

The extent of cluster munition contamination is unknown, but is not believed to be heavy. No cluster munition survey or clearance was conducted in 2016, and no cluster munition remnants were identified.

Recommendations for action

• Chad needs to urgently elaborate a resource mobilization strategy to secure funding and attract international technical and operational support in order to avoid further interruption in demining operations.
• Chad should complete its nationwide survey, as soon as security allows, to enable it to provide a comprehensive estimate of its mine and cluster munition contamination, and revise its mine action strategy accordingly.

Mine Contamination

In December 2015, Chad reported it had identified a total of 123 mined areas, albeit from survey of only part of the country.[1] It expected more contaminated areas to be identified in four regions: Borkou, Ennedi, Moyen Chari, and Tibesti. Chad did not include a revised estimate for contamination in its latest Article 7 transparency report, for 2016.

In May 2014, Chad had 113 areas confirmed to contain mines with a total size of 103.5km² across five of Chad’s 22 regions, as set out in the table below. Borkou, Ennedi, and Tibesti are located in northern Chad at the border with Libya; Sila is located at the border with Sudan; and Moyen-Chari is in southern Chad at the border with the Central African Republic.

Antipersonnel mine contamination by province (as at May 2014)[2]

*100m²; CHA = Confirmed hazardous areas

In December 2015, Chad stated that demining by Mines Advisory Group (MAG) and the National Demining Center (Centre National de Déminage, CND) had released a further four areas of antipersonnel mine contamination with a total size of 0.32km² in the Tibesti region to the north, and in Sarh Kyabé, Moyen-Chari region in the south. It also reported that while “it was not possible to provide precise figures,” non-technical survey activities by MAG and Handicap International (HI) in Tibesti and in the south had identified 14 previously unrecorded mined areas,[3] bringing the total number of mined areas remaining once again to 123.

Chad’s contamination is the result of the 1973 Libyan invasion and 30 years of internal conflict. Chad’s mine action plan for 2014–2019 indicated that, based on a national technical survey conducted in 2010–2012 and information available as of May 2014, it faced a total of 787 hazardous areas covering 1,236km². This comprised of the 123 mined areas across seven regions (covering 104km²) and 664 explosive remnants of war (ERW)-contaminated areas across nine regions (covering 1,132km²). Chad reported that it had already addressed 10 mined areas and 443 ERW-contaminated areas.[4]

Mines and ERW are said to obstruct safe access to housing, roads, pastures, water points, and mining areas, especially in northern Chad. Contamination is an ongoing threat to local populations and its negative impact on the socio-economic development of Borkou, Ennedi, and Tibesti, which are among its poorest regions, is particularly severe.[5] Mined roads obstruct key transport routes, and diversions opened through potentially contaminated areas present risks to local populations seeking to access basic state services, such as medical coverage and higher education and training facilities, provided mainly in regional capitals.[6] To the south, east, and western regions, the impact of mines is thought to be relatively low, with the primary threat coming from ERW, including both UXO and abandoned explosive ordnance (AXO).[7]

In 2015 and 2016, numerous incidents involving both civilian and military casualties from “landmines,” including improvised mines planted by Boko Haram, were reported as part of the insurgency that spread from northeast Nigeria to involve neighboring areas of Cameroon, Chad, and Niger. Most reports appeared to describe use of improvised mines made by Boko Haram, which functioned as either antipersonnel mines or antivehicle mines.[8]

Cluster Munition Contamination

The extent of cluster munition contamination remaining in Chad is unknown, but is not believed to be heavy. In July 2017, MAG reported that its program in the north of the country had only found very limited evidence of cluster munition remnants.[9]

Following the end of armed conflict with Libya in 1987, unexploded submunitions and cluster munition containers were found in the three northern provinces of Borkou, Ennedi, and Tibesti; in the Biltine department in Wadi Fira region in the northeast; and east of the capital, N’Djamena.[10] In 2011, MAG found unexploded Soviet antitank PTAB-1.5 submunitions during survey in an area close to Faya Largeau.[11]

The most recent discovery of cluster munition remnants was in 2015, when MAG identified and destroyed a limited number of cluster munition remnants, including two empty RBK-250-275 cluster bomb containers in the Tibesti region and an AO-1SCh submunition in the Borkou region.[12] In January 2015, four children (three girls and one boy) were reportedly injured after handling a submunition in Faya Largeau.[13]

MAG did not encounter any cluster munition remnants in its survey and mine clearance operations in 2016 in Tibesti.[14] Likewise, HI, the only other international organization carrying out mine action activities in the country, did not report finding any cluster munition remnants in its survey operations in Borkou and Ennedi regions during the year.[15] According to MAG, there were no reports of casualties from submunitions in 2016.[16]

In May 2017, both MAG and HI reported that they had not seen any evidence of significant cluster munition contamination remaining in Chad. According to MAG, since the beginning of its activities in 2004, no area of cluster munition contamination had been reported or identified. However, MAG emphasized that the majority of the Tibesti region, thought to be one of the most heavily contaminated regions with mines and ERW, had yet to be surveyed, and that there were few local informants who might know of contamination. It also noted the possibility that cluster munition remnants might be found around ex-Libyan military bases in the future.[17]

In 2012, Chad stated that while the precise extent of cluster munition contamination was not known, it was certain the weapons had been used in the Fada region and highly likely that they had been used in other parts of the north.[18] In 2014, Chad reported that, after Libyan troops withdrew in 1987, members of the French Sixth Engineers Regiment discovered and subsequently destroyed cluster munition remnants around Libyan positions, prior to the building of the national mine action center. It reiterated its suspicion of additional contamination in the Tibesti region.[19]

Program Management

The national mine action program is managed by a national mine action authority, the National High Commission for Demining (Haut Commissariat National de Déminage, HCND), and the CND.

HI provided capacity-building support to the CND, in particular for information and quality management.

Operators

Demining operations in 2016 were conducted by the CND, MAG, and HI.

On 10 May 2017, a media source reported that 755 deminers employed by the CND began a strike over 10 months of wages that had not been paid by the Ministry of Economy and Development Planning.[20]

In 2016, MAG conducted survey and clearance of mines and ERW, focusing on Borkou, Ennedi, and Tibesti. MAG employed a total of 35 national deminers, and deployed a four-strong mechanical demining support team for its technical survey operations.[21]

HI carried out non-technical survey in three southern regions of the country thought to be contaminated by mines and ERW.[22]

Deminer safety

CND deminers had carried out several missions in the north, east, and west of the country to open roads linking Chad to neighboring Libya and Niger and to secure settlement areas, during which a number were killed and others suffered traumatic amputations in mine blasts.[23]

Strategic planning

Following the request of the Mine Ban Treaty Thirteenth Meeting of States Parties, the CND elaborated a national mine action plan for 2014–2019, with technical support from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The plan gave details on the number, location, and size of remaining mined areas, and provided the following timeline:

• In June 2015–June 2019, operations would be conducted in Borkou;
• In January 2015–April 2019, operations would be conducted in Ennedi;
• In May–December 2015, operations would be conducted in Moyen Chari;
• In September 2015–February 2016, operations would be conducted in Sila; and
• In November 2014–November 2019, operations would be conducted in Tibesti.[24]

The plan notes that Chad adhered to the Convention on Cluster Munitions but does not detail plans to clear cluster munition remnants.[25]

Standards

HI began a review of Chad’s national mine action standards for land release and quality management at the start of 2016. In September 2017, HI reported that 11 revised national mine action standards had been updated and released, following approval by the CND.[26]

Quality management

While HI continued providing technical support on quality management to the CND throughout 2016, it remained concerned that considerable further efforts were still required to establish a fully functional quality management system with adequate capacity within the CND.[27]

Information management

HI reported that while progress on information management capacity had been made in 2015, no further development was achieved during 2016, and, as of September 2017, the CND still lacked internet access, making it difficult for the Information Management System for Mine Action (IMSMA) team to carry out their daily work. HI also highlighted that, despite some improvements, further efforts were needed to consolidate data checking, correction, and validation.[28]

Land Release

In 2016, a total of nearly 0.58km² of mined area was released by clearance and technical survey, compared to 0.26km² of clearance in 2015. The amount of mine contamination confirmed by survey increased significantly to close to 16.24km² in 2016, up from 1.2km² in 2015.[29]

No cluster munition survey or clearance occurred in 2016, nor did MAG or HI report encountering any cluster munition remnants in their activities. Likewise, no cluster munition survey or clearance occurred in 2015, though MAG found and destroyed two empty cluster munition containers in Zouar and a submunition was found and destroyed by the CND in Faya Largeau in the Borkou region.[30]

Survey in 2016

MAG reported confirming six areas with a total of just over 14.63km² of mine contamination in Tibesti region in 2016.[31] HI reported confirming as mined seven hazardous areas in Borkou region, including three small areas in Faya department and two areas in Kouba department with a combined size of 1,609,500m².[32] Additionally, MAG reported that in 2015–2016, technical survey was conducted on 74 areas with an estimated size of 14,800m², but it was unable to specify the amount of technical survey carried out in 2016.[33]

In December 2016, HI carried out an evaluation of the needs for survey and clearance in Borkou and the west of Ennedi region to prepare for the start of a new four-year EU-funded demining project. It reported identifying more than 40km² of area as mined, 2.7km² as contaminated with ERW, and a total of 147 open suspected or confirmed hazardous areas, following a desk assessment of existing data, including from a 2001 Landmine Impact Survey, the IMSMA database, and operators’ records, along with a number of field visits and meetings with local stakeholders.[34]

Previously, in 2015, a total of more than 1.2km² of suspected hazardous area (SHA) was confirmed by MAG and HI as contaminated with antipersonnel mines in the Tibesti, Moyen-Chari, and Chari Baguirmi regions.[35]

Clearance in 2016

MAG reported releasing a total of 575,120m² of mined area in Tibesti region in 2016, with the destruction of 96 antipersonnel mines and 21 antivehicle mines. It stated that this figure included some area reduced by technical survey, but was unable to provide the precise amount.[36] This was an increase on land released from 2015, when MAG reported clearing 263,009m² in Tibesti region.

In total, when MAG concluded operations in 2016 under the EU PADEMIN project, which began in February 2015, it reported releasing 98 areas with a size of nearly 1.4km², along with more than 100,000m² of traffic routes.[37]

Mine Ban Treaty Article 5 Compliance

Under Article 5 of the Mine Ban Treaty (and in accordance with the six-year extension granted by States Parties in 2013), Chad is required to destroy all antipersonnel mines in mined areas under its jurisdiction or control as soon as possible, but not later than 1 January 2020. Chad is highly unlikely to meet this deadline.

Chad’s Article 5 deadline has already been extended three times. Its latest extension request, granted in 2013, noted as circumstances impeding compliance with its Article 5 obligations: lack of financial support; the size of the country and poor road network; information management problems; mismanagement at the CND; and lack of transparency in resources management; as well as security issues.

In 2014, Chad submitted its mine action plan for the extension period, which provides a more precise idea of its remaining contamination covering 103.5km² and indicates a provisional and general timetable. However, the full extent of the challenge remains unknown, as further survey needs to be conducted. This, combined with the lack of a concrete plan to complete survey and intermittent clearance in previous years, makes it very difficult to believe that Chad is capable of meeting its 2020 deadline.

In 2013, Chad was requested by States Parties to report on the result of a mid-term evaluation of its national mine action strategy by the end of 2015, and to revise the strategy on the basis of updated information, if required. It was also requested to report on an annual basis on the clarity of remaining contamination, efforts to diversify funding, efforts to improve information management, and on weather conditions that affect Chad’s ability to meet its Article 5 obligations. As of mid-2017, it had yet to do so.[38]

In early 2017, both HI and MAG reiterated that Chad will not meet its 2020 deadline unless funding for mine action and capacity significantly increases.[39] Challenges also include the distance of contamination in northern Chad and the difficult conditions, including the desert climate (high temperatures, sand, and wind) as a significant challenge for logistics and human resources, alongside a lack of capacity and internal organization of the national mine action authorities.[40]

Chad’s mine action plan for 2014–2019 foresees expenditure of US$61 million ($40 million for operations and technical assistance, $4.5 million for equipment, and $16.6 million for the CND’s running costs). Chad has planned to contribute almost one-third of total funding ($16.6 million). In 2014, Chad reported contributing $2.76 million to the CND; no funding was, though, allocated to land release operations.[41] In 2017, MAG and HI reported that the government had not provided any funding for operational mine action in recent years.[42] According to its national plan, Chad’s budget for mine action activities in 2017 is just over $10.3 million.[43]

Facing the loss of the only international donor and the cessation of mine action operations in Chad with the end of the PADEMIN project in December 2016, the securing of EU funding for a new four-year demining project starting in 2017 was critical. Under the new project, MAG was set to begin operations in Tibesti and Lac regions and HI would carry out survey and mine clearance in Borkou and the west of Ennedi region. MAG expected to increase its non-technical survey and risk education capacity, and to deploy a community liaison team for seven months.[44] The Swiss Foundation for Mine Action (FSD) was set to provide technical support to the CND to train new demining teams and increase the technical and managerial capacity of senior CND staff.[45]

Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 4 Compliance

Under Article 4 of the Convention on Cluster Munitions, Chad is required to destroy all cluster munition remnants in areas under its jurisdiction or control as soon as possible, but not later than 1 September 2023. It is unclear whether Chad is on track to meet this deadline.

The Monitor acknowledges the contributions of the Mine Action Review (www.mineactionreview.org), which has conducted the mine action research in 2017, including on survey and clearance, and shared all its resulting landmine and cluster munition reports with the Monitor. The Monitor is responsible for the findings presented online and in its print publications.