Recommendation for action

• The Kingdom of Morocco should seek assistance to develop a functioning mine action program.

Contamination

The exact extent of contamination of the area of Western Sahara controlled by Morocco, on the west side of the Berm,[1] is not known. In the past, Morocco declared, highly improbably, that a total of 120,000km² of area was contaminated,[2] although the threat is undoubtedly significant.

Morocco’s contamination is a result of the conflict between the Royal Moroccan Army (RMA) and Polisario Front forces over Western Sahara. Morocco has reported having registered and mapped the minefields it has laid, and has pledged to clear them as soon as the conflict for Western Sahara is over.[3]

In April 2013, Morocco had identified 10 areas as having been mined by the Polisario Front since 1975: Bir Anzarane, Douiek, Gerret Auchfaght, Gor Lbard, Gor Zalagat, Hagounia, Idiriya, Imlili, Itgui, and Tarf Mhkinza.[4] It repeated this list in a voluntary Article 7 report it submitted in November 2015.[5] The area of Glibat Jadiane, which had been listed as contaminated in earlier years, was no longer included on the list of mined areas.[6]

Program Management

Morocco does not have a national mine action authority or a mine action center.

Operators

Morocco initiated major demining efforts in 2007, following an increase in the number of incidents. All mine clearance in Morocco is conducted manually by the RMA.

In March 2016, it was reported that United States (US) Marines were providing training to build the demining capacity of the RMA. US instructors covered ordnance identification, safety, basic demolition, and basic combat casualty care.[7]

The UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) has been coordinating mine action activities with both parties to the conflict. In March 2016, however, Morocco required that MINURSO international civilian personnel “leave the Kingdom of Morocco within three days.”[8] This included all international staff overseeing the UN Mine Action Service (UNMAS)-managed demining project within MINURSO, resulting in the suspension of all demining activities from 20 March 2016.[9] Morocco demanded the staff leave because UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon had used the term “occupation” to describe the situation east of the Berm during a visit to the region.[10] The Mine Action Coordination Center relocated to Tindouf, Algeria, in September 2016, from where UNMAS reported that mine action operations returned to full capacity.[11] (See Western Sahara profile for details).

Standards

Morocco has not adopted national mine action standards, but reported, most recently in April 2013, that “normal safety and environmental protection standard have been followed.”[12]

Land Release

Morocco has not reported with any detail on its release of mined areas in recent years. In its voluntary Article 7 report for 2016, Morocco reported the release of 283km² with the destruction of 288 antipersonnel mines, 170 antivehicle mines, and 1,899 explosive remnants of war (ERW).[13]

In his April 2016 report to the UN Security Council, the UN Secretary-General noted that the RMA had reported “clearing” more than 220km² of land to the west of the berm with the destruction of 9,873 items, including “anti-tank” mines and antipersonnel mines, unexploded ordinance (UXO), and small arms ammunition.[14] No further details were provided.

In April 2016, Morocco was planning to launch a new effort to clear mines from the berm that divides Western Sahara into the Moroccan-controlled area and the Polisario-controlled area. The units to be deployed were reportedly those trained by the US Marines.[15]

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.