Somaliland

Mine Action

Last updated: 13 December 2017

Contaminated by: mines (medium contamination) and other explosive remnants of war (ERW).

Somaliland cannot accede to the Mine Ban Treaty or the Convention on Cluster Munitions due to its political status

Summary

As of June 2017, just over 1.6km2 of mixed antipersonnel mine and antivehicle contamination remained to be cleared. In 2016, almost 1.2km2 was released, of which 0.05km2 was reduced through technical survey and just over 1.1km2 was cleared. A total of 121 antipersonnel mines were destroyed through mine clearance and explosive ordinance disposal (EOD) spot tasks. Almost 0.09km2 was confirmed as mined.

Recommendations for action

  • Somaliland should develop a new mine action strategic plan, to follow on from the strategic plan that ended in 2016.
  • Somaliland should develop a national capacity to manage any residual threat remaining after all known contaminated areas are cleared.

Contamination

The HALO Trust reported that as of June 2017, a total of 16 mixed antipersonnel and antivehicle minefields remained to be cleared with a size of just over 1.6km2, the majority of which are barrier minefields or military base perimeter minefields.[1]

According to HALO Trust, in Somaliland antipersonnel mine contamination continued to present an ongoing threat to life among the primarily pastoralist populations, which rely heavily on agriculture and land for livestock grazing. These groups are constantly moving across Somaliland, putting herders and animals at higher risk from the threat of mines and ERW.[2]

Program Management

The Somaliland Mine Action Center (SMAC) is responsible for mine action in Somaliland.

Officially, SMAC is under the authority of the vice-president of Somaliland, who heads the interministerial Mine Action Steering Committee.[3]

HALO Trust reported that meetings with SMAC were convened on a monthly basis in 2016.[4]

Strategic planning

Somaliland had a five-year strategic plan for mine action for 2011–2016, with goals focusing on strengthened national coordination capacity, an operational Information Management System for Mine Action (IMSMA) database, clearance of high-priority minefields, and systematic victim support.[5]

The UN Mine Action Service (UNMAS)’s Explosive Hazard Management Strategic Framework for Somalia for 2015–2019 includes Somaliland.[6]

Somaliland’s latest strategic mine action plan expired in 2014.[7]

Quality management

In Somaliland in 2016, HALO Trust reported that SMAC returned to conducting formal handovers of completed cleared areas after a lack of funding prevented it from doing so in 2015. HALO Trust was working with SMAC to reduce the backlog of cleared areas awaiting handover as a result.[8]

Operators

In 2016, HALO Trust deployed three mechanical assets and employed 427 demining personnel, as well as 94 support staff and 51 temporary staff from local communities.[9]

In 2016, Mines Advisory Group (MAG) continued its arms management and destruction program across Somalia, including Somaliland.[10]

Land Release

Close to 1.2km2 of mined area was released through survey and clearance in Somaliland.[11] This compares to 2015, when approximately 1.8km2 of mined area was released through survey and clearance in Somaliland.

Survey

In 2016, HALO Trust confirmed a total of two areas with a size of just over 86,000m2 as mined and reduced close to 52,650m2 through technical survey.[12] In contrast, in 2015, HALO Trust reported canceling three areas with a total size of nearly 0.1km2 and confirming a further 2.5km2 as mined.[13]

Clearance

In 2016, HALO Trust reported clearing 12 areas of antipersonnel mine contamination with a size of just over 1.1km2 and with the destruction of 109 antipersonnel mines, 51 antivehicle mines, and 33 items of unexploded ordinance (UXO). It completed 153 EOD call-outs, resulting in the destruction of a further 12 antipersonnel mines, 18 antivehicle mines, and 132 items of UXO.[14] This was a slight decrease from 2015, when just over 1.6km2 containing antipersonnel mine contamination was cleared, with the destruction of a total of 104 antipersonnel mines, 44 antivehicle mines, and 192 items of UXO, along with a further 12 antipersonnel mines destroyed in EOD spot tasks.[15] HALO Trust reported that the decrease in clearance output was in part due to the fact that many high density areas of antipersonnel mine contamination have already been addressed and comparatively more land containing antivehicle mine contamination remains.[16]

Progress towards clearance

HALO reported that, provided operational capacity is maintained, it hoped to complete clearance of the last known and accessible mined area by mid-2019, two years later than the end-2017 date it initially reported, which it said was due to the need to reduce operational capacity and the fact that new hazardous areas were identified through survey requiring clearance.[17] Droughts affecting Somaliland at the start and end of 2016 caused delays in clearance in certain remote areas, but despite this, a large number of contaminated areas in the far west and far east were completed during the year. This will allow increased clearance in central Somaliland in 2017, and improved efficiency of clearance teams through closer support from HALO Trust’s headquarters in Hargeisa.[18]

HALO emphasized the importance of establishing a national residual capacity to address contamination found after 2019, especially due to the nature of mine-laying in Somaliland. In June 2017, HALO Trust began working with the Office of the Vice President, SMAC, and the National Demining Agency (NDA) of Somaliland to develop a five- to 10- year transition plan from an internationally funded clearance capacity to a state-funded, state-led, state-coordinated, and state-implemented capacity, with the goal of complete national ownership of the residual threat. Under the plan, HALO Trust envisioned a two-year transition phase to reduce its presence and establish full government capacity, possibly followed by a two-year mentoring phase.[19] HALO Trust stressed the necessity of coordinating any future mine action initiatives between operators, and in line with the objectives of the national ownership plan.[20]

HALO Trust reported that positive indicators towards the goal of building a nationally owned capacity to address residual contamination in 2017 included the allocation of funding for SMAC and NDA from the national budget; a growing interest from the Somaliland authorities to demonstrate functioning independent institutions; and increased awareness of the benefits of national ownership with the arrival of international companies and requests for commercial clearance, including for construction/infrastructure projects and road building.[21]

 

 

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.



[1] Email from Tom Griffiths, Regional Director North Africa, HALO Trust, 31 May 2017.

[2] Ibid.

[3] The Somaliland Mine Action Center (SMAC), “Annual Report 2011,” Hargeisa, January 2012, p. 2.

[4] Email from Tom Griffiths, HALO Trust, 31 May 2017.

[5] Response to questionnaire by Mohamed Abdulkadir Ahmed, SEMA, 19 June 2015.

[6] UNMAS, “2016 Portfolio of Mine Action Projects, Somalia,” undated; and UNMAS, “UNMAS in Somalia,” undated.

[7] Email from Tom Griffiths, HALO Trust, 31 May 2017.

[8] Ibid.

[9] Ibid.

[10] Emails from Bill Marsden, Regional Director, East and Southern Africa, MAG, 18 May and 21 September 2017.

[11] Emails from Tom Griffiths, HALO Trust, 19 and 31 May 2017.

[12] Ibid.

[13] Ibid., 25 May 2016.

[14] Ibid., 31 May 2017.

[15] Ibid., 25 May 2016. HALO Trust reported that of the total area it cleared in 2015 (3,348,989m2 of antipersonnel and antivehicle contamination), 2,079,055m2 had no contamination from antivehicle mines, 824,811m2 had no contamination from either antipersonnel or antivehicle mines, and 702,585m2 had no contamination. It stated that due to the “sporadic and sparse nature of the remaining mine threat in Somaliland most clearance tasks are very low density and some yield no landmines or explosive items though this is likely to all devices having been initiated or lifted by the local community rather than incorrect survey.”

[16] Email from Tom Griffiths, HALO Trust, 31 May 2017.

[17] Ibid.

[18] Ibid.

[19] Ibid.

[20] Ibid.

[21] Ibid.