Summary: Non-signatory Yemen last commented on the convention in May 2016, when it said it was considering accession. Yemen has participated in the convention’s annual meetings, most recently in September 2016, but abstained from voting on a key UN resolution on the convention in December 2016.

Yemen is not known to have produced or exported cluster munitions, but apparently used cluster munitions in 2009 and may still have a stockpile. Since 26 March 2015, a Saudi Arabia-led coalition has conducted military operations in Yemen against Ansar Allah (Houthi) and their allied forces that include at least 23 separate attacks using seven types of air- and ground-delivered cluster munitions supplied by three countries.

Policy

The Republic of Yemen has not acceded to the Convention on Cluster Munitions.

Yemen has expressed support for the ban on cluster munitions, but did not comment on its position on joining the convention until May 2016, when a government representative told a diplomatic conference that Yemen is considering accession due to new contamination from recent use of cluster munitions by a Saudi Arabia-led coalition of states.[1]

In December 2016, Yemen abstained from the vote on a UN General Assembly (UNGA) resolution that calls on states outside the Convention on Cluster Munitions to “join as soon as possible.”[2] Yemen also abstained from the vote on the first UNGA resolution on the convention in December 2015.[3]

Yemen participated in two meetings of the Oslo Process that produced the convention (Lima in May 2007 and Belgrade in October 2007) and expressed its support for work to prohibit cluster munitions.[4] It did not attend the negotiations of the convention in Dublin in May 2008 or the Convention on Cluster Munitions Signing Conference in Oslo in December 2008.[5]

Yemen participated as an observer in the convention’s annual Meetings of States Parties in 2011, 2013, 2014, and the Sixth Meeting of States Parties in Geneva in September 2016.

Yemen has voted in favor of UNGA resolutions expressing outrage at the use of cluster munitions in Syria, most recently in December 2016.[6]

Yemen is a State Party to the Mine Ban Treaty. It is not party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons.

Production, transfer, and stockpiling

Yemen is not known to have produced or exported cluster munitions.

Evidence that came to light in 2013 and 2014 (detailed below) indicates that Yemen likely used RBK-series cluster bombs in 2009. It may still have a stockpile of the weapons.

Jane’s Information Group reported in 2004 that KMGU dispensers that deploy submunitions are in service with the country’s air force.[7] Moldova exported 13 220mm Uragan multi-barrel rocket launch systems to Yemen in 1994, and Yemen possesses Grad 122mm surface-to-surface rocket launchers, but it is not known if the ammunition for these weapons includes versions with submunition payloads.[8]

Use

On 26 March 2015, a Saudi Arabia-led coalition began a military operation in Yemen against Ansar Allah (Houthi) and their allied forces that was continuing as of 1 July 2017, despite multiple ceasefire agreements in 2016 and repeated calls for ceasefire agreements in 2017.[9] None of the states participating in the Saudi Arabia-led coalition—Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Morocco, Pakistan, Qatar (until June 2017), Sudan, and UAE—are party to the Convention on Cluster Munitions.

Human Rights Watch (HRW), Amnesty International, and others have documented evidence of at least 23 cluster munition attacks in the conflict involving the use of seven types of air-delivered and ground-launched cluster munitions manufactured and exported by three countries, as the following table shows.

Cluster munitions used in Yemen since April 2015[10]

Use during the past year

In the second half of 2016 and the first half of 2017, only a few incidents of cluster munition use were recorded in Yemen. The Saudi-led coalition used Brazilian-made ASTROS II cluster munition rockets in Saada governorate on at least three locations, most recently in February 2017, according to investigations by Amnesty International and HRW.[11]

On 5 October 2016, a fisherman in the coastal village of al-Hayma was killed in a CBU-105 Sensor Fuzed Weapon attack.[12]

There were a few instances of alleged cluster munition use in the period, but it was not possible to verify the evidence or conclusively determine responsibility for the attacks.[13] While other cluster munition use likely went unrecorded, overall the use in Yemen appeared limited compared to the widely-condemned attacks in 2015 and the first half of 2016 using various types of cluster munitions.

In September 2016, States Parties to the Convention on Cluster Munitions issued a joint declaration stating that they “condemn any use by any actor” and expressing deep concern at “any and all allegations, reports or documented evidence of the use of cluster munitions, most notably in Syria and Yemen in the past year.”[14]

On 15 June 2017, the European Parliament (EP) adopted a resolution condemning the Saudi-led coalition airstrikes in Yemen, including its use of cluster munitions. It adopted similar resolutions on 25 February 2016 and 9 July 2015 condemning the coalition’s use of cluster munitions in Yemen.[15]

All of the convention’s presidents have issued statements condemning the use of cluster munitions in Yemen since 2015, including Germany’s Ambassador Michael Biontino, who is president-designate of the Seventh Meeting of States Parties to be held in Geneva in September 2017. The UN, the ICRC, and the Cluster Munition Coalition (CMC) have condemned the use of cluster munitions in Yemen. In March 2017, the CMC launched a campaign to encourage Yemen and Saudi Arabia to join the Convention on Cluster Munitions and for the Saudi coalition to cease the use of cluster munitions in Yemen.[16]

In May 2016, Yemen informed a meeting of Mine Ban Treaty States Parties that its mine clearance program has been set back by the conflict since March 2015, which has generated new contamination, including from cluster munition remnants.[17]

Earlier cluster munition use by the Saudi-led coalition

Between April 2015 and February 2016, the Saudi Arabia-led coalition used CBU-105 Sensor Fuzed Weapons in seven attacks.[18] The UAE has denied using CBU-105 Sensor Fuzed Weapons in Yemen.[19] Saudi Arabia’s coalition spokesperson Brig. Gen. Ahmed Asiri said the coalition used CBU-105 Sensor Fuzed Weapons once, in April 2015, but not in a populated area and claimed they are not prohibited weapons.[20]

The CBU-105 is the only cluster munition still exported by the US, but only on the condition that they are not used in civilian areas. The weapon must also have a failure rate that results in less than 1% unexploded ordnance.[21] In May 2016, the Obama administration suspended US cluster munition transfers to Saudi Arabia following reports of civilian harm in Yemen.[22] Cluster munitions are not part of a major 2017 arms deal by the US with Saudi Arabia. On 30 August 2016, CBU-105 manufacturer Textron Systems announced that it is stopping its production of the weapons, effectively ending US production of cluster munitions, as it was the last producer.[23]

Investigations by Amnesty International showed coalition use of United Kingdom (UK)-made BL755 cluster munitions remnants in 2015 and the first half of 2016.[24] In December 2016, Saudi Arabia finally admitted to using UK-produced cluster munitions in Yemen and said the coalition would no longer use them.[25] This marked the first time that UK-made cluster munitions have been used since the Convention on Cluster Munitions, to which the UK is party, took effect in 2010. Until December 2016, the UK denied evidence detailing Saudi-led coalition use of cluster munitions in Yemen, when the British Minister of Defence Michael Fallon admitted in parliament that the coalition had used “a limited number” of UK-supplied cluster munitions in the conflict.[26] The UK has publicly disclosed that its last transfer of BL755 cluster munitions to Saudi Arabia was in 1989.[27]

Other use

During 2009, Saudi Arabia, the US, and likely the Yemeni government, used cluster munitions in separate attacks in Yemen:

• The Saudi air force conducted airstrikes and Saudi armed forces intervened on the ground in late 2009 in Saada governorate after fighting between the government of Yemen and Ansar Allah intensified and spilled over the border with Saudi Arabia.[28] Remnants of CBU-52 cluster bombs were filmed near Saada City.[29]
  
• In 2013, the Houthi administration in Saada provided VICE News with photographs showing remnants of Soviet-made RBK-250-275 AO-1SCh cluster bombs and associated antipersonnel fragmentation submunitions.[30] Yemen’s Soviet-supplied aircraft are capable of delivering Soviet-made RBK cluster bombs.

On 17 December 2009, the US used at least five ship- or submarine-launched TLAM-D cruise missiles, each containing 166 BLU-97 submunitions, in an attack on al-Ma‘jalah in Abyan governorate in southern Yemen. The attack killed 55 people, including 41 civilians living in a Bedouin camp.[31] Neither the US nor the Yemeni government has publicly confirmed or denied the use.[32] The government of Yemen accepted a 2010 report into the attack by the Yemeni parliament, but does not appear to have implemented the recommendations to clear the contaminated area and provide compensation for the casualties caused and property damaged.[33]

Policy

The Republic of Yemen signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 4 December 1997 and ratified it on 1 September 1998. It entered into force on 1 March 1999.

Yemen enacted legislation to enforce implementation of the Mine Ban Treaty on 20 April 2005.[1] It last referred to Presidential Law No. 25 in its 2007 transparency reports for the Mine Ban Treaty, and continued to omit any reference in its 2017 report.[2]

Yemen last submitted an annual Article 7 transparency report for the treaty in March 2017.[3] This was its first Article 7 report since 2014.

Yemen has participated in all of the Mine Ban Treaty’s Review Conferences, including the Third Review Conference in Maputo, Mozambique, in June 2014. It has attended every Meeting of States Parties of the treaty, most recently the Fifteenth Meeting of States Parties in Santiago, Chile, in November–December 2016. Yemen has participated in most of the treaty’s intersessional meetings in Geneva, including in June 2017.

In November 2016, Yemen told States Parties that the ongoing conflict that began in March 2015, when a Saudi Arabia-led coalition of nations began a military intervention against Houthi forces in Yemen, has prevented the operation of its humanitarian mine clearance program.[4] Yemen said that some emergency mine clearance tasks have been undertaken.

Yemen is not a party to the Convention on Cluster Munitions. It is also not a party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons.

Production, transfer, stockpile destruction, and retention

Yemen has stated that it has never produced or exported antipersonnel mines.

Yemen has destroyed a total of approximately 108,000 antipersonnel mines from its stocks. It reported destruction of 74,000–78,000 stockpiled antipersonnel mines in April 2002.[5] An additional 30,000 mines found in November 2006 were destroyed in December 2007.[6] In April 2017, Yemen reported that “there are no stockpiled anti-personnel mines found after the last 30.000 mines found and destroyed in 2006.”[7]

In 2017, Yemen again reported the retention of 3,760 antipersonnel mines of four types for training and research purposes, the same quantity and types declared retained since 2008.[8] Yemen has never reported on the intended purposes and actual uses of its retained mines, as was agreed by States Parties in 2004.[9]

Three types of antipersonnel mines produced in the 1980s have been used in Yemen since 2013: PPM-2 mines manufactured in the former East Germany, GYATA-64 mines made in Hungary, and Bulgarian-made PSM-1 bounding fragmentation mines.[10] The last type was found in its 1980s-vintage factory packaging in an arms bazaar in the town of Marib in 2015. None of these mines was among the four types of antipersonnel mines that Yemen has reported stockpiling in the past, including for training mine clearance personnel.

The evidence of further use of these antipersonnel mines in 2016 suggests either that the 2002 declaration to the UN Secretary-General on the completion of landmine stockpile destruction was incorrect, or that these mines were acquired from another source after 2002.

In a September 2016 letter, Yemen’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Sanaa, controlled by the Houthis and the General People’s Congress, alleged that individuals had smuggled weapons, including landmines, into Yemen in recent years, noting that the government had not been able to control its land or sea borders due to instability and fighting.[11] In April 2017, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs denied that the Sanaa-based Ministry of Defence stockpiles antipersonnel mines.[12]

Use

New Use

It is not clear if antipersonnel landmines were used in Yemen in 2017, but new use was recorded during 2016 and in previous years.

In April 2017, Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported evidence of new use of antipersonnel landmines in in the governorates of Aden, Marib, Sanaa, and Taizz in 2015–2016.[13] It attributed responsibility for this mine use to Houthi forces and forces loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh. In September 2016, HRW reported Houthi-Saleh forces’ use of antipersonnel mines in Aden, Abyan, Marib, Lahj, and Taizz governorates in 2015–2016.[14] HRW also reported that the Islamist armed group Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), which is also a party to the conflict, used antipersonnel mines in Yemen in 2016.[15]

In its reporting, HRW detailed the use of PPM-2 antipersonnel mines, GYATA-64 antipersonnel mines, and OZM-72 landmines. It reported the use of a Claymore-type directional mine with Chinese-language markings, but said it is unclear if the mine was victim-activated or command-detonated. HRW also reported the use of improvised mines, which are sometimes referred to as improvised explosive devices (IEDs) or booby traps. Victim-activated IEDs fall under the definition of an antipersonnel landmine and are prohibited by the Mine Ban Treaty.

On 2 April 2017, Yemen’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which is controlled by the Houthis and Saleh’s General People’s Congress Party, denied that Houthi-Saleh forces had used antipersonnel landmines, affirming the Sanaa-based authorities are “vigilant in abiding by [their] commitments” under the Mine Ban Treaty.[16]

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that “armed factions and terrorist groups” have produced and used improvised landmines in Yemen. It said that after the current conflict ends, the Sanaa-based authorities are prepared to create a committee to investigate the use of landmines in Taizz and to investigate any new information or documentation on the use of antipersonnel mines elsewhere, and to “take the necessary steps in accordance with national laws and regulations and its international obligations.”[17]

On 24 April 2017, the president of the Mine Ban Treaty’s Sixteenth Meeting of States Parties, Ambassador Thomas Hajnoczi of Austria, called on those using antipersonnel mines in Yemen to “immediately halt their use” of these “forbidden weapons.”[18]

In early 2017, a UN Panel of Experts on Yemen reported that Houthi-Saleh forces have used victim-activated IEDs that deployed antivehicle mines as the main charge in Taizz.[19] Antivehicle landmines claimed casualties in Bayda governorate in October 2017 and Jawf governorate in April 2017, but it is unclear when those mines were laid.[20]

A joint operation by a coalition of states led by Saudi Arabia against Houthi forces in Yemen was continuing as of October 2017. There has been no evidence to suggest that members of the Saudi Arabia-led coalition have used landmines in Yemen.

Previous use

The first confirmed use of antipersonnel mines by a Mine Ban Treaty State Party occurred in Yemen in 2011–2012 at Bani Jarmooz, a location north of Sanaa, during the popular uprising that led to the ousting of then-President Saleh.[21] According to witness testimony and other evidence, GYATA-64, PMN, and PMD-6 antipersonnel mines were laid around the camps of the government’s Republican Guards at Bani Jarmooz in late 2011.[22]

In November 2013, the office of Yemen’s prime minister admitted a “violation” of the Mine Ban Treaty occurred in 2011.[23] Yemen provided Mine Ban Treaty States Parties with an interim report on 29 March 2014 detailing plans to clear the mines laid at Bani Jarmooz.[24] In June 2014, it informed States Parties that the Military Prosecutor’s Office had begun an investigation to identify those responsible for the mine use at Bani Jarmooz.[25] In mid-2014, Houthi forces seized control of Bani Jarmooz.[26] As of October 2017, the area is still not under government control.

The Mine Ban Treaty’s Committee on Cooperative Compliance has engaged with Yemen on the 2011–2012 use at Bani Jarmooz. In October 2016, the committee expressed appreciation for “the willingness of Yemen to engage in a continued dialogue, share information and clarify the situation with regard to the mentioned allegations.”[27] The committee concluded that “it would welcome updated information on efforts by the government of Yemen to carry out an investigation of the use of mines and any additional information on the use of mines within areas under its jurisdiction or control.”

Contaminated by: landmines (heavy contamination) including improvised mines, cluster munition remnants (medium contamination), and other unexploded ordnance (UXO).

Article 5 deadline: 1 March 2020
(Not on track to meet the deadline)

Not a signatory to the Convention on Cluster Munitions

The escalation of conflict after March 2015 has resulted in further mine and explosive remnants of war (ERW) contamination, including improvised mines, while at the same time halting systematic mine clearance operations and disrupting prospects for implementing plans set out in the Republic of Yemen’s second Article 5 deadline extension request. The Yemen Executive Mine Action Center (YEMAC) has become, de facto, two organizations, split between the southern city of Aden controlled by the Saudi-led coalition and Yemen’s internationally recognized but exiled government, and the capital Sanaa, under the control of the Houthi. The Sanaa office coordinates operations in the north and center of the country and the Aden office oversees operations in southern provinces. All survey and clearance of mines and ERW are conducted by YEMAC. YEMAC conducted clearance in nine of Yemen’s 21 governorates in 2016, clearing 3km², a significant increase from 2015 when only limited emergency spot clearance was conducted. A total of 16,440 antipersonnel mines were destroyed.

Recommendations for action

• YEMAC should draw up a plan for mine and cluster munition clearance, setting out priorities for survey and clearance.
• YEMAC should increase survey and clearance capacity.
• YEMAC teams should be trained in and apply land release methodologies.

Mine Contamination

Yemen’s Article 7 report submitted in 2017 stated 569 suspected hazardous areas (SHAs) covering 323km² remained and that survey was expected to identify additional contamination.[1] In a 2017 progress report, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) observed that “currently, there are very few tangible indicators measuring contamination or impact and what is available is outdated, ad hoc and often anecdotal.”[2]

Yemen is contaminated with mines from conflicts in 1962–1969 and 1970–1983, the mines that were laid in border areas between North and South Yemen before they unified in 1990, and those used in successive conflicts that erupted since 1994.[3] The extent of Yemen’s contamination is not known. Mine contamination resulted from the 2010 insurgency in northern Saada governorate led by Abdul Malik al-Houthi[4] and the 2011 insurgency around southern Abyan by militants belonging to Ansar al-Sharia, linked to al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.[5] YEMAC reported that insurgents in Saada had laid improvised mines, later clearing some but missing others.[6] In 2011, under former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, Yemen’s Republican Guard reportedly laid thousands of mines in the Bani Jarmoz area near Sanaa. The number of mines and extent of area affected remain to be determined. Information provided to YEMAC by local inhabitants in February 2014 suggested 25 villages were impacted.[7] The UN said mines were laid in the conflict that escalated in March 2015 in areas controlled by Houthi rebels and associated forces.[8] Mines were reported to have been placed in residential areas, main streets, homes, farms, and paths frequented by civilians.[9] Between the flare up in hostilities in March 2015 and mid-2016, most minelaying was carried out in Aden, Marib, and Taiz governorates, which also experienced the most ERW incidents although Abyan and Ibb governorates also experienced heavy landmine-related casualties.[10] (See Yemen’s Mine Ban and Casualty profiles for further details.)

Improvised mines have also become a significant feature of the conflict in the past decade. YEMAC reported Houthi forces emplaced improvised mines in Saada governorate during the 2006–2009 insurgency and frequently clears “cold” or abandoned devices.[11] Human Rights Watch said YEMAC had cleared improvised mines in areas from which Houthi forces withdrew near the port city of Mokha in February 2017.[12]

Cluster Munition Contamination

Yemen was already contaminated with cluster munition remnants before 2015, but the escalation of armed conflict since March 2015 has significantly increased both its extent and the threat to the civilian population, mainly as a result of airstrikes by the Saudi Arabia-led coalition. (See the Cluster Munition Ban Policy profile for further information.) YEMAC reported in 2014 it had identified some 18km² of suspected cluster munition hazards in the northern Saada governorate bordering Saudi Arabia. It also knew of other areas of contamination in northwestern Hajjah governorate that it had not been able to survey.[13]

Since the start of the latest round of hostilities in March 2015, international observers and researchers reported that Saudi coalition land and aerial bombardments using a variety of cluster munitions had struck many areas of northwestern and central Yemen, with the latest confirmed attacks occurring in February 2017.[14] YEMAC has identified heavy cluster munition contamination in Saada and al-Jawf governorates as well as additional cluster munition contamination in Amran, Hodeida, Mawit, and Sanaa governorates, including in Sanaa city.[15] Contamination was also reported in Hayran, in Hajjah governorate.[16]

Program Management

A National Mine Action Committee (NMAC) is responsible for formulating policy, allocating resources, and developing a national mine action strategy.[17] It is chaired by the Minister of State (a member of the cabinet), and brings together representatives of seven concerned ministries. The government of President Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi was driven from power in Yemen in February 2015 and moved to Saudi Arabia where he stayed for many months, putting into doubt mine action institutional arrangements.

YEMAC was established in Sanaa in January 1999 as NMAC’s implementing body with responsibility for coordinating mine action in the country.[18] It is supported by a Regional Executive Mine Action Branch (REMAB) and a National Training Center in Aden, also set up in 1999, and a REMAB in al-Mukalla (Hadramout governorate) that was added in March 2004. REMABs are responsible for field implementation of the national mine action plan. YEMAC opened a branch in Saada in April 2016.

With the upsurge of conflict in 2014, YEMAC became, de facto, two organizations, split between the southern city of Aden controlled by the Saudi-led coalition and Yemen’s internationally recognized but exiled government, and the capital Sanaa, under the control of the Houthi. The Sanaa office coordinates operations in the north and center of the country and the Aden office oversees operations in southern provinces.[19]

The UNDP deployed an international adviser to YEMAC at the end of 2014 to support planning and program management and in 2016 added a second international staff member as well as recruiting national staff in Aden, Saada, and Sanaa.[20] The UNDP planned to add another international technical adviser before the end of 2017, to be based in Aden.[21]

The UNDP embarked on a new four-year project to run from 1 July 2017 until 30 June 2020, seeking four main outcomes:[22]

• Mine and UXO contamination would be mapped and impact assessed nationwide using primary and secondary resources.
• Non-technical and technical survey is conducted and mines and ERW cleared in the priority areas identified.
• Risk education on the developing threat of mines and UXO is provided to affected communities.
• Assistance to ERW survivors is enhanced with the identification of more implementing partners to support emergency care, rehabilitation, and vocational training.

The UNDP estimated that to operate at full capacity, Yemen’s mine action program needed some US$15 million. Available funding for 2017 was estimated at around $6 million.[23]

Strategic planning

YEMAC does not currently have a strategic plan for clearance but worked with the UNDP on addressing the emergency threat to communities posed by all munitions, including mines, improvised mines, cluster munition remnants, and unexploded aircraft and ground-launched ordnance. The UNDP identified three main goals for emergency operations: preventing the situation from getting any worse; mitigating the impact of existing contamination; and for the longer term addressing Yemen’s Mine Ban Treaty obligations.[24]

Operators

All survey and clearance of mines and ERW are conducted by YEMAC. By the start of 2016, it had some 850 staff, of whom between 350 and 400 were said to be active, under the management of offices in Sanaa and Aden. These included three UXO clearance teams set up at the end of 2015 to focus on contamination in cities.[25] YEMAC recruited 50 more staff in 2016 and at the peak of its activities in November had some 550 deminers engaged in field operations.[26] By mid-2017, YEMAC reportedly had close to 800 active personnel.[27]

Danish Demining Group (DDG) has offices in Sanaa and Aden, and in 2016 provided risk education and explosive ordnance disposal training and equipment for YEMAC, mainly through its Aden office.[28]

Land Release

YEMAC conducted clearance in nine of Yemen’s 21 governorates in 2016, clearing 3km² in what the UNDP called a “quantum leap” from the previous year, when teams were able to conduct only very limited emergency spot clearance.[29] The acceleration appears to have continued in the first half of 2017 when YEMAC reportedly cleared 2.9km².[30]

Survey in 2016

Continuous conflict in Yemen since March 2015 has prevented systematic survey. The UNDP was working with Handicap International and the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD) in 2017 on a rapid survey of contamination and impact based largely on open sources.[31] YEMAC said it planned to re-survey 18 governorates over three years to 2020.[32]

Clearance in 2016

Of the 3km² of clearance in2016 most occurred in Sanaa governorate (1.3km²) though the vast majority of mines were destroyed in the south. YEMAC reportedly destroyed 189,037 items of explosive ordnance in 2016, including 16,440 antipersonnel mines, 1,048 improvised devices, and 16,750 antivehicle mines. Aden governorate alone accounted for the destruction of 16,198 antipersonnel mines and 9,476 antivehicle mines. Substantial numbers of antivehicle mines were also cleared in Hadramaut (4,779), Lahej (1,692), and Taiz (934).[33]

The UNDP reported that YEMAC cleared 2,196 unexploded submunitions.[34] Progress is hampered by lack of equipment or training in cluster munitions clearance. YEMAC reported that in areas where weather conditions have resulted in submunitions becoming covered with sand, its teams are conducting cluster munition clearance using mine detectors. Demolitions are carried out placing cleared items inside old vehicle tires and setting fire to them. The UNDP planned to bring in thermite torches as a safe alternative to explosives. YEMAC reported that bringing the torches into the country was blocked by Saudi coalition screening, and the items were being held in storage in Djibouti.[35]

In the first half of 2017, nearly 70% of the area cleared was in four governorates, including Sanaa (0.75km²), Hajjah (0.5km²), Saada (0.43km²), and Aden (0.34km²). YEMAC cleared 334 antipersonnel mines and 1,373 antivehicle mines, most in the highly conflicted governorate of Taiz (255 antipersonnel mines and 1,099 antivehicle mines).[36]

Safety

Three YEMAC deminers died in April 2016 when working on submunition clearance in Hajjah governorate. The precise cause of the detonation has not been confirmed.[37]

Mine Ban Treaty Article 5 Compliance

Under Article 5 of the Mine Ban Treaty (and in accordance with the five-year extension granted in 2014), Yemen is required to destroy all antipersonnel mines in mined areas under its jurisdiction or control as soon as possible, but not later than 1 March 2020. This is Yemen’s second extension to its Article 5 deadline and it is not on track to meet this new deadline.

In an update to its extension request submitted in 2016, Yemen underscored the challenges posed by continuing hostilities, and the lack of adequate or multi-year funding for its operations. It said: “When there is a cessation to hostilities and YEMAC has greater access to the contaminated areas, a more accurate plan will be developed with greater accuracy in determining the end date.”[38]

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.

In 2016, four donors contributed a total of US$5.3 million to support mine action activities in the Republic of Yemen. This represents an increase of 163% from 2015.[1]

International contributions: 2016[2]

Since 2012, international assistance to mine action in Yemen totaled some $15 millionand fluctuated from a low of less than $1 million in 2014 to a high of $5.2 in 2016.

Summary of support: 2012–2016[3]

Casualties Overview

The Monitor identified at least 2,104 mine/ERW casualties reported for the Republic of Yemen for 2016. Although the ongoing conflict prevented the operation of an adequate national casualty surveillance mechanism, the Monitor recorded the details of 161 casualties, of which 67 were killed, 79 injured, and the outcome for 15 was unknown. These casualties were identified from the following sources: Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch (HRW), ICRC, Mwatana for Human Rights, the Geneva Center for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD), and various media sources. Several other organizations reported that they had provided assistance to mine/ERW survivors, but either did not record or share causality data details.

The ICRC reported the largest number of casualties in 2016 of any source for Yemen, with 2,037 people injured by mines/ERW admitted into 46 ICRC-supported hospitals.[1] However, no demographic details were available for casualties in ICRC-reported statistics for persons wounded in Yemen.

Among the 161 casualties with additional details recorded by the Monitor (67 killed, 79 injured, and 15 of unknown outcome), 63 were male, 13 female, and 85 of unknown gender. Seventy-two were adults, 41 were children, and 48 were unknown (51 men, eight women, 12 boys, five girls, and 85 unknown).

The majority, 103, were caused by antivehicle mines, 26 by antipersonnel mines, five by improvised mines, nine by unspecified mines. Eighteen were caused by unexploded submunitions. However, this data is not necessarily representative of the type of devices that caused the most casualties, as different sources had different areas of focus (Amnesty International reported specifically on cluster munitions, and GICHD reported specifically on antivehicle mines).

Among the five casualties that were reported to have resulted from improvised mines, some were described as having been constructed from manufactured mines. These included antivehicle mines adapted to detonate as antipersonnel devices and multiple interconnected mines, or so-called daisy-chained IEDs.

Ninety-three of the identified casualties were civilians, while 21 were military. Seven demining casualties were identified. The civil status of 40 casualties was unknown.

Several sources noted that many hundreds, or some thousands, of casualties resulting from mine/ERW incidents occurred in Yemen in 2016.

HRW reported that mines appeared to have killed and injured hundreds of civilians.[2] In February 2017, the health ministry of Yemen based in Aden, told HRW that, following an end to hostilities within the city in mid-2015, Aden’s hospitals were receiving about seven to eight landmine casualties weekly, and continued to receive landmine casualties.[3] From late April to June 2016, a hospital in Taizz was reported to have treated 50 people who had one or more limbs amputated, all believed to have been caused by landmines.[4]

During 2016 and early 2017, the Yemen Mine Action Center’s (YEMAC) office in Sana’a registered 1,020 casualties, but as the Information Management System for Mine Action (IMSMA) had not been functioning since the beginning of 2016, YEMAC was unable to provide details for these casualties.[5] The YEMAC office in Aden registered 566 casualties up to March 2017. Of these, 528 were men, 36 were women, and two were children.[6] Of the 566 casualties, 101 people had lost one or more limbs.[7]

UNICEF’s Country Task Force on Monitoring and Reporting Mechanism on grave child rights violations collects information about mine/ERW survivors, but as of June 2017 no information was available.[8]

The Yemen Association for Landmine Survivors (YALS) reported that 26 survivors requested assistance in 2016, but it was not reported whether these survivors were all injured as a result of mine/ERW incidents that occurred in 2016. Fourteen were men, seven were boys, one was a woman, and four were girls.[9]

The 2016 total of 2,037 mine/ERW casualties is more than double the 988 reported for 2015, including the ICRC-reported statistic of 812 persons wounded by mines/ERW admitted to healthcare facilities in 2015.[10] Those casualties were reported to have occurred during 2015, and thus were included in the Monitors’ annual global total of persons injured for that year.[11] In 2014, the Monitor identified 24 casualties from mines/ERW from YEMAC casualty data and other sources. The ICRC reported that five mine/ERW casualties received treatment in 2014.[12] However, there was likely significant underreporting due to the challenges facing data collection caused by the intensified armed conflict.[13] Prior to 2015, the casualty total for 2012 of 263 casualties was the highest annual number recorded by the Monitor for Yemen since research began in 1999, and was due to the conflict and increased population movement in that year.[14]

Through the end of 2016, there were at least 8,958 mine/ERW casualties identified in Yemen.[15] A Landmine Impact Survey (LIS) identified 4,904 casualties through July 2000, of which 2,560 people were killed and 2,344 were injured.[16] In 2010, it was reported in the media that there had been 35,000 mine/ERW casualties in Yemen since 1995.[17]

Cluster munition casualties

In 2016, 38 casualties of cluster munitions were reported in Yemen.[18]

Of this total, 20 were casualties of cluster munition attacks: at least 10 people were killed in attacks (one man, one boy, five children of unknown gender, and three of unknown age and gender), and 10 were injured (one man, one child of unknown gender, and eight of unknown age and gender).

Unexploded submunitions resulted in 18 casualties. Eight people were killed by submunitions (three men, two boys, one child of unknown gender, and two of unknown age and gender) and 10 people were injured (two men, four boys, one child of unknown gender, and three casualties of unknown age and gender).

Of the total cluster munition casualties reported in 2016, 84% (32) were civilians, three were deminers, and three were of unknown civil status. Cluster munition casualties were reported in Hajjan, Sa’ada, and Sana’a provinces.

The 38 cluster munition casualties reported in 2016 represented a decrease in the 104 reported in 2015. The number of casualties reported as a result of cluster munition attacks reduced from 94 to 20. However, the number of unexploded submunition casualties increased from 10 in 2015 to 18 in 2016.

Prior to the 2015 new use of cluster munitions, a cluster munition attack in Yemen in December 2009 was reported to have killed 55 people, including 14 women and 21 children.[19] In 2013, it was reported that unexploded submunitions remaining from the 2009 attack had killed four civilians and injured 13 in two incidents, one in December 2009 a few days after the attack and the other in January 2012.[20]

Summary action points based on findings

• Revise and implement the National Victim Assistance Strategic Plan 2010–2015.
• Include psychosocial support in the victim assistance department’s program.
• Resume victim assistance coordination.
• Ensure that appropriate services are available outside main urban centers, and in particular in areas where survivors live.
• Improve accessibility of buildings.

Victim assistance commitments

The Republic of Yemen is responsible for a significant number of landmine survivors, cluster munition victims, and survivors of other explosive remnants of war (ERW). Yemen has made commitments to provide victim assistance through the Mine Ban Treaty.

Yemen ratified the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) on 26 March 2009.

In 2016, the Yemen Mine Action Center (YEMAC) identified 4,003 mine/ERW survivors in Yemen (2,604 men, 600 women, and 799 children).[1] YEMAC Aden reported an additional 566 survivors (528 men, 36 women, and two children) registered in 2016–2017.[2] 

Victim assistance since 2015

Each year, the victim assistance department’s program planned to reach a set number of survivors, though it nearly always fell short of meeting its target. Survivors not assisted through this program have faced significant challenges to access assistance due to the centralization of services in urban centers, far from where most survivors are. Women have faced particular challenges since cultural norms generally require that they travel with a male family member.

The Yemen Association of Landmine Survivors (YALS) is the mine action center’s implementing partner for economic reintegration activities. However, there has generally not been sufficient funding to implement this component as planned. Psychosocial support has never been included in the victim assistance department’s program and has not been widely available in Yemen. Nonetheless, some local NGOs have offered this support when possible, given limited budgets.

No progress was identified in the implementation of the National Victim Assistance Strategic Plan 2010–2015 and survivors did not participate in the coordination and planning of victim assistance.

The ICRC increased its material support to physical rehabilitation centers to respond to higher demand for services for persons with disabilities in need of assistive devices. In 2016, the number of service users in ICRC-supported centers increased by 9% overall, compared with 2015.[3] The Protection and Rehabilitation Fund for Persons with Disabilities, which previously provided medicines on an ongoing basis to 54,000 people, dropped by more than half (54%) in 2015. As a result, 40% of these persons with disabilities in need were no longer receiving medication.[4]

Victim assistance in 2016

Most survivors continued to face significant challenges in accessing services, and all victim assistance implementation activities, including coordination, stopped in 2016, due to the ongoing conflict and the worsening security situation.[5]

Assessing victim assistance needs

The UNDP reported that YEMAC’s victim assistance department screened 4,003 landmine/ERW survivors in 2016, 475 of whom received direct support, including crutches, wheelchairs, and physiotherapy.[6] The UNDP stated that the estimate of total figures is based on collated hospital records and national NGOs, but that the real total is undoubtedly much higher.[7]

In 2015, 365 mine/ERW victims were registered by YEMAC, even though the security situation prevented a victim assistance survey to international standards.[8]

Previously, the last of the regular survey efforts by YEMAC had identified 3,539 landmine survivors in Yemen as of October 2013, with 700 amputees on a waiting list for prosthetic devices.[9]

Victim assistance coordination[10]

Ongoing conflict throughout 2016 caused all victim assistance activities, including coordination, to stop in Yemen. YEMAC delegated coordination with the Ministry of Social Affair’s Disability Fund (MOSUL) to YALS in 2014, but YALS lacked sufficient funding to address basic needs in its residential center, and to respond adequately to the demand for its economic inclusion and psychosocial support programs.[11]

In 2016, no significant progress was made in implementing or replacing the National Victim Assistance Strategic Plan 2010–2015 due to the conflict.[12]

Yemen submitted its Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 report for calendar year 2016, which includes some basic information on victim assistance.[13] Yemen reported that the health and the social affairs ministries, in conjunction with Yemen prosthetics center and international NGOs, conducted support programs for mine victims and trained field workers in providing prosthetic services.[14]

Survivor inclusion

In 2016, the planning and coordination of victim assistance was suspended due to the ongoing conflict, which also led up to 100 local disability organizations to cease operations.[15]

YALS livelihood activities stopped due to lack of funding.[16] As a result, survivors were no longer involved in implementing income-generating projects.

Service accessibility and effectiveness

Victim assistance activities

Emergency and ongoing medical care

Two years after the conflict in Yemen started, hospitals were running out of supplies and had to deal with disruptions of electricity and water systems. The ongoing conflict dramatically increased demand for emergency and ongoing medical care beyond the capacity of the medical system. In addition to increased demand for emergency medical care, import restrictions and local blockades prevented humanitarian aid, fuel, and medical supplies from reaching populations affected by the conflict.[17] Health facilities were also damaged during the conflict in what were reported to have been targeted attacks. MSF reported multiple attacks on their health facilities.[18] The UN reported that nearly 600 health facilities had ceased operations due to damage or lack of supplies and staff.[19] Conflict injured persons, including mine/ERW survivors, struggled to access emergency and ongoing medical care. Women faced additional challenges accessing medical care due to the lack of gender-sensitive services.[20]

The ICRC supported more than 100 hospitals and health facilities in 17 governorates with donations of medical and surgical supplies in 2016, an increase by two governorates.[21] The ICRC organized war surgery training for 57 surgeons from some 13 governorates.[22] As of May 2017, MSF managed 13 hospitals or health centers and supported another 18 health centers in Yemen.[23] Patients with war-related injuries were treated by MSF in Sa’ada, including victims of mines/ERW. From January to November 2016, 166 war-wounded patients were treated in the emergency room in Abs hospital. Regular training was provided to the medical staff in the MSF-run or -supported hospitals, including emergency care training.[24]

Physical rehabilitation

Poor security conditions and the lack of service providers were key challenges for access to rehabilitation. A lack of female rehabilitation professionals prevented women from accessing needed services.[25] The YEMAC victim assistance officer and support teams consisted of all males, which hindered the identification of women’s and girls’ rehabilitation needs.[26]

In 2016 and through 2017, YEMAC provided survivors with 162 wheelchairs and 22 pairs of crutches. YEMAC also provided physiotherapy services over the same time period.[27]

The ICRC continued to provide support to four rehabilitation centers throughout the country. Approximately 73,600 patients, including 300 mine/ERW survivors, obtained physical rehabilitation services, including assistive and mobility devices from ICRC-supported centers, 10,400 of whom were fitted with prostheses and orthoses.[28] Over 230 prostheses were delivered to mine/ERW survivors in 2016.[29] In all, 36,000 persons received physiotherapy treatment, including 135 mine/ERW survivors. In late 2016, the ICRC began constructing a new rehabilitation center in Sa’ada. The ICRC continued to sponsor formal prosthetics, orthotics, and wheelchair technology training for 19 people.[30]

Handicap International (HI) provided help to mine/ERW survivors and other persons with disabilities.[31] In 2016, HI supported three health facilities in Sana’a to provide physical therapy and delivered mobility aids and assistive devices.[32] HI staff provided physical therapy to people who had limbs amputated and needed to learn to use artificial limbs.[33]

Due to the escalation of the conflict in Yemen, UNICEF extended the geographical coverage of its project. In 2016, 155 children (112 boys; 43 girls) injured by the conflict received medical services including surgery and physical rehabilitation. In addition, UNICEF allocated an emergency fund for the referral and/or direct provision of specialized health services, such as surgery and medical treatment to children with conflict-related injuries and disabilities. However, the emergency fund was not sufficient to meet the needs on the ground.[34]

The MSF hospital in Aden provided some physiotherapy services to war-injured persons in 2016.[35] Save the Children provided 31 mobility aid devices to 31 children.[36]

Economic inclusion

As noted above, in 2016, YALS’ peer-to-peer support and livelihood activities came to an end, as YEMAC stopped being able to provide funding. YALS conducted advocacy activities with the Disability Fund to continue supporting survivors’ education in secondary schools and universities.[37]

The ICRC provided cash grants for small businesses to 100 persons with disabilities, and conducted social-inclusion projects.[38]

Psychological support

The conflict has increased the need for psychological support throughout 2016 and into 2017. Services were unable to meet the demand for counselling, peer support, and other mental health services.[39] MSF increased its mental health and psychosocial support activities across the country, with special attention to war-wounded people.[40] HI provided psychological support to war-wounded persons and their families.[41] Save the Children trained social workers and five local NGOs from Aden and Lahj on psychosocial support, and provided psychosocial support to 64 mine survivors and their families.[42] Like YALS, the Arab Human Rights Foundation ran out of funding in 2016 and could no longer provide any psychosocial support services to mine/ERW survivors.[43]

Laws and policies

Legislation protects the rights of persons with disabilities, but they were poorly enforced and discrimination remained. Although the law mandates that new buildings have access for persons with disabilities, compliance was poor.[44]

The Disability Fund in Sana’a, an independent body under social affairs ministry supervision, remained operational in some areas of the country despite limitations caused by the conflict. It provided limited basic services and supported more than 60 NGOs assisting persons with disabilities.[45]