Notes: CHA = confirmed hazardous area; SHA = suspected hazardous area; ERW = explosive remnants of war; AXO = abandoned explosive ordinance.

Mine Contamination

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is affected by antipersonnel mines and ERW, a result of armed conflict involving neighboring states, militias, and armed opposition groups, which have increased since the late 1990s.[1] According to UNMAS, at the end of 2017, a total of 36 CHAs and SHAs with a total size of 502,591m² remained to be released. There were two SHAs with a total size of just under 4,000m² and 34 CHAs with a combined size of nearly 498,500m².[2] Previously, at the end of 2016, a total of 54 CHAs and SHAs with a total size of 851,228m² remained; the total comprised seven confirmed mined areas covering just over 60,000m², and 47 SHAs covering just over 0.78km².[3]

At the end of 2017, six of the DRC’s former 11 provinces still contained confirmed or suspected mine contamination, as set out in the table below.[4]

Antipersonnel mine contamination by province (at end 2017)[5]

However, according to the Article 7 report for 2017, as of 17 April 2018, a total of 56 areas with a size of 535,359m² remained to be addressed: 27 mined areas in the nine provinces identified in its initial survey and 29 newly identified mined areas. The total of 56 areas included 16 areas with a total size of 286,640m² and 15 areas with a size yet to be determined.[6] As of 6 June 2018, the Congolese Mine Action Center (Centre Congolais de Lutte Antimines, CCLAM) reported that that a total of 58 hazardous areas with a size of approximately 600,000m² remained to be addressed. On request of the CCLAM, NPA agreed to assist with a re-survey of areas in the provinces of Bas Uele, Ituri, Maniema, North Kivu, North Ubangi, South Kivu, Tanganyika, and Tshopo.[7]

The Aru and Dungu territories in former Orientale province, have not been surveyed due to insecurity, and survey had still to be carried out as of June 2018.[8]

UNMAS reported that mine contamination remaining in the DRC in 2017 was limited and that only small numbers of antipersonnel mines were found on an annual basis by operators. Areas suspected to contain antipersonnel mines often proved to contain unexploded ordnance (UXO), abandoned ordnance (AXO), or small arms ammunition instead.[9] 

The impact of remaining mine and ERW contamination in 2017 was predominantly socio-economic. Released land is used for agriculture and settlement development, in addition to opening up access to markets, water, and firewood.[10] In 2017, in one example, clearance of the Bongala road by NPA, which is a shortcut linking Gbadolite in North Ubangi province with Gemena in South Ubangi province, reduced the travel time and distance from 185km² and up to seven hours to 155km,taking up to five hours.[11] HI reported that land released to local inhabitants in Tshopo province, which had previously been blocked from cultivation or restricted access to resources, such as water, for many years, was being put to use for socio-economic and community activities, such as the construction of houses and agriculture.[12]

Cluster Munition Contamination 

At the start of 2017, only two areas known to contain cluster munition remnants remained to be addressed in Bolomba, Equateur province, in the northwest of the country.[13] The DRC had identified these two areas in a national survey conducted in 2013, and they were released through survey and clearance in 2017.[14]

Subsequently, however, UNMAS reported that four PM-1 submunitions were found in a previously unrecorded hazardous area in Shabunda, South Kivu province. It reported that evidence from eye-witnesses and past cluster munition contamination encountered in the DRC indicated that it was a cluster munition strike from the 1980s.[15] UNMAS stated that the area would be reported to the CCLAM as a CHA.[16]

In August 2017, MAG reported finding a single submunition in Manono, Tanganyika province, which was treated as a spot task and destroyed by a demining team. MAG stated that it did not intend to do any cluster munition survey and did not expect to find any other submunitions in its area of operations.[17]

The DRC’s new National Mine Action Strategy for 2018–2019, finalized in November 2017, states that in addition to mines and ERW, “some areas contaminated by submunitions have also been reported but the areas affected remain negligible.”[18] The strategy includes among its objectives completion of survey of mine and cluster munition contamination in the Aru and Dungu territories, as yet inaccessible due to security concerns, by mid-2018.[19]

Other explosive remnants of war

The DRC is affected by other ERW as a result of years of conflict involving neighboring states, militias, and rebel groups (see the 2017 DRC Mine Action profile for details). Successive conflicts have also left the country with significant quantities of AXO.[20]

In 2018, explosive ordnance continued to pose a significant risk to civilians in the DRC, increased by the recent resurgence in armed conflict that has resulted in new ERW contamination, particularly in the eastern and central regions. UNMAS reported that a number of SHAs remained in geographically challenging areas where large numbers of internally displaced persons (IDPs) and refugees were seeking shelter.[21]

Program Management

CCLAM was established in 2012 with support from the UN Mine Action Coordination Center (UNMACC) and UNMAS.[22] Although CCLAM took over responsibility from UNMAS as the national focal point for demining in early 2016, its capacity to carry out accreditation, issue task orders, and report on mine action activities remained very limited in 2017. Its lack of capacity to manage an up-to-date national database and carry out quality management activities continued to be highlighted by operators as critical areas of concern.[23]

In 2017–2018, UNMAS was assisting MONUSCO operations and mitigating the threat from ERW through explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) operations and risk education.[24]

Strategic planning

The DRC’s national mine action strategic plan for 2012–2016 set the goal of clearing all areas contaminated with antipersonnel mines or submunitions by the end of 2016.[25] Neither goal was met.

In 2017, under CCLAM’s coordination, with support from the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD), UNMAS, and the government of Japan, a new National Mine Action Strategy for 2018–2019 was developed in a series of workshops in collaboration with mine action operators.[26] The strategy focuses on fulfilling the country’s Mine Ban Treaty Article 5 obligations by 2020, one year ahead of its 2021 deadline.[27] The strategy does not contain specific provisions on or timeframes for the completion of clearance of cluster munition remnants.[28]

The new strategy contains the following three strategic objectives: effective and efficient management of the explosive threat; ensuring the national program has the capacity to manage residual contamination in a sustainable manner; and strengthening the legal framework of the mine action program. These objectives are to be achieved through the adoption of national laws and other implementing measures, by adherence to relevant treaties, through the integration of mine action into national development and poverty reduction strategies, and as a result of the mobilization of adequate resources.[29]

Legislation and standards

There is no national mine action legislation in the DRC, based on available information. In 2017, UNMAS said it would provide technical support to CCLAM to complete the revision of the DRC’s outdated National Technical Standards and Guidelines (NTSGs) for mine action.[30] Revised NTSGs had been drafted by the middle of 2016, but were still under review as of August 2018.[31] The draft version does not contain cluster munition-specific provisions.[32]

Quality management

In 2017, CCLAM controlled external quality assurance (QA)/quality control (QC) after the handover of responsibility for quality management from UNMAS in 2016.[33] Operators reported that CCLAM carried out QA/QC on all operations and tasks in 2017; however, they also stated that CCLAM staff did not have adequate material and financial resources to plan and carry out autonomous inspection visits during the year. Operators reported having to cover some of CCLAM’s costs to allow it to carry out monitoring operations in the field.[34] 

Information management

CCLAM assumed responsibility from UNMAS for information management in January 2016. Concerns persisted over the quality of the database and CCLAM’s capacity and resources to manage it. Gaps in the data, a lack of maintenance, a lack of capacity to extract and share information from the database, and the absence of coordination meetings with operators, all remained evident in 2017.[35]

NPA held refresher training courses on information management and use of the Information Management System for Mine Action (IMSMA) database and geographic information system (GIS) for CCLAM staff during the year. It reported that while CCLAM had competent technical staff, its limited administrative and financial resources continued to adversely affect its ability to maintain the database, and that, as a consequence, a system of parallel reporting to CCLAM and UNMAS had developed. The situation even appeared to deteriorate in 2017.[36] CCLAM did not respond to requests for data in 2018.

Operators

Four international operators carried out demining operations in the DRC in 2016: DanChurchAid (DCA), HI, MAG, and NPA, along with one national clearance organization, AFRILAM, and a second national organization, AAAD, which conducted non-technical survey and mine risk education.[37]

In January–April 2017, NPA deployed five technical survey teams with a total of 22 demining personnel. From April, the project configuration changed to include both demining and the provision of risk education, with the number of technical survey teams reduced to three 15-strong teams and two four-strong risk education teams. It focused on completing clearance of SHAs in Bolomba and Ikela territories in Equateur and Tshuapa provinces, respectively.[38] NPA was the only operator to conduct area clearance of cluster munition remnants in 2017.

In 2017, MAG deployed two multi-task teams (MTT) and two community liaison teams in North and South Ubangi provinces and two MTTs and one community liaison team in Tanganyika province.Personnel totaled 26 deminers and 15 community liaison staff. MAG carried out community liaison, EOD spot tasks, battle area clearance (BAC), and other clearance activities.[39]

With support from HI, AFRILAM deployed three teams with a total of 20 deminers and two community liaison officers in 2017. AFRILAM carried out clearance and EOD spot tasks during the year; however, as funding for 2018 was unable to be secured, AFRILAM and HI’s operations ceased on 31 December 2017.[40]

Land Release (mines)

UNMAS and operators reported a total of 0.86km² of mined area released in 2017, of which 0.42km² was by clearance and technical survey, and a further 0.44km² cancelled by non-technical survey.[41] However, the DRC reported 0.45km² cleared in its Article 7 report for 2017.[42] Both figures represent an increase from the total mined area in the DRC released in 2016 of just under 0.4km² of mined area, including 0.36km² by clearance and technical survey, and a further 0.04km² by non-technical survey, largely due to a sizeable increase in cancellation by non-technical survey.[43]

Survey in 2017 (mines)

In 2017, operators cancelled a total of nearly 444,300m² by non-technical survey and reduced a further nearly 192,500m² of antipersonnel mined area through technical survey, while confirming just under 264,500m² as mined.[44] This is a large increase in survey in comparison with results in 2016 when nearly 37,700m² mined area was cancelled by non-technical survey, 127,300m² of mined area was reduced, and 120,000m² was confirmed as mined.[45]

MAG reported that its large increase in non-technical survey cancellation in 2017 was due to deploying to North and South Ubangui to address significantly overestimated SHAs, along with increased access to address areas following cutting of vegetation, enabling a larger amount of SHA to be cancelled.[46] According to NPA, its survey output increased in 2017 due to a large SHA in Bongala that proved to have very little contamination resulting in significant cancellation, and the erroneous recording of a second task as having a size of 16,000m², which in fact proved to be 160,000m².[47]

Mine survey in 2017[48]

Note: N/R = not reported; TS = technical survey.

As of August 2018, NPA was preparing to implement a project aimed at reassessing all recorded and newly reported SHAs to allow for better planning and coordination of clearance efforts.[49]

Clearance in 2017 (mines)

A total of just over 226,000m² was reportedly released by clearance in 2017, with the destruction of 32 antipersonnel mines and 3,173 items of UXO.[50] This is almost the same as clearance in 2016 (just over 230,300m²).[51]

HI reported that the significant increase in land release output by AFRILAM in 2017 compared with 2016 was due to the fact that 2016 was dedicated to the recruitment, mobilization, and accreditation of demining teams, whereas in 2017 the focus was on implementing clearance.[52]

Mine clearance in 2017[53]

The DRC reported 0.45km²cleared in its Article 7 report for 2017.[56]

Land Release (cluster munition remnants)

In 2017, a total of 3,900m² of cluster munition contamination was cleared, and a total of 242 submunitions destroyed.[57] This compares to the total of 37,903m² released though clearance and technical survey in 2016, with the destruction of 46 submunitions.[58] 

Survey in 2017 (cluster munition remnants)

One SHA with an unrecorded size was cancelled by NPA in Bolomba, Equateur province in April 2017.[59]

Clearance in 2017 (cluster munition remnants)

NPA completed clearance of the last remaining area of cluster munition contamination identified in Bolomba, Equateur province on 12 May 2017.[60] It cleared a total of 3,900m², destroying 239 submunitions in the task area. It reported that the submunitions were of the type PTAB-1M, which it said are usually dispensed from a container that holds 268 submunitions. NPA found only the loose submunitions, however, and not the container itself. It also destroyed an additional two submunitions in EOD spot tasks.[61] It did not expect that more cluster munition remnants would be found in Equateur province.[62]

In August 2017, MAG reported discovering one submunition in Manono, Tanganyika province, which was found and destroyed by a demining team as an EOD spot task. The submunition was a type MK2 submunition, similar to the United Kingdom (UK)-manufactured BL755 MK1 submunitions previously found and cleared by operators in Tanganyika province.[63]

Progress in 2018 (cluster munition remnants)

Despite the identification of submunitions in Shabunda, South Kivu province, UNMAS said there were no plans to conduct a specific survey of cluster munition contamination in 2018, though it also stated that “the discovery of CM [cluster munitions] in a location previously thought to be not contaminated would lead UNMAS to believe that the CM hazard is still present.”[64] At the end of June 2018, UNMAS reported that technical survey of the area was being carried out to determine the footprint and size of the area of contamination. It further stated, however, that it did not have funding to conduct clearance of the area following completion of technical survey.[65]

Mine Ban Treaty Article 5 Compliance

Under Article 5 of the Mine Ban Treaty (and in accordance with the six-year extension request granted by States Parties in June 2014), the DRC 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 2021. It is on track to meet this deadline. As stated above, according to its National Mine Action Strategy for 2018–2019, the DRC expects to complete its Mine Ban Treaty Article 5 obligations by 2020, one year ahead of its 2021 deadline. However, this is three years after the DRC previously expected to complete clearance.

In 2018, UNMAS and operators confirmedthat with existing mine action capacity and the maintenance of sufficient funding, the DRC could complete clearance of all contamination in the remaining provinces of Bas-Uele, Equateur, Ituri, Maniema, North-Kivu, Tanganyika, Tshuapa, Tshopo, and South and North Ubangi, before its extended Article 5 deadline of 1 January 2021.[66]

The DRC’s first Article 5 deadline request in 2011 largely blamed poor survey by demining operators for the failure to meet its deadline, though poor management and insufficient national ownership of the program were also major factors.[67] Initially intending to submit a request for an extension of its initial November 2012 deadline by four years, the DRC instead requested a 26-month interim extension primarily to carry out the national survey to provide it with the information needed to submit another definitive extension request in 2014.[68]

In April 2014, the DRC submitted a second request to extend its Article 5 deadline starting in January 2015. The extension indicated that at least 30% of the total mined area could be released through technical survey, indicating that some 1.3km² would need to be cleared.[69] The extension request estimated that on average 0.21km² would be cleared each year.[70]

The purpose of its current (second) Article 5 deadline extension is to “(a) conduct technical surveys and clear the 130 identified mined areas; and (b) conduct non-technical and technical surveys as well as clear and/or release areas in the territories of Aru and Dungu in the Orientale province.”[71]

The DRC has reported that challenges for implementing its current extension request plan milestones include funding and logistics, security, geography, and climate, including dense vegetation and heavy rainy seasons.[72]

The DRC provided clearance figures for the period 2014–2017 in its Article 7 report submitted in 2018. These are not consistent with figures provided by the CCLAM, UNMAS, and international operators. The table below provides the figures as reported in the Monitor profiles, and in the Article 7 report for 2017. The Article 7 report also reported 65,318m² cleared from January–March 2018, and four additional mined areas with a size of 90,229m² were “suspended” or “closed.” It reported a total of 370 antipersonnel mines had been destroyed, including 49 antipersonnel mines found in 2014; 36 antipersonnel mines in 2015; 162 antipersonnel mines in 2016; 26 antipersonnel mines in 2017; and two antipersonnel mines in the first quarter of 2018.[73]

Mine clearance in 2013–2017

Progress towards completion 

According to UNMAS, as of October 2017, 71% of all known SHAs in the DRC had been released. UNMAS stated that with existing mine action capacity and the maintenance of sufficient funding, the DRC could complete clearance of all contamination in the remaining provinces of Equateur, Tshuapa, Tshopo, Ituri, North-Kivu, Tanganyika, Maniema, South and North Ubangi, and Bas-Uele, before its extended Mine Ban Treaty Article 5 deadline of 1 January 2021.[75]

In 2018, MAG, HI, NPA, and UNMAS reiterated concerns over an on-going decline in funding for mine action operations to address the larger problem of mines and ERW in the DRC. They reported that with the deteriorating political climate in the country, donors were reluctant to support mine action activities and prioritized funding to address other higher-impact humanitarian crises, such as cholera and yellow fever outbreaks, flooding, and increasing displacement of populations.[76]

Prior to 2017, no clearance had been conducted in the previous four years. 

The Monitor acknowledges the contributions of the Mine Action Review (www.mineactionreview.org), which has conducted the primary mine action research in 2018 and shared all its country-level landmine reports (from“Clearing the Mines 2018”) and country-level cluster munition reports (from “Clearing Cluster Munition Remnants 2018”) with the Monitor. The Monitor is responsible for the findings presented online and in its print publications.