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

Contamination

The extent of antipersonnel mine contamination in the Republic of Niger is unclear. In April 2018, Niger reported that it had two mined areas in Madama, a military base in the northeast of the country: a CHA of 39,304m² (Area 1) and a SHA of 196,243m² (Area 2).[1] On 25 October 2016, Niger reported that all of Area 1, 39,304m², had been demined, with the destruction of 1,075 mines.[2] However, this is contradicted in its latest Article 7 report, where Niger stated that only half of Area 1 has been cleared, which would give a new contamination estimate of 19,697m².[3]

Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA) undertook an assessment mission to Madama in December 2017, and identified a total of three hazardous areas (Area 1, Area 2, and also a third previously unknown mined area—Area 3). Although deminers were deployed to Area 1, a perimeter minefield encircling a former French military position, from November 2014 to January 2016, NPA found uncertainty as to whether the area had been fully cleared. There are differing reports of the extent of clearance, which range from 29,000 up to 39,304m² and the national authority told NPA about an issue with an item found during quality control. Area 2, a fenced minefield immediately south of the former French military position, is believed to contain Model 51/55 bounding fragmentation antipersonnel mines and may also contain M51 blast antipersonnel mines. Area 3, a minefield close to Area 2 seemingly laid to prevent traffic between two oases, is an unfenced and unsurveyed minefield, the size of which is unknown but mines were reportedly laid in a single straight line northwest to southeast.[4] Twelve M51 blast antipersonnel mines have been cleared in an ad hocmanner by the Niger Armed Forces (FAN) who were using the area for military exercises. This was reported to NPA during the assessment mission and NPA also observed one M51 mine in the area, which was visible from a frequently used path.[5]

Niger also identified five additional SHAs in the Agadez region (in the Achouloulouma, Blaka, Enneri, Orida, and Zouzoudinga) but they were believed to contain only antivehicle mines.[6] Niger reported that non-technical and technical survey in May 2014 had removed the suspicion of the presence of antipersonnel mines.[7] The areas are all located in Niger’s Agadez region, in the north in a remote desert area, 450km from the rural community of Dirkou in Bilma department and reported to contain mines that date back to the French colonial era.[8]

Niger’s contamination includes other areas that contain only antivehicle mines, which are the result of rebellion in 1990–2000 as well as fighting in 2007 between the Nigerien army and a non-state armed group, the Nigerien Justice Movement (Mouvement des Nigériens pour la Justice), and some splinter factions.

In its latest Article 7 report (for 2013 to April 2018) Niger reported that the region of Diffa has become difficult for humanitarian agencies for fear of mines, explosive remnants of war (ERW), and improvised devices because of the actions of Boko Haram.[9]

Program Management

The national mine action program is managed by the National Commission for the Collection and Control of Illicit Weapons (Commission Nationale pour la Collecte et le Contrôle des Armes Illicites, CNCCAI), which reports directly to the president. All demining has been carried out by the Nigerien army.

Strategic planning

Niger’s third extension request submitted in 2016 contains a workplan for 2016–2020, but does not contain details of annual clearance outputs or milestones.[10]

In its latest Article 7 report, Niger included a workplan for 2017–2020 of the SHA covering 196,253m²with clearance expected to begin in June 2018.[11] In its statement at the June 2018 Mine Ban Treaty Intersessional Meetings, however, Niger stated that clearance would begin by the end of the year.[12]

Legislation and standards

Niger reported that, as of November 2015, it had drafted national mine action standards (NMAS) in accordance with the International Mine Action Standards (IMAS). No information has been provided on whether Niger’s NMAS have been finalized and adopted.

Operators

Niger reported that, as of November 2015, it was in the process of training deminers and eight community liaison officers for deployment in Kawar. It has reportedly had between 60 and 90 deminers operating at Madama since November 2014; in mid-2015, however, it acknowledged that due to lack of adequate equipment, it was not possible for all deminers to work at the same time.[13]

Land Release

There was no clearance or survey undertaken in Niger in 2017. Niger stated that this was because it had insufficient funds to carry out demining activities given the financial situation of the country.

It is unclear how much land was actually cleared in Madama from 2014 to 2016 with reports from ranging from 19,697m² to full clearance of 39,304m².[14] During NPA’s monitoring mission in December 2017 reports of clearance ranging from 29,000–39,304m² were given.[15]

Article 5 Compliance

Under Article 5 of the Mine Ban Treaty (and in accordance with the four-year extension request granted by States Parties in 2016), Niger is required to destroy all antipersonnel mines in mined areas under its jurisdiction or control as soon as possible, but not later than 31 December 2020.

States Parties decided to grant this second request while noting, as with its previous extension request, that Niger had failed to provide a detailed annual workplan for clearance and benchmarks against which to assess progress. As such, Niger was requested by States Parties to provide a revised detailed workplan with a list of all areas known or suspected to contain antipersonnel mines, along with monthly and annual projections of which areas would be addressed during the extension period. The importance of submitting an updated Article 7 report on an annual basis was further emphasized.[16]

In April 2018, Niger submitted its first Article 7 report since 2012. Much of the report is repetition of the same information from its 2015 and 2016 Article 5 deadline extension requests. Niger did include a workplan for demining a total of 196,253m² in 2017–2020.[17] However, the figures given in the table are inaccurate and some of the totals are illegible.

Niger’s Article 5 clearance deadline under its first extension request expired on 31 December 2015. It stated that due to greater than expected contamination at Madama and the identification of the other area of suspected mine contamination, it would not meet this deadline. On 12 November 2015, just a few weeks before the Fourteenth Meeting of States Parties, Niger submitted a second request for a five-year extension until 31 December 2020.

Instead, States Parties decided to grant Niger a one-year extension only, noting that Niger had failed to submit its request within the agreed timeline prior to the meeting and thus had not permitted time for sufficient analysis or discussion. The decision “noted that Niger and the Convention as a whole would benefit from a full extension process taking place” and requested that, as such, Niger “submit a request, in accordance with the established process, by 31 March 2016.”[18] The decision also observed that the plan presented by Niger in the request was “workable but lacks ambition” and requested that Niger provide, in its revised submission, an updated workplan with an up-to-date list of all areas known or suspected to contain antipersonnel mines and annual clearance projections during the period covered by the request.[19]

In April 2016, Niger re-submitted its extension request for a period of four years, until 31 December 2020.[20] The revised submission includes geo-coordinates for the Madama mined area, but fails to include a detailed annual workplan or any specific annual projections for the clearance of the remaining mined areas.[21]

In its extension requests, Niger has noted desert environment, insecurity, and lack of funding as challenges for the implementation of its clearance obligations, along with the remote location of contamination and the need for a weekly military escort to carry out demining.[22]

Niger funded all mine action activities in 2014–2015.[23] Under its latest extension request, Niger has said that more than US$3.2 million in funding is needed to fulfil its remaining Article 5 obligations, including $1 million for the CNCCAI from the national budget over the five-year period, and $2.2 million to be mobilized from external donors.[24] In its statement at the June 2018 Mine Ban Treaty Intersessional Meetings, Niger stated that without the support of partners it was unlikely that Niger would be able to complete clearance by its Article 5 deadline and reserved the right to submit another extension request by the end of December 2019.[25]

Niger has made repeated appeals for international assistance for mine action and claimed receiving no external support for its activities, save for assistance from France for medical evacuation in the case of demining accidents.[26] However, following an assessment mission to Niger in May 2015, NPA submitted an offer to provide Niger with assistance, including provision of personal protective equipment, so that more deminers could work simultaneously, as well as a technical advisor to evaluate current methodology and trial equipment, which it believed could significantly increase speed and productivity.[27] Danish Demining Group (DDG) also offered to help Niger to complete clearance, but Niger did not respond to either organization’s offer.[28]

At the Fifteenth Meeting of States Parties in December 2016, France announced that it would provide support to contribute to the clearance of the area around Madama fort, set to begin in 2017.[29] In June 2017, Niger confirmed that it had accepted France’s offer for technical support for an evaluation of the terrain around Madama, which it stated would better inform its planning and allow it to prepare an updated Article 7 transparency report.[30] In its statement at the June 2018 Intersessional Meetings, Niger stated that it was still waiting on the offer of support from France to manifest.[31]

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.