Summary: Sri Lanka acceded to the Convention on Cluster Munitions on 1 March 2018, and the convention enters into force for the country on 1 September 2018. Sri Lanka has participated in the convention’s meetings since 2011 and voted in favor of a key United Nations (UN) resolution on the convention in December 2017.

Sri Lanka is not known to have produced or exported cluster munitions. Sri Lanka states that it has never stockpiled or used cluster munitions.

Policy

The Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka acceded to the Convention on Cluster Munitions on 1 March 2018.[1]

Sri Lanka’s initial Article 7 transparency measures report is due by 28 February 2019.

Sri Lanka participated in one meeting of the Oslo Process that created the Convention on Cluster Munitions, in Vienna in December 2007. It also attended a regional meeting on cluster munitions in Bali, Indonesia in November 2009.

Since 2011, Sri Lanka has participated in every Meeting of States Parties of the convention, except the first in 2010. At the convention’s First Review Conference in September 2015, Sri Lanka expressed its support for the convention’s humanitarian objectives and said it has never used or stockpiled cluster munitions.[2]

At the Seventh Meeting of States Parties in Geneva in September 2017, Sri Lanka announced that an “agreement has been reached, in principle, for Sri Lanka to accede” to the Convention on Cluster Munitions “in the very near future.” It commended the way the convention “embodies the concept of humanitarian disarmament, according highest priority on the protection of civilians.”[3]

In December 2017, Sri Lanka voted in favor of a key UN General Assembly (UNGA) resolution that calls on states outside the Convention on Cluster Munitions to “join as soon as possible.”[4] It voted in favor of previous UNGA resolutions promoting implementation and universalization of the convention in 2015 and 2016.

Since acceding to the convention in March 2018, Sri Lanka has nominated its Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva to serve as president of the convention’s Ninth Meeting of States Parties in September 2019.[5]

Sri Lanka has voted in favor of UNGA resolutions expressing outrage at the use of cluster munitions in Syria, most recently in December 2017.[6]

Sri Lanka is party to the Mine Ban Treaty. Sri Lanka is also party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons.

Use, production, transfer, and stockpiling

In September 2017, Sri Lanka stated that it “has consistently maintained that cluster munitions were never used by Sri Lanka’s security forces during the conflict, and that they will never be used in the future.”[7] Sri Lankan officials have repeatedly stated that its armed forces do not possess cluster munitions and have never used the weapon.[8]

Sri Lanka has emphatically denied claims that it used cluster munitions in 2008–2009 during the final months of its military operation against the LTTE in the northern Vanni region.[9] The transparency now required of Sri Lanka as a State Party to the Convention on Cluster Munitions could help to formally answer questions about past cluster munition use.

In June 2016, evidence emerged that shows that three mine clearance organizations have cleared cluster munition remnants, including unexploded submunitions, from at least six different sites in the north of the country since 2009.[10] HALO told The Guardian, it is not possible to determine who used the cluster munitions because the use could have occurred “any time within the last three decades.”[11]

The Sri Lankan air force possesses aircraft capable of delivering this type of Soviet-made cluster munition, while the LTTE had light planes incapable of carrying them. The Indian air force possess RBK-500 series cluster bombs and was involved in a military intervention against the LTTE in northern Sri Lanka in 1987–1990.

A March 2011 report by a UN panel of experts on Sri Lanka noted the government’s denial and said that it was unable to reach a conclusion on the credibility of the allegation of use of cluster munitions by Sri Lanka.[12]

Policy

The Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka acceded to the Mine Ban Treaty on 13 December 2017, which came into force for it on 1 June 2018. Sri Lanka’s initial Article 7 report is due by 28 November 2018. Previously, Sri Lanka submitted a voluntary Article 7 report in 2005.

Sri Lanka participated as an observer in the Sixteenth Meeting of States Parties in Vienna, Austria in December 2017, as well as the convention’s intersessional meetings in June 2018 in Geneva, where it stated that the government had approved Sri Lanka’s accession to the Convention on Cluster Munitions.[1] Following a change of government in January 2015, and with extensive lobbying by Sri Lanka Campaign to Ban Landmines activists, there was steady movement toward Sri Lanka’s accession.

Sri Lanka voted in favor of United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) Resolution 72/53 calling for universalization of the Mine Ban Treaty on 4 December 2017, as it has for every annual pro-ban UNGA resolution since 1996.

Sri Lanka is party to the Convention on Cluster Munitions and the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) and its Amended Protocol II on landmines.

Use, production, transfer, and stockpiling

Since the end of armed conflict in May 2009, the Monitor has not received any reports of new use of antipersonnel mines by any entity in Sri Lanka.

There is no evidence that the government of Sri Lanka has ever produced or exported antipersonnel mines. It has a stockpile, but its current size and composition are not known.

Previously, in April 2009, Brigadier Lasantha Wickramasuriya of the Sri Lankan Army (SLA) acknowledged that the army had used antipersonnel mines in the past. He said the army had used non-detectable Belgian, Chinese, and Italian mines, as well as bounding and fragmentation mines of Pakistani, Portuguese, and United States (US) manufacture.[2] The Monitor had previously reported that Sri Lanka acquired antipersonnel mines from China, Italy (or Singapore), Pakistan, Portugal, and perhaps Belgium, the US, and others.[3] 

In October 2009, Army Commander Lieutenant General Jagath Jayasuriya said that “the use of mines by the Sri Lankan military is strictly limited and restricted to defensive purposes only…to demarcate and defend military installations” and are “marked accordingly…and relevant records systematically maintained.”[4] 

Prior to the end of armed conflict, in particular in 2008 and 2009, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) laid large numbers of mines throughout the north.[5] Prior to its demise, the LTTE was considered expert in making explosive weapons. It was known to produce several types of antipersonnel mines: Jony 95 (a small wooden box mine), Rangan 99 or Jony 99 (a copy of the P4 MK1 Pakistani mine), SN 96 (a Claymore-type mine), fragmentation antipersonnel mines from mortars, and variants of some of these antipersonnel mines, including some with antihandling features, as well as Amman 2000 MK1 and MKII antivehicle mines.[6] 

Notes: ERW = explosive remnants of war; AXO = abandoned explosive ordinance; UXO = unexploded ordnance.

Contamination

The Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is extensively contaminated by mines and ERW. Most contamination is in the north, the focus of three decades of armed conflict between the government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), which ended in May 2009. However, estimates of total contamination have fallen sharply: from 506km² at the end of 2010, to 98km² at the end of 2012, to nearly 68.4km² in 2015, and down to just under 25.8km² as of July 2018.[1]

Non-technical survey (re-survey) that began in June 2015 was completed in February 2017, with cancellation of 42km² of suspected hazardous area (SHA), reducing total suspected contamination from over 68km² to close to 26km².[2]

Batticaloa district in Eastern province was declared free of the threat of mines in June 2017, the first of Sri Lanka’s mine affected provinces.[3]

Mine/ERW contamination (as of July 2018)[4]

The Northern province is by far the most affected, though limited contamination remains in Eastern province, and in Northcentral, Northwestern, and Western provinces. Both sides made extensive use of mines, including belts of P4 Mk I and Mk II blast antipersonnel mines laid by the SLA, and long defensive lines with a mixture of mines and improvised explosive devices (IEDs) laid by the LTTE.[5] Indian Peacekeeping Forces also used mines during their presence from July 1987 to January 1990.[6]

The SLA used both antipersonnel and antivehicle mines, with all use said to have been recorded.[7] Operators have encountered a wide range of LTTE devices, including antipersonnel mines with anti-tilt and anti-lift mechanisms. Tripwire-activated Claymore-type mines and, to a lesser extent, antivehicle mines, were also used by the LTTE, along with a number of forms of improvised devices to act as fragmentation mines, bar mines, electrical and magnetically initiated explosive devices, and mines connected to detonating cord to mortar and artillery shells.[8]

Sri Lanka remains contaminated with a wide range of ERW, including unexploded air-dropped bombs, artillery shells and missiles, mortar bombs, handheld anti-tank projectiles, and rifle and hand grenades. Large caches of AXO also exist, particularly in the north.[9] These are being cleared concurrently to the remaining minefields.[10]

In 2017, HALO Trust reported that the impact of mine contamination in its areas of operations in northern Sri Lanka is primarily socio-economic, with large areas of agricultural land and forest blocked for use or the collection of natural resources. However, the highest priority for clearance is land designated for the resettlement and return of internally displaced people (IDPs), mainly concentrated in areas around Muhamalai, Nagarkovil, and the Jaffna High Security Zone.[11]

Program Management

The Ministry of Rehabilitation, Resettlement, and Hindu Religious Affairs became the lead agency for mine action in 2015 as chair of the interministerial National Steering Committee for Mine Action (NSCMA). This body sets policy and is mandated to “manage linkages within the government, mine action community and donors.”[12] Its policies and decisions are implemented by the NMAC, set up in 2010[13] to: liaise with government ministries and development partners to determine mine action priorities; prepare a strategic plan; and set annual workplans to put it into effect. NMAC is also responsible for accrediting mine action operators, setting national standards, and acting as the secretariat of NSCMA.[14]

Clearance operations are coordinated, tasked, and quality managed by a Regional Mine Action Office (RMAO) in Kilinochchi, working in consultation with District Steering Committees for Mine Action. The committees are chaired by government agents heading district authorities.[15]

Under its National Mine Action Strategy for 2016–2020, the government of Sri Lanka intends to convene steering committee meetings for mine action up to twice per year at national level and at three regional levels, one for Eastern province and two for Northern province.[16]

Strategic planning

At the request of NMAC, Sri Lanka’s National Mine Action Strategy for 2016–2020 was reviewed in April 2018, in a multi-stakeholder workshop facilitated by the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD), and in consultation with operators and the SLA. The strategy, which sets the goal of clearing all mines and ERW by 2020, contains the following strategic objectives:

• The scope of the mine/ERW problem is identified, confirmed, and addressed using appropriate methodologies and resources.
• Mine/ERW safe behavior among women, girls, boys, and men is promoted.
• The needs of mine/ERW victims are determined and met and victims are integrated into society.
• Sri Lanka accedes to the Mine Ban Treaty and complies with relevant obligations.
• Long-term residual contamination is effectively managed by appropriate and sustainable national capacities.
• The Sri Lanka mine action sector can access quality information for its strategic and operational decision-making.[17]

The review of the strategy was necessitated by the completion of re-survey efforts that concluded in early 2017 and in order to revise the remaining estimate of contamination.[18] Notably, one of the main objectives of the plan, that Sri Lanka accedes to the Mine Ban Treaty, was achieved in December 2017.

Sri Lanka has set out a district-by-district approach to completing clearance, under which, following completion of Batticaloa, clearance of Trincomalee and Jaffna districts are planned to be completed next.[19]

Since early 2009, resettlement of IDPs has been the focus of survey and clearance activities, including in Jaffna, Kilinochchi, Mannar, Mullaitivu, and Vavuniya districts in the north, and Ampara, Batticaloa, and Trincomalee districts in the east.[20] Clearance is focused on high-priority areas for resettlement, agricultural land, irrigation tank areas, and other infrastructure and development initiatives, as well as of heavily mined areas such as around Kilinochchi and the Muhamalai Forward Defence Line.[21] In addition, in 2016, the government of Sri Lanka granted increased access to areas of the Jaffna High Security Zone allowing HALO Trust to conduct clearance and MAG to clear previously restricted areas in Eastern province, further expanding the reach of mine action in the country.[22]

Legislation and standards

There is no national mine action legislation in Sri Lanka, based on available information. According to HALO Trust and MAG, a review of Sri Lanka’s National Mine Action Standards (NMAS) was carried out in May 2017 with the input of all demining operators, and support from the GICHD.[23] As of August 2018, however, the revised standards had yet to be finalized and distributed to operators.[24]

Information management

Sri Lanka’s Information Management System for Mine Action (IMSMA) database has reportedly undergone substantial and continuing improvements since the installation of an updated version of the software in 2015 and the initiation of a process of data entry and ground verification.[25] Since that time, operators have reported that significant efforts have been exerted by stakeholders to correct erroneous data entered into IMSMA and to update the database on the basis of re-survey results, leading to a complete overhaul of the database and a more accurate representation of remaining contamination.[26]

However, despite the improvements to the quality of the database, in 2017 significant delays persisted in the provision of transparent and timely updates by NMAC in response to information requests from international mine action stakeholders and discrepancies continued to be reported between the information reported from the IMSMA database and operators’ records.

Operators

In 2017, demining was conducted by the SLA; a national NGO, DASH and its subcontractor national organization SHARP; and the two international NGOs, HALO Trust and MAG.

HALO Trust reported that as of December 2017, its operations staff capacity had increased by 62% over the previous year to a total of 715 (65 manual clearance teams, 12 mechanical clearance teams, and two survey/explosive ordnance disposal teams)—the result of greater funding from existing and new donors. As of 31 December 2017, mechanical assets comprised six front-end loaders, one tracked Caterpillar, one excavator, one tiller, one sifter, and one stone crusher. It also shared a second excavator with MAG. Machines are proving especially valuable in clearing mine lines in the Muhamalai minefield.[27]

MAG’s capacity in 2017 remained largely consistent with the previous year at 15 manual clearance teams, eight mechanical teams, as well as two community liaison teams and nine medical teams.[28]

According to NMAC, in 2017, the SLA’s demining unit deployed a total of 418 persons in demining operations, while DASH employed 369 staff in its demining activities, and its subcontractor, SHARP, employed a further 115 persons. The SLA had a total of 33 mini-flail machines, of which 12 were serviceable in 2017, along with a total of 12 mine detection dogs, of which 11 were deployed. Additionally, DASH deployed a mechanical rake machine during the year.[29]

Land Release

A total of just over 5.7km² of antipersonnel mine contamination was reported released in 2017: nearly 4.8km² by clearance and technical survey and close to 1km² cancelled by non-technical survey.[30] This was a significant decrease from the overall land release reported in 2016 of nearly 38.5km² (6.5km² by clearance and technical survey and 32km² cancelled).[31] This sharp decline in land release output was primarily due to the large drop in cancellation reported in 2017, due to the completion of a massive district-by-district re-survey at the beginning of the year.

The non-technical survey that began in June 2015 was completed in February 2017 with the cancellation of 42.4km² of SHA, reducing total contamination from 68.4km² to close to 26km².[32]

Survey in 2017

A total of just under 0.96km² was reported cancelled by non-technical survey by MAG and HALO Trust in their areas of operations in 2017, while close to 0.76km² was confirmed as mined.[33] A total of just over 1.5km² was reduced through technical survey by all operators during the year.[34] This compares to MAG and HALO’s survey output in 2016, when a total of 32km²was cancelled by non-technical survey and 22km²was confirmed as mined, along with a total of just under 4.2km² reportedly reduced by technical survey by all operators.[35]

As stated, the sharp decline in cancellation reported by MAG and HALO in 2017 was due to the completion of large-scale re-survey efforts early in the year, after which operations focused on clearing the defined confirmed hazardous areas (CHAs).[36]

Mined area survey in 2017[37]

Note: TS = technical survey.

There are discrepancies between the data provided by the NMAC and operators. The table above presents the figures provided by HALO Trust and MAG. NMAC reported that MAG cancelled four areas with a size of 1,067,642m² and reduced a further 385,230m² of antipersonnel mine contamination by technical survey, while confirming six areas with a size of 1,179,834m² as mined. It reported that HALO cancelled 18 SHAs with a size of 238,673m² and reduced a total of 16,596m² by technical survey, confirming an additional four areas with a size of 186,618m². HALO reported that it canceled CHAs, not SHAs. It stated that the 11 areas confirmed were not SHAs, but rather newly identified as CHAs immediately during non-technical survey.[38]

Clearance in 2017

More than 3.2km² of mined area was reportedly cleared in 2017, with a total of 31,012 antipersonnel mines, 157 antivehicle mines, and 6,243 items of UXO destroyed.[39]This is an increase in clearance output from 2016, when a total of 2.3km² of mined area was reportedly cleared. However, there was a significant decrease in the number of antipersonnel mines reportedly destroyed, down from a total of 59,304 antipersonnel mines in 2016.[40]

Mine clearance in 2017[41]

Note: AP = antipersonnel; AV = antivehicle.

There are discrepancies between the data provided by the NMAC and operators. The table above presents the figures provided by HALO and MAG. NMAC reported that MAG cleared 584,278m² of antipersonnel mine contamination, destroying 1,723 antipersonnel mines, two antivehicle mines, and 128 UXO. It reported that HALO cleared 531,588m² of antipersonnel mines contamination, destroying 8,788 antipersonnel mines, eight antivehicle mines, and 1,554 UXO. According to the NMAC and HALO, the discrepancies in reporting could be due to the NMAC’s receiving and reporting on the basis of completion reports from operators.[42]

During 2017, HALO Trust continued to focus clearance on areas of the Muhamalai minefield pegged for resettlement. In December 2017, the government of Sri Lanka released two additional sectors of the Muhamalai minefield, following completion of clearance by HALO, for a total of six out of 21 sectors completed by HALO. The areas were cleared and released for the purpose of resettlement at Intherapuram village, facilitating the resettlement of 24 displaced families, and opening land for agriculture, specifically for coconut cultivation.[43]

MAG, with support from the SLA, completed clearance of Batticaloa district, Eastern province in June 2017. MAG reported that following completion of re-survey of the district, it began clearance in October 2016 and finished in May 2017, releasing a total of 246,266m²: 79,817m² through clearance and 146,567m² by technical survey, with the destruction of 383 antipersonnel mines and two items of UXO.[44]

In 2017, MAG’s main operational focus continued to be Mannar district, where it reported that more than 100,000 IDPs had been resettled since 2010. According to MAG, more than 70% of the population in Mannar district rely on agricultural activities for their livelihood. MAG remained the only clearance operator in Mannar district and continued to support its district development plans.[45]

Deminer safety

In 2017, four DASH deminers were injured in three demining accidents in Muhamalai, Kilinochchi district. In another incident in June 2017, in Trincomalee district, an SLA deminer was injured in a demining accident.[46]

HALO Trust reported that while working in the Muhamalai minefield one deminer was involved in a demining accident in June 2017. He detonated a so-called “onion blast,” a local term for a small homemade device that is placed on the ground with the intention of killing or incapacitating animals, such as wild pigs. According to HALO Trust, typically these items are used to hunt animals and not people. They are typically packed with commercially available low-grade explosives and ball bearings or other fragmentation, are wrapped in paper or plastic, and the devices are around two centimeters in diameter. The deminer sustained only light injuries to a finger.[47]

Mine Ban Treaty Article 5 Compliance

Under Article 5 of the Mine Ban Treaty, Sri Lanka is required to destroy all antipersonnel mines in mined areas under its jurisdiction or control as soon as possible, but not later than 1 June 2028. The National Mine Action Strategy sets the goal of completion of mine and ERW clearance by 2020.

The NMAC reported that according to its revised National Mine Action Strategy, the national target for antipersonnel mine clearance in 2018 is 9km².[48]

In December 2017, Sri Lanka informed States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty that 98% of its mine contamination had been cleared, with assistance from NGOs and the international donor community.[49]

The NMAC has reported that, cumulatively, a total of 137km² of mined area was reduced or cleared between 2002 and May 2018, and a total of 735,444 antipersonnel mines, 2,073 antivehicle mines, and 556,384 items of UXO were destroyed during that timeframe.[50] Clearance dropped significantly in 2013 following a decline in capacity after closure of operations by the Swiss Foundation for Mine Action (FSD) in 2013 and two Indian demining NGOs (Horizon and Sarvatra) in 2012.

Mine clearance in 2013–2017[51]

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.

In 2017, international contributions from four states supporting clearance and risk education activities in the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka totaled US$8.5 million, which represents an increase of nearly $4 million (86%) compared to 2016.[1]

The largest contributions came from the United States (US) ($5 million) and Japan ($2.5 million) for clearance and risk education activities.

Sri Lanka has never reported its financial contribution to its mine action program. However, in a speech on the 2012 budget, President Mahinda Rajapaksa indicated that it was substantial, stating that since 2009 the army has been engaged in demining, rebuilding, and urban development at a cost of LKR5.4 billion (approximately US$42 million).[2]

International contributions: 2017[3]

Since 2013, international contributions to mine action in Sri Lanka totaled nearly $37 million, and averaged some $7.4 million per year.

International assistance to mine action has considerably varied in recent years, ranging from a low of $4.6 million in 2016 to a high of $9.8 in 2013.

Summary of contributions: 2013–2017[4]

Casualties Overview

In 2016, eight adult male mine/ERW casualties were recorded in the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka in six incidents.[1] Eight adult male casualties were also recorded  in 2015, in five mine/ERW incidents.[2] This marked a significant decrease in annual casualties compared to the 21 and 22 mine/ERW casualties, in 2014 and 2013 respectively.[3] Sri Lanka’s National Mine Action Strategy 2016–2020 reports different annual total casualty figures for the two years prior to 2015: with 16 casualties in 2014 and 21 in 2013 recorded.[4]

In 2014, UNICEF reported that since the 1980s some 22,177 mine/ERW casualties had been recorded, including 1,603 civilian casualties. However, from 2006 to 2009 accurate casualty information was difficult to access due to ongoing conflict, likely resulting in under-reporting.[5] In April 2010, it was reported that since the 1980s there were a total of 21,993 mine casualties, including 1,419 civilian returnees; 3,770 recorded amputees among the armed forces, police, and civil defense forces; and 16,804 mine casualties among the non-state armed group, Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).[6] From 1999 to the end of 2016, the Monitor identified 1,185 casualties in Sri Lanka (144 killed; 577 injured; 464 unknown).

Victim assistance action points

• Conduct a comprehensive victim needs assessment, in collaboration with relevant ministries
• Develop a victim assistance data base
• Designate government victim assistance focal points

Victim assistance planning and coordination

International commitments and obligations

Laws and policies

The Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka lacked adequate legislation to adequately protect and respect the rights of persons with disabilities. An amended Draft Disability Rights Bill was being reviewed by the Ministry of Social Empowerment in 2017.[6] No progress on its adoption was reported through October 2018.

Legislation prohibits discrimination against persons with disabilities in employment, education, public transportation, and access to healthcare. Discrimination continued to occur in employment, education, and the provision of state services, including public transportation. Regulations on accessibility exist, but access to buildings and public transportation for persons with disabilities remained rare.[7]

Major Developments in 2017–2018

Due to budget constraints and a decrease in the number of new casualties, UNICEF reduced its efforts towards victim assistance. It noted that it became challenging to provide continued support to victims.[8]

Needs assessment

Sri Lanka planned to develop a victim assistance database in 2018 and 2019. In 2018, NMAC planned to transfer between Information Management System for Mine Action (IMSMA) platforms, from “ng” to “core,” by end of year and was in discussion on the developing of a victim assistance component within the new system.[9]

In May 2018, a national stakeholder consultation on disability data collection in the national statistical system for Incheon Strategy indicators was organized by the Social Development Division of the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) and the Ministry of Social Welfare and Primary Industries.[10]

Medical care and rehabilitation

In the period 2017–2018, the Jaffna Jaipur Center for Disability Rehabilitation (JJCDR) provided prosthetic limbs for 103 mine/ERW survivors.[11]

Social Organizations Networking for Development (SOND) provided emergency assistance to and livelihood support to survivors.[12] SOND remained engaged in mine risk education as it had for nine years, no survivors had received victim assistance services in 2018 to October due to the small number of new casualties.[13]

Victim assistance providers and activities