Egypt
Mine Ban Policy
Policy
The Arab Republic of Egypt has not acceded to the Mine Ban Treaty.
Egypt has regularly stated its reasons for opposing the treaty, reiterating that antipersonnel landmines are seen as a key means for securing its borders and that responsibility for clearance is not assigned in the treaty to those who laid the mines in the past.[1]
Egypt abstained from voting on the annual United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) Resolution 74/61, which supports the universalization and implementation of the Mine Ban Treaty, on 12 December 2019. Egypt has also abstained in all previous years.
Egypt participated as an observer at the treaty’s Fourth Review Conference in November 2019 in Oslo, Norway but did not make any statements. Egypt previously attended the convention’s Third Review Conference and meetings of States Parties in 2010, 2012, and 2013.
Egypt signed the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) in 1981 but has never ratified it.
Use
No new use of antipersonnel mines by any parties in Egypt could be confirmed by the Monitor in 2019 or 2020.
The military stated in May 2015 to an Egyptian newspaper that it had begun placing landmines around military outposts in Sinai, which resulted in the reported deaths of two militants.[2] Egypt did not respond to a letter sent by the ICBL in June 2015 requesting clarification on the report.
Militants linked to the Islamic State armed group claimed to have emplaced mines on the perimeter of a police station during a May 2015 attack in the Sinai town of Sheikh Zuweid.[3] Egyptian officials have claimed that Islamic State is manufacturing munitions from explosives recovered from mines in uncleared minefields in Egypt.[4] In April 2017, the Ministry of Interior reported that it had uncovered a small cache of Iranian-made mines.[5] In May 2020, the Sinai Tribes Union stated that two Tarabin tribesman involved in an assault on an Islamic State base were killed by an explosion caused by mines emplaced just before the assault.[6]
In July 2012, a retired military engineer, General Mohamed Khater, who was formerly responsible for mine clearance in the engineering corps, reportedly stated that the Egyptian armed forces had laid a minefield in 2011 on the border with Libya, presumably when forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi lost control of the border to anti-Gaddafi resistance fighters. The Monitor was not able to verify his claim.
Production, transfer, and stockpiling
Egypt has repeatedly stated that it stopped production of antipersonnel mines in 1988 and stopped exporting them in 1984.[7] In December 2004, Egypt’s Deputy Assistant Foreign Minister stated that “the Egyptian government has imposed a moratorium on all export and production activities related to anti-personnel mines.”[8] This was the first time that Egypt publicly and officially announced a moratorium on production.[9] The Monitor is not aware of any official decrees or laws to implement permanent prohibitions on production or export of antipersonnel mines. In November 2019, Egypt reiterated that it has “imposed a moratorium on its capacity to produce and export landmines since the 1980s.”[10]
However, in February 2017, the Egyptian Ministry of Military Production advertised Heliopolis plastic antipersonnel landmines for sale at its display at the International Defence Exhibition (IDEX) arms fair in Abu Dhabi, United Arabs Emirates.[11] Egyptian authorities did not respond to a June 2017 request from the Monitor for further information regarding the apparent change in policy on export, and possibly production, indicated by the IDEX sales brochure.
Egypt is believed to possess a large stockpile of antipersonnel mines, but no details are available on the size and composition of the stockpile, as it is considered a state secret.
[1] “We believe that the Convention lacks balance between humanitarian concerns and those related to anti-personnel landmines and their possible legitimate military uses, especially in countries with long borders, facing extraordinary security challenges. Furthermore, the Convention does not establish any legal obligation on States to remove the anti-personnel mines they have placed in the territory of other States, making it almost impossible for many States to meet the demining requirements on their own.” The statement went on to say that Egypt is contaminated by 22 million landmines, a figure they haven’t changed despite recent European Union (EU) funded clearance and land release by the Egyptian authorities of an estimated one-fifth of its previously suspected contaminated area. Egypt, Explanation of Vote on Resolution L.45, 74th Session, UN General Assembly (UNGA) First Committee, New York, 5 November 2019. UNGA, Official Records, A/C.1/74/PV24, pp. 22–23.
[2] “New security plans to ‘entrap’ Sinai militants by landmines,” The Cairo Post, 20 May 2015.
[3] Erin Cunningham and Loveday Morris, “Militants launch major assault in Egypt’s Sinai,” Washington Post, 1 July 2015.
[4] Douglas Ernst, “ISIS digs up Nazi-era land mines of the Sahara, adds weapons to modern arsenal,” Washington Post, 10 August 2016.
[5] “How did Iran's weapons reach the Muslim Brotherhood's cells in Egypt?’’ (translated from Arabic), Al Arabia, 17 April 2017. Photograph shows what appears to be an Iranian No. 4 antipersonnel blast mine. This type has been previously found in Sudan, but Egyptian authorities allege it was smuggled from Gaza.
[6] “Sinai Tribes: Landmine Explosion Kills 2 Tribesmen in Al-Ajra Area,” Asharq Al-Awsat, 31 May 2020.
[7] Statement of Egypt, Mine Ban Treaty Seventh Meeting of States Parties, Geneva, 22 September 2006; and Egypt, Explanation of Vote on Resolution L.45, 74th Session, UNGA First Committee, New York, 5 November 2019. UNGA, Official Records, A/C.1/74/PV24, pp. 22–23.
[8] Statement of Egypt, Mine Ban Treaty First Review Conference, Nairobi, 2 December 2004.
[9] Egypt told a UN assessment mission in February 2000 that it ceased export of antipersonnel mines in 1984 and ended production in 1988, and several Egyptian officials over the years also told the Monitor informally that production and trade had stopped. However, Egypt has not responded to repeated requests by the Monitor to make that position formal and public in writing. The Monitor has therefore kept Egypt on its list of producers. Egypt reportedly produced two types of low metal content blast antipersonnel mines, several variations of bounding fragmentation mines, and a Claymore-type mine. There is no publicly available evidence that Egypt has produced or exported antipersonnel mines in recent years. See, Landmine Monitor Report 2004, p. 957.
[10] Egypt, Explanation of Vote on Resolution L.45, 74th Session, UNGA First Committee, New York, 5 November 2019. UNGA, Official Records, A/C.1/74/PV24, pp. 22–23.