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Egypt
Casualties and Victim Assistance
Casualties Overview
|
All known casualties by end 2010 |
Estimated to be 8,000 |
|
Casualties in 2010 |
26 (2009: 41) |
|
2010 casualties by outcome |
6 killed; 20 injured (2009: 19 killed; 22 injured) |
|
2010 casualties by device type |
26 mines/ERW |
In 2010, 26 mine/explosive remnants of war (ERW) casualties were recorded in 14 incidents in Egypt. All but two of the casualties were male; three were children (two boys killed; one girl injured).[1] This was a decrease from the 41 casualties identified in Egypt in 2009, though the number of mine/ERW incidents rose from 12 in 2009 to 14.[2]
In 2010, more than half (eight of 14) of the incidents occurred in Matruh governorate, where the Executive Secretariat for the Demining and Development of the North West Coast (Executive Secretariat) mine action program operates; the eight incidents caused eight casualties, as compared with six incidents which caused 11 casualties in 2009.[3] Two casualties occurred as Egyptians attempted to cross illegally into Libya. An Egyptian national was injured by an unknown explosive device in January of 2010, in Tobruk, Libya.[4]
Several sources have estimated the total number of known casualties to be around 8,000. However, the period of data collection for these statistics is not reported. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported in 2006 that there had been 8,313 mine casualties (696 people killed; 7,617 injured; 5,017 were civilians) in the Western Desert since 1982.[5] Almost identical statistics were reported in 1998, but for the period 1945–1996.[6]
Victim Assistance
In 2010, there were estimated to be at least 900 mine/ERW survivors in Egypt.[7] By the end of 2010, detailed information had been collected on 686 survivors in the Matruh governorate.[8] This database was believed to include information on 91% to 95% of all mine/ERW survivors in the governorate.[9] No data was available on survivors based outside of Matruh.
Survivor data collected by the Executive Secretariat in 2008 was used in 2010 to facilitate assistance for some survivors who required it and to register all survivors within the national pension system through the Ministry of Social Solidarity.[10] No information was available on needs assessments carried out in 2010.
Victim assistance coordination
Victim assistance coordination[11]
|
Government coordinating body/focal point |
Executive Secretariat (for Matruh governorate) |
|
Coordinating mechanism |
National Committee for Supervising the Demining of the North West Coast (National Committee): supervisory role for Executive Secretariat |
|
Plan |
None; project strategy for Executive Secretariat includes victim assistance objectives |
The National Committee technically provides oversight for all mine action activities undertaken by the Executive Secretariat, including victim assistance. These activities are restricted to the Matruh governorate; there is no victim assistance coordination for the rest of Egypt. The Committee is comprised of representatives from 20 Ministries, local officials from four governorates and from several NGOs. The Executive Secretariat has among its objectives for the second phase of its activities, which started in 2010, to “support landmine victims of the north west coast,” “complete and consistently update Victims Database” and “mobilize more resources and expand victim assistance activities.”[12] The Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Social Solidarity shared responsibility for protecting the rights of all persons with disabilities in Egypt.[13]
Survivors in Matruh governorate objected to the role of the Executive Secretariat in coordinating victim assistance and asserted that it had been “careless” while calling for the resignation of its director.[14] They also called on the Ministry of Social Solidarity to assume responsibility for victim assistance.[15] Survivor participation in victim assistance was not organized; in media interviews an ad hoc group of concerned survivors spoke out about the need to have their voices directly included in coordination efforts.[16]
Service accessibility and effectiveness
Victim assistance activities in 2010[17]
|
Name of organization |
Type of organization |
Type of activity |
Changes in quality/coverage of service in 2010 |
|
Executive Secretariat |
UNDP/government project |
Emergency evacuation procedures for explosion incidents; physical rehabilitation and prosthetics at the army-run Al-Agouza Center for Rehabilitation, the only provider of comprehensive rehabilitation services in the country; designed income-generating projects |
Increased the number of survivors receiving prostheses |
|
Matruh Health and Solidarity Department |
Local government |
Financial support for ongoing maintenance of mobility devices |
No change |
|
Ministry of Social Solidarity |
National government |
Coverage for all registered survivors in national pension system |
No change |
|
Association of Landmines Survivors for Economic Development—Marsa Matruh |
Local Survivors’ Association |
Facilitating access to physical rehabilitation services and income generating activities in Matruh governorate |
Signed coordination agreement for victim assistance in January 2011 |
|
Protection |
National NGO |
Facilitating access to social benefits or employment for mine/ERW survivors; Data collection on mine/ERW casualties |
No change |
|
Arab Doctors Union |
Regional NGO |
Physical rehabilitation for survivors in Matruh governorate |
Project to provide prosthetics launched in June 2010 |
There were few reported changes in the accessibility or quality of victim assistance services for mine/ERW survivors in 2010, aside from an increase in the availability of physical rehabilitation services in Matruh governorate. Despite that increase, in 2010, the Executive Secretariat found that health and social services in Matruh governorate were inadequate and that “as a result, treating mine victims and their families can take years.” It also found that the fragility of the economy in the region “creates a serious challenge for efforts of finding labor opportunities and income generating activities for victims’ population.”[18]
Increased donor support provided via the Executive Secretariat, along with the launch of a physical rehabilitation project by the Arab Doctors Union, increased the number of survivors who were able to receive prosthetics and other mobility devices.[19] Survivors reported dissatisfaction with the quality of prosthetic devices.[20]
In 2010, there was no information available on psychological assistance for mine/ERW survivors. The Executive Secretariat’s victim assistance strategy described plans to include such support in the second phase of its activities.[21] The Executive Secretariat funded a feasibility study for income generating activities in 2010 and, in January 2011, signed a cooperation agreement with the Association of Landmine Survivors in Matruh to begin supporting these activities with members of the Association.[22]
Egypt had no legislation prohibiting discrimination against persons with disabilities in education, access to healthcare, or the provision of other state services, and discrimination remained widespread.[23]
Egypt ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities on 14 April 2008.
[1] “Information collected by Protection and Mine Action and Human Rights Foundation in Egypt,” by email from Ayman Sorour, Director, Protection, 11 April 2011.
[2] “Information collected by Protection and Mine Action and Human Rights Foundation in Egypt,” by email from Ayman Sorour, Protection, 1 July 2010.
[3] “ Information collected by Protection and Mine Action and Human Rights Foundation in Egypt,” by email from Ayman Sorour, Protection, 11 April 2011; and “Information collected by Protection and Mine Action and Human Rights Foundation in Egypt,” by email from Ayman Sorour, Protection, 1 July 2010.
“Information collected by Protection and Mine Action,” by email from Ayman Sorour, Protection, 1 June 2010.
[4] This casualty was recorded within the casualty data for Libya and is not included in the Egyptian casualty total. “Information collected by Protection and Mine Action and Human Rights Foundation in Egypt,” by email from Ayman Sorour, Protection, 11 April 2011.
[5] Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Egypt, “A paper on the problem of Landmines in Egypt,” 27 July 2006, www.mfa.gov.eg.
[6] Notes taken by the Monitor, Beirut Conference, 11 February 1999; Ministry of Defense, “The Iron Killers,” undated, pp. 3–4; and Amb. Dr. Mahmoud Karem, “Explanation of Vote by the Delegation of the Arab Republic of Egypt on the Resolution on Anti-Personal Landmines,” Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Policy Document, November 1998. Similar figures cited in a Ministry of Foreign Affairs paper on the Mine Ban Treaty, obtained 5 September 2004, were at the time believed to only apply to casualties occurring in the Western Desert since 1982.
[7] This estimate is not for a specified time period though the implication is that it is for all time to the present. Mohamed Abdel Salam “Egypt Seeks Cooperation in De-Mining Efforts,” Bikyamasr, bikyamasr.com; and “Egypt intensifies demining efforts,” Bikyamasr, 4 February 2010, bikyamasr.com.
[8] Egypt Mine Action Project North West Coast, “What is victim assistance?” www.mineactionegypt.com,.
[9] Executive Secretariat, “The NWC Local Context and Victim Assistance Strategy Paper,” Cairo, undated but 2010, www.mineactionegypt.com, p. 17.
[10] Executive Secretariat, “The NWC Local Context and Victim Assistance Strategy Paper,” Cairo, undated but 2010, www.mineactionegypt.com, pp. 14, 16–17.
[11] Egypt Mine Action Project North West Coast, “About the Project,” undated, www.mineactionegypt.com.
[12] Ibid.
[13] US Department of State, “2010 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Egypt,” Washington, DC, 8 April 2011.
[14] Hassan Mashaly, “Landmine Victims in Matruh Ask for the Resignation of Ambassador Fatahi El Shezlui,” Alyoum Alsabe (Egyptian newspaper), 12 April 2011, www.youm7.com.
[15] Achmed Nefadi, “The Army Interfered to Prevent Dispute between Mine Victims and Ambassador El Shezlui,” El Ahram (Egyptian newspaper), 12 April 2011, gate.ahram.org.eg.
[16] Hassan Mashaly, “Landmine Victims in Matruh Ask for the Resignation of Ambassador Fatahi El Shezlui,” Alyoum Alsabe (Egyptian newspaper), 12 April 2011, www.youm7.com.
[17]Egypt Mine Action Project North West Coast, “What is victim assistance?” www.mineactionegypt.com; Egypt Mine Action Project North West Coast, “Protocol of Cooperation in the field of Victim Assistance,” 24 January 2011, www.mineactionegypt.com; email from Ayman Sorour, Protection, 11 April 2011; Executive Secretariat, “The NWC Local Context and Victim Assistance Strategy Paper,” Cairo, undated but 2010, www.mineactionegypt.com, p. 14; .and Arab Doctors Union, www.amueg.com.
[18] Executive Secretariat, “The NWC Local Context and Victim Assistance Strategy Paper,” Cairo, undated but 2010, www.mineactionegypt.com, pp. 7–8.
[19] Egypt Mine Action Project North West Coast, “What is victim assistance?,” www.mineactionegypt.com; and Arab Doctors Union, www.amueg.com.
[20] Achmed Nefadi, “The Army Interfered to Prevent Dispute between Mine Victims and Ambassador El Shezlui,” El Ahram (Egyptian newspaper), 12 April 2011, gate.ahram.org.eg, accessed 27 June 2011.
[21] Executive Secretariat, “The NWC Local Context and Victim Assistance Strategy Paper,” Cairo, undated but 2010, www.mineactionegypt.com, p. 25.
[22] Ibid.; and Egypt Mine Action Project North West Coast, “Protocol of Cooperation in the field of Victim Assistance,” 24 January 2011, www.mineactionegypt.com.
[23] US Department of State, “2010 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Egypt,” Washington, DC, 8 April 2011.
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