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Working Group 2
Enhancing African Capabilities in Landmine Clearance
Chaired by Colonel Hamdy Bader Abdalla, Egypt
Rapporteur: Commodore Mesfin Binega, OAU
To mine-infested countries, demining operations appear as an essential, but seemingly impossible task requiring technology and expertise that they neither have nor can afford. Besides the lack of funding in a war-torn country, there may be lingering political distrust which would delay mine clearance programmes, there may be few skilled personnel at managerial level to oversee the programmes and little concrete information regarding the location of mines. The participants of Working Group Two, however, explained how international co-operation with affected populations can create a national capacity for mine clearance that will save lives, save money and contribute significantly to development and reconstruction in the country.
In a peacekeeping or post-conflict transition or stabilisation phase, the role of any mine clearance operation will have to meet the needs of international organisations aiding the country, as well as the needs of the affected population itself. There may be an immediate need to clear election areas, to ensure that convoys of humanitarian relief supplies can travel safely and to allow access to essential infrastructural sites (including water sources, power lines, medical facilities). At this stage, a UN organisation is probably co-ordinating the whole operation. As an impartial, international body with experience of co-ordination and management, the UN may be the most appropriate organisation for the job, however, it is important to mandate the use of peacekeepers in demining operations carefully. They operate by their own well-defined management structures and budgets which may not be sustainable when the international force eventually leaves and the next phase of a mine clearance operation begins. It is essential to identify or establish a national or regional structure whose employees can be trained to take over all aspects of the operation – in other words, the creation of a national capacity in demining.
The establishment of good organisational and logistical capacities is too often overlooked in the rush to train the actual deminers. It should, however, be considered a priority. Managers and strategists should be trained, not just to fill positions previously held by expatriates, but to develop a credible organisation which can establish policies and strategies for mine action, oversee the implementation of those policies and, of course, actually undertake the demining. It stands to reason that a well-structured programme will lead to greater efficiency, to fewer accidents and to increased confidence with donors who are subsequently more likely to contribute additional funds. In a number of situations, the eagerness of different organisations to become involved has led to confusion and a subsequent delay in operations.
Both the organisational level and the actual field operations, including surveying, mine awareness programmes and demining itself, must involve local, regional and national authorities, as well as the affected populations. It is precisely these people who are aware of local priorities and needs. They will be able to provide information on areas suspected to be minefields, on existing capacity or skills in demining, on what resources may be mobilised, and ultimately on the success of any mine clearance or awareness programmes.
Mine awareness programmes are excellent opportunities to form relationships with the local community. Old-fashioned media campaigns were one-sided and largely ineffectual due to an inability to tailor them to take local languages, literacy levels and cultural understanding into account. A more participatory approach has been devised which uses drama techniques or other forms of interaction to teach about the dangers of mines. In some cases, it was found that a lack of awareness of mines was not the problem, in fact people knowingly entered minefields daily out of economic necessity (to collect water or wood, or to cultivate land) or for social and cultural reasons. This fact necessitates greater emphasis on safe behaviour around mines, marking of affected areas and medical knowledge.
Deminers need not be (former) military personnel nor must they possess any qualifications or skills. However, it is advantageous to train people familiar with the region and recently demobilised soldiers may be looking for an occupation not too dissimilar to their military activities. Manual demining is still the most commonly used method. A number of newer technologies were also discussed:
- The use of dogs is becoming increasingly popular. Vapour samples from large areas of land are taken back to a laboratory where a team of up to ten dogs detects those samples that contain the smell of explosives. Thus, even plastic, ‘non-detectable’ mines can, in fact, be located, although this is more difficult in desert regions where silicon absorbs the smell of explosives in hot weather. If a sample is found positive by even one dog, the area will be thoroughly checked with mechanical and/or manual deminers. Dogs may have to be trained further to distinguish between the smell of explosives in mines, and that of bullets or other debris from a war that may be littering a mine-affected region. Although this technique does not pin-point the exact position of mines, it creates an accurate survey which reduces time and money spent on painstakingly checking unmined areas.
The dog method might require some manual or mechanical demining in order to create safe paths from which the vapour samples can be taken. Mechanical methods tend to involve the use of two or three robust vehicles which activate or lift mines in their path. They also assist in preparatory clearing of vegetation, booby-traps and trip-wires, as well as in destroying some mines. The vehicles would need to be driven by reasonably skilled drivers and may require operational support. The best formula for mine clearing vehicles is those of high technology that require low maintenance. Experiments with some of these vehicles in Mozambique showed that they were not accurate enough to be the sole method of mine clearance and so were followed by manual demining teams. The best approach seems to be to combine the available technologies or capabilities in what is known as the ‘toolbox effect’.
- Further experiments are being undertaken on radar and x-ray technology, but these methods are likely to be too costly for countries with a large mine problem and few financial resources. While many technologies are being tested in staged events, few are yet being tried in existing demining operations.
Private companies, particularly in South Africa, which has relatively advanced technology in the field of demining, are undertaking contracts in other countries in the region. Particular emphasis was placed on inter-African co-operation in this field as far as possible, without resorting to competition. Besides the sharing of technology, it should also be possible to share the skills of those who have been trained in demining or the management of such operations in other African states. The OAU is currently developing a logistics support capability for a hundred man observer force and acquiring mine detectors for use by OAU peacekeepers or for training purposes.
It is necessary for any demining operation to achieve at least a 99,6 per cent success rate which is then tested by quality control and assessment personnel from a different company or organisation. Performance assessment to date, has been based largely on a dollar per mine or dollar per hectare ratio. More relevant would be a way of assessing the impact of each dollar spent for the local population, both in saving lives and the development of a region.
An international conference held in Tokyo recently developed and elaborated a set of guidelines to regulate mine clearance activities. Once these have been circulated and revised, they should provide a set of standards for what is considered to be a fairly unregulated industry.
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