Mozambique Floods: Danger of Displaced Landmines

Added 28 March:Landmines in Mozambique: After the Floods
Paper prepared for Conference on Mozambique After the Floods by Mary Wareham, HRW. "How far did the mines move?" "We have no way of knowing." - Jackie D'Almeida, United Nations Accelerated Demining Program in Mozambique"We appeal to our people to be careful and to report these mines when they see them" – President Chissano

The floods in Mozambique during the past month have undoubtedly reversed much of the progress made recently on many fronts in Mozambique. Amongst the poorest countries in the world, it has recently been lauded as "one of the fastest growing economies in Africa." Recovering from the devastation of 20 years of wars which finally ended in the early 90s, people were rebuilding lives, communities, increasing production and clearing landmines. Progress was being made as areas were marked, mapped, cleared and surveyed.

It is not yet possible to evaluate the impact of the floods that have devastated the southern and central region of the country. The main danger, as stated by Jackie D’Almeida, is that officials, landmine clearance organizations and villagers no longer know where the mines are.

Most areas affected are still inundated. In the areas where the flood is receding, there is still little mobility with few villagers returning home. But landmines, like stones, shift in rushing water, and tend to move downstream following gravity. Areas that were previously mapped, surveyed and marked, may no longer be accurate. Markings may have been destroyed. Mines may have been shifted in the flood waters and end up in areas previously considered clear and safe. Mines could shift their position and present a more serious risk for deminers.

"It is possible that many demined areas are now mined again, reducing to zero the efforts of mine clearance carried out during many years. The catastrophe now is the fact that we don't know where are the mines," said Baltasar Ussaca, Project Manager for Handicap International in Mozambique.

To date, no injuries directly related to landmines in the floods is known, yet it is still to early to rule out that such injuries might have occurred as people moved around. Indeed the greatest danger to populations by mines may come as the return home and begin to rebuild their lives and communities. Local landmarks will have changed and already established mine field marking will have been destroyed by the flooding. Before the floods, locals might avoid an area suspected of mines or place a marker, such as a small pile of stones, to indicate a mined area and others would therefore steer clear of it. Now that small pile of stones will also have been washed away. Such markers can no longer be used or trusted. Survey teams will have to start all over.

What is being done:

• Handicap International (their press release in French) in cooperation with the National Institute for Demining, UNICEF and other partners in country will assist in planning and carrying out an emergency mine risk education campaign in the areas where floods may have covered or disturbed confirmed or suspected minefields. They will include precautions to be taken when people return home. After people have returned and settled in, intensive awareness campaigns will continue.
• In cooperation with the National Institute for Demining (IND), UNDP will first identify the most populated at-risk areas, dispatch deminers to collect data on the minefields displaced by the floods and carry out mine awareness campaigns among people in camps. A special team of experts on unexploded ordnance will also be sent to determine the effect of the floods on the explosives, the agency said. See http://www.un.org/News/dh/latest/mozam.htm
• Norwegian People’s Aid will continue its assistance for the flood relief and continue its demining programmes.
• Flood relief : to make a donation for flood relief, or for further information consult: http://www.africapolicy.org/action/floods.htm
• For updates, consult these sites:
  http://www.reliefweb.int/IRIN/archive/mozambique.htm
  http://www.africanews.org/south/mozambique
  http://www.tropical.co.mz/~wim/moclinks.html
  

For additional news articles on Mozambique and Landmines you can look through the ICBL Media Reports archive.