Yemen

Casualties and Victim Assistance

Last updated: 16 December 2015

Victim assistance commitments

The Republic of Yemen is responsible for a significant number of landmine survivors, cluster munition victims, and survivors of other explosive remnants of war (ERW) who are in need. Yemen has made commitments to provide victim assistance through the Mine Ban Treaty.

Yemen ratified the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) on 26 March 2009.

Casualties Overview

All known casualties by end 2014

5,864

Casualties in 2014

24 (2013: 55)

2014 casualties by outcome

9 killed; 15 injured (2013: 15 killed; 39 injured; 1 unknown)

2014 casualties by device type

24 unknown devices

In 2014, the Monitor identified 24 casualties from mines/ERW from Yemen Executive Mine Action Center (YEMAC) casualty data and other sources. [1] This was a significant decrease compared with the 55 casualties recorded in 2013 and 263 casualties recorded for 2012; however, it was higher than the 19 recorded in 2011. [2] The casualty total for 2012 was then the highest annual number recorded by the Monitor for Yemen since research began in 1999 and was due to the conflict and increased population movement in that year. [3]

Landmine casualties continued to be recorded in 2015, but no exact figure was available. It was reported that some 10 people were killed and more than 80 injured in a one-week period in Aden in July/August. [4] According to another report, from mid-July to mid-August, 98 people were recorded as killed and another 332 injured by mines in Aden, Abyan, and Lahij. [5] In August, it was also reported that three military personnel from the United Arab Emirates were killed by a mine in Yemen. [6]

Through the end of 2014, there were at least 5,864 mine/ERW casualties identified in Yemen. [7] A Landmine Impact Survey had identified 4,904 casualties through July 2000, of which 2,560 people were killed and 2,344 were injured. [8] In 2010, it was reported in the media that there were 35,000 mine/ERW casualties in Yemen since 1995. [9]

Cluster Munition Casualties

In 2015, it was reported that at least 13 people were killed, including three children, and another 22 were injured by cluster munition attacks in Yemen. Another three people were injured by unexploded submunitions. [10]

A cluster munition strike in Yemen in December 2009 was reported to have killed 55 people, including 14 women and 21 children. [11] , [12] In 2013, it was reported that unexploded submunitions remaining from the 2009 strike had killed four civilians and injured 13, through January 2012. [13]

Victim Assistance

As of October 2013, there were at least 3,539 landmine survivors in Yemen, many of them without adequate healthcare or livelihoods. [14]

Victim assistance since 1999

Yemen’s mine action center established a victim assistance department in 2001 with the aim of helping mine/ERW survivors access medical care, physical rehabilitation, and economic reintegration assistance. It coordinated, if only sporadically, with survivors to identify and access survivors living in rural areas. The department’s program, supported with international assistance, has covered the cost of treatment, transport, and accommodation of survivors who receive health and rehabilitation services. International organizations and NGOs have supported Yemen’s physical rehabilitation centers since 2001, with ICRC support continuing to the present.

Each year, the victim assistance department’s program planned to reach a set number of survivors, though it nearly always fell short of meeting its target. Survivors not assisted through this program have faced significant challenges to access assistance due to the centralization of services in urban centers, far from where most survivors are. Women have faced particular challenges since cultural norms generally require that they travel with a male family member.

The economic reintegration component of the national victim assistance program was begun in 2004 with the establishment of the Yemen Association of Landmine Survivors (YALS) as the mine action center’s implementing partner for these activities. However, in most years, there has not been sufficient funding to implement this component as planned. Psychosocial support has never been included in the victim assistance department’s program and has not been widely available in Yemen. However, some local NGOs, including YALS, have offered this support when possible, given limited budgets.

Increasing levels of violence and insecurity led to the suspension of the victim assistance program in 2011 and prevented many survivors from traveling to needed services. For example, the Aden Rehabilitation Center, one of only four in the country, suspended its outreach program and its plans to build a new rehabilitation center, with support from ICRC, remained on hold through 2013.

YEMAC reached a significantly larger number of survivors in 2013 than in past years, facilitating their access to medical care and physical rehabilitation. However, as the security situation worsened once again near the end of 2013, most survivors continued to face significant challenges in accessing all needed services. YALS lacked sufficient funding to address the demand for its economic inclusion and psychosocial support programs.

No progress was identified in the implementation of the National Victim Assistance Strategic Plan 2010–2014 and survivors did not participate in the coordination and planning of victim assistance.

Victim assistance in 2014

Landmine survivors lacked healthcare. A large number of survivors and families of casualties had no regular sources of income. As a result, they could not access long-term medical, assistive devices, or rehabilitation due to the high costs. Health services are mostly inaccessible to people in rural areas, who make up 75% of the population.

Assessing victim assistance needs

A survey by YEMAC identified 3,539 landmine survivors in Yemen as of October 2013, with 700 amputees on a waiting list for prosthetic devices. At least 755 survivors of armed conflict, including mine/ERW survivors were surveyed in Abyan. [15]

Victim assistance coordination [16]

Government coordinating body/focal point

YEMAC

Coordinating mechanism

Victim Assistance Advisory Committee (inactive): YEMAC with ministries of health, insurance, and social affairs; Mine Action Working Group

Plan

National Victim Assistance Strategic Plan 2010–2014 (inactive)

While the Victim Assistance Advisory Committee remained inactive, the planning and coordination of victim assistance was discussed at meetings of the Mine Action Working Group in 2013. The purpose of the meetings was to improve collaboration among victim assistance service providers and other stakeholders and to avoid duplication of efforts. YEMAC delegated coordination with the Ministry of Social Affair’s Disability Fund (MOSUL) to YALS. [17]

In 2014, no significant progress was made in implementing the National Victim Assistance Strategic Plan 2010–2014. [18]

As of 1 November 2015, Yemen had not provided its Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 report for 2014.

Survivor inclusion

In 2013, neither mine/ERW survivors nor their representative organizations were included in the planning and coordination of victim assistance. [19] YALS held ad hoc meetings with the Disability Fund to facilitate access to services for its members and also to meet when possible with other government ministries to advocate on behalf of its members. [20]

Through YALS, survivors were involved in implementing income-generating projects, collecting data on the needs of other survivors and in distributing mobility devices and other assistance. [21]

Service accesibility and effectiveness

Victim assistance activities [22]

Name of organization

Type of organization

Type of activity

YEMAC

Government

Data collection, referrals, and support for medical attention and physical rehabilitation; support for accommodation and transportation

Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs

Government

Social Fund for Development and the Fund for the Care and Rehabilitation of the Disabled assisted disability organizations

Aden Rehabilitation Center/Aden Association of People with Special Needs

National NGO

Inclusive education, and advocacy on the CRPD outreach services; all services gender- and age-appropriate

Yemen Association of Landmine Survivors (YALS)

National NGO

Peer support, economic inclusion program, and advocacy

Raqeep Organization for Human Rights

National NGO

Awareness of rights of mine/ERW survivors, documenting rights violations, advocacy

Arab Human Rights Foundation (AHRF)

Regional NGO

Psychosocial support

Doctors Without Borders (Médecins Sans Frontières, MSF)

International NGO

Emergency and ongoing medical care

ICRC

International organization

Emergency relief, support for emergency medical care, and support for materials and technical training for four physical rehabilitation centers; building modifications for gender/age appropriate assistance

Emergency and ongoing medical care

Victim assistance was underfunded, however, in 2014, emergency relief funding helped some of the most vulnerable people and enabled them to receive medical assistance in Saada, Hajjah, Al Jawf, Sanaa, Marib, and Dhamar provinces, through the work of YALS. [23]

In April 2015, Yemen’s health system was struggling to cope and there were severe shortages of essential items. [24] By September the situation was critical and supplies were blocked in several areas where conflict-injured persons required significant assistance. [25]

Physical rehabilitation

Poor security conditions, the lack of service providers, and poverty—all of which made transportation and accommodation inaccessible—were the main obstacles in accessing physical rehabilitation in 2014, especially for mine/ERW survivors living in rural areas. A lack of female rehabilitation professionals prevented women from accessing needed services. [26]

The ICRC continued to provide support to four rehabilitation centers throughout the country and made improvements to centers in Aden, Taiz, and Sanaa. The ICRC continued to sponsor formal prosthetics and orthotics training for four women to address the lack of female professionals. [27]

Economic inclusion

In 2014, YALS undertook economic inclusion activities for some 150 mine/ERW survivors and indirect victims in 10 governorates including Abyan, Hajjah, and Sa’dah. [28] The ICRC provided loans for 86 persons with disabilities to start businesses. [29]

Psychological support

YALS and a few national NGOs such as the AHRF continued to provide psychosocial support to mine survivors in some areas of Yemen. [30] None of the survivors interviewed from Sanaa had received any psychological support. [31]

Laws and policies

Legislation protects the rights of persons with disabilities, but they were poorly enforced and discrimination remained. No national law mandated accessibility of buildings for persons with disabilities. [32]

The Social Fund for Development and the Special Needs Association held workshops to raise awareness about the CRPD and the rights of persons with disabilities, targeting government ministries and NGOs. [33] In 2014, it was reported that organizations for persons with disabilities controlled by the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs rarely received their full budget from the government. [34]

Gender considerations were included in the composition of YEMAC victim assistance support teams, which included female survey assessors to facilitate the identification and interview of women and girls. [35]



[1] Ongoing conflict in both the north and southern parts of Yemen prevented YEMAC from collecting and verifying casualty data from these areas. UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), “Humanitarian Bulletin Yemen,” Issue30, 11 August–3 September 2014.

[2] See previous editions of Yemen profile available on the Monitor website .

[3] Wethaq Foundation for Civil Orientation, “Landmine Victims in Kushar District, Hajja: Death Creeping Towards Innocent People,” undated but 2012; “Landmine victims in southern Yemen on the rise,” Reliefweb , 13 June 2012; and “Wanting to go home but threatened by landmines, Ahim area IDPs caught in limbo,” Yemen Times , 7 February 2013.

[4] Nasser Al-Sakkaf, “An invisible killer on Aden’s streets,” Middle East Eye , 6 August 2015.

[5] Iona Craig, “Yemeni rebels 'mining civilian areas,’” IRIN , 19 August 2015.

[6]Three Emirati soldiers killed in Yemen,” Middle East Eye , 8 August 2015.

[7] Monitor media scanning for calendar year 2013; interviews with Ali Al-Kadri, YEMAC, in Geneva, 28 May 2013; and with Ahmed Alawi, YEMAC, 25 February 2014; email from Yuko Osawa, UNICEF Yemen, 7 May 2014; Monitor media scanning for calendar year 2012; Wethaq Foundation for Civil Orientation, “Landmine Victims in Kushar District, Hajja: Death Creeping Towards Innocent People,” undated but 2012; UNDSS, “Yemen Daily Report,” 27 March 2012, and 2 April 2012; email from Henry Thompson, DDG Yemen, 15 March 2013; telephone interview with Ahmed Aalawi, YEMAC, 13 March 2013; UNICEF, “Unexploded ordnance and landmines killing more children in Yemen,” Sanaa, 20 April 2012 ; Monitor interview with neighbor of victim, 27 March 2012; Monitor media monitoring 1 January 2011 to 31 December 2011; and interview with Ahmed Alawi, YEMAC, Sanaa, 8 March 2011.

[8] Survey Action Center, “Landmine Impact Survey Republic of Yemen Executive Summary,” July 2000, p. 15.

[9] Shatha Al-Harazi, “Yemen landmines kill 12 children this year,” UNICEF New Zealand, 22 December 2010.

[11] There was a credible report of a cluster munition strike in Yemen in December 2009 that killed 55 people, including 14 women and 21 children. Amnesty International, “Wikileaks cable corroborates evidence of US airstrikes in Yemen,” 1 December 2010.

[12] In addition, cluster munition contamination was confirmed in northwestern Yemen, apparently following use in 2009/2010. In July 2013, mine clearance operators in Yemen shared photographs of unexploded BLU-97 bomblets, BLU-61 submunitions, and DPICM submunitions of an unknown origin with the Monitor showing contamination in Sadaa governorate in northwestern Yemen near the border with Saudi Arabia. Interviews with Abdul Raqeeb Fare, Deputy Director, YEMAC, Sanaa, 7 March 2013; and with Ali al-Kadri, YEMAC, in Geneva, 28 May 2013; and email from John Dingley, UNDP Yemen, 9 July 2013. There is no specific data available yet on casualties resulting from this contamination.

[13] HRW, “Between a Drone and Al-Qaeda,” 22 October 2013; and interview with Ahmed Alawi, YEMAC, 25 February 2014. Previously, no confirmed cluster munition remnants casualties had been reported. Emails from Yuko Osawa, UNICEF Yemen, 7 May 2014; and from from Ali Al-Kadri, YEMAC, 5 October 2013.

[14] OCHA, “Humanitarian Bulletin Yemen,” Issue 23, 8 January–7 February 2014.

[15] Ibid.; and interview with Ahmed Alawi, YEMAC, 25 February 2014.

[16] Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report (for the period 31 March 2013 to 31 March 2014), Form I; and interview with Ahmed Alawi, YEMAC, 25 February 2014.

[17] Interview with Ahmed Alawi, YEMAC, 25 February 2014.

[18] Ibid.; and with Mohammed Alabdali, Deputy Director, YALS, 15 February 2014.

[19] Interview with Ahmed Alawi, YEMAC, 25 February 2014.

[20] Ibid.; and with Mohammed Alabdali, YALS, 15 February 2014.

[21] Interviews with Ahmed Alawi, YEMAC, 25 February 2014; and with Mohammed Alabdali, YALS, 15 February 2014.

[22] ICRC Physical Rehabilitation Programme (PRP), “Annual Report 2014,” Geneva, 2015; UNDP, “Support to eliminate the impact from mines and ERW in Yemen- phase IV, Periodic Progress Report: July–September 2014;” Marshal Legacy Institute, “Annual Report 2014,” undated.

[23] UNDP, “Support to eliminate the impact from mines and ERW in Yemen- phase IV, Periodic Progress Report: July–September 2014;” and OCHA, “Yemen Emergency Response Fund: Annual Report 2014,” undated.

[25]Health services 'nearing collapse' in Yemen, says MSF,” Middle East Eye, 4 August 2015.

[26] ICRC PRP, “Annual Report 2014,” Geneva, May 2015.

[27] Ibid.

[28] UNDP, “Support to eliminate the impact from mines and ERW in Yemen- phase IV, Periodic Progress Report: July–September 2014.”

[29] ICRC PRP, “Annual Report 2014,” Geneva, 2015.

[30] Interviews with Ahmed Alawi, YEMAC, 25 February 2014; and with Mohammed Alabdali, YALS, 15 February 2014.

[31] Raqeep Human Rights Organization, “Human Trap: Monitoring Landmine and UXO Victims in Arhab, Nehm and Bani Jarmooz,” March 2014, p. 28.

[32] United States Department of State, “2014 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Yemen,” Washington, DC, 25 June 2015.

[33] Responses to Monitor questionnaire by Hilda Abdullah Saad, Special Needs Association, 11 April 2013; and by Kowkab Al Hibshi, Social Fund for Development, 3 March 2013.

[34] Ali Ibrahim Al-Moshki, “Local NGO: Number of disabled citizens in Yemen exceeds two million,” Yemen Times , 4 December 2014.