United Kingdom
Mine Action
20-Year Summary of Mine Action
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Treaty status |
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Mine Ban Treaty |
On track to meet deadline. |
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Other Conventions |
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Mine action management |
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Humanitarian Mine Action commenced |
2009 |
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National mine action management actors |
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UN agencies |
None |
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Mine action legislation |
Landmines Act 1998 |
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Mine action strategic and operational plans |
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Mine action standards |
International Mine Action Standards (IMAS) adapted to meet the specifics of the situation on the islands and each task.[1] |
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Current operators |
International:
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Extent of contamination |
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Landmines |
As of 31 March 2018: 6.44km2 all on the Falkland Islands/Malvinas[3] Extent of contamination: Medium |
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Other contamination |
ERW contained within known hazardous areas |
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New landmine contamination |
None |
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Land release November 2016–5 March 2018 (Phase 5 (a))[4] |
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Landmines |
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Land released 2009–March 2018[5] |
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Total land release estimate |
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Progress and 2024 target |
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Landmines |
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Note: ERW = explosive remnants of war.
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (UK) became a State Party to the Mine Ban Treaty on 1 March 1999 and national legislation implementing the treaty entered into force on the same day. The UK completed destruction of its stockpile of more than two million antipersonnel mines on 19 October 1999. Initially, the UK retained close to 5,000 mines for training purposes, but in 2003, reduced it to less than 2000. At the end of 2018, the UK declared retaining no antipersonnel mines as defined under the convention.[8] After entry into force of the Mine Ban Treaty, there were allegations of attempted transfers of antipersonnel mines in the UK by Pakistani, Romanian, and UK companies.
Despite becoming a State Party on 1 March 1999, the UK did not commence clearance on the Falkland Islands/Malvinas until 2009. In November 2008, the UK requested, and was granted, a 10-year extension to its Article 5 deadline to clear mines areas from the Falkland Islands/Malvinas. A further five-year extension was requested in March 2018 and granted through to 1 March 2024.
The UK is making significant progress in the release of mines areas on the Falkland Islands/Malvinas and predicts that only eight mined areas, covering an estimated 0.16km² will remain by the end of March 2020, all located in the Yorke Bay area of the islands.
Contamination and Impact
The mined areas are the result of armed conflict with Argentina in 1982.[9]
The UK has reported that no civilian has ever been killed or injured by mines on the islands.[10] There have been several cases where civilians have deliberately or inadvertently entered a minefield. The Ministry of Defence reported “infringement” of minefields by a total of six locals and 15 foreign fishermen or tourists between March 2000 and December 2008.[11] It is a criminal offence on the Falklands/Malvinas to enter a minefield.[12]
The socio-economic impact of contamination on the islands is said to be minimal. All mined areas and suspected hazardous areas (SHAs) have been “perimeter-marked and are regularly monitored and protected by quality stock proof fencing, to ensure the effective exclusion of civilians.”[13] According to the UK, mined areas represent “only 0.1% of land used for farming. The mined areas cover a wide range of terrain including sandy beaches and dunes, mountains, rock screes, dry peat, wet swampy peat, and pasture land.”[14] A number of instances of cattle, sheep, or horses entering the minefields have been recorded since 2000, some of which resulted in the animals’ deaths.[15]
Mine Ban Treaty Article 5 Compliance
The UK became a State Party to the Mine Ban Treaty in 1999 and has since submitted two Article 5 deadline extension requests, one for 10 years from 2009–2019, and a further five-year extension through to 1 March 2024. It is expected that this will be the final deadline extension the UK will request.
The UK began the first formal clearance operations on the Falkland Islands/Malvinas at the end of 2009 and has carried out clearance operations in phases. The first four phases of clearance took place from October 2009 to March 2016, during which 35 mined areas were released, totaling just over 2.4km².[16] Phase 5 (a) was completed at the end of March 2018 with just over 4.8km² of land cleared. Phase 5(b) commenced in April 2018 and is expected to conclude by 31 March 2020.[17] Eight remaining mined areas, covering 0.16km² are expected to remain on completion of Phase 5(b). Technical survey will be conducted to inform the planning and costing for the release of these remaining mined areas.[18]
The UK requested a five-year extension until 1 March 2024 to ensure adequate time for this clearance.[19] Two further areas, Don Carlos Bay and Beatrice Cove, have been out of bounds to all persons on the islands since 1982 and have not been surveyed. They are not thought to be mined, but if found to be, the UK expects that they could be cleared within the five-year extension period.[20]
The UK has increased its funding commitment for Phase 5, up to £27 million compared to the £11 million for the first four stages due to the minefields being more technically challenging and environmentally sensitive.[21] Other challenges include the remote locations, adverse weather conditions, incomplete Argentine minefield records, and the limits on the capacity of the islands to provide certain facilities for demining.[22]
Program Management
Management
A National Mine Action Authority (NMAA) was established in 2009 to regulate, manage, and coordinate mine action on the islands. The NMAA is chaired by the UK FCO and comprises representatives from the Ministry of Defence, the Falklands Islands’ government, and a strategic advisor.
A Suspect Hazardous Area Land Release Committee (SHALARC), provides a forum for contractors to discuss issues of concern or interest, such as the land release process, including when land has been released for public use. The body is based on the islands and is composed of local officials and a representative of the UK military.[23]
Legislation
The UK implemented a Landmines Act in 1998 that came into force in 1999.[24] The Falkland Islands government has had a Crimes Ordinance in place since 1989, which makes it a criminal offence for any person to willfully enter a minefield; to cause or attempt to cause a mine to explode; to cut or remove minefield fencing; to remove damage or obscure minefield signs or notices; or to drive an animal into a minefield.[25]
Environmental protection
The Falkland Islands/Malvinas contain sensitive flora, fauna, and fragile terrain that creates an additional challenge to the conduct of demining operations. Environmental standards are agreed on in coordination with the islands’ government Environmental Planning Department to minimize damage to the fragile environment and to aid remediation.[26] The UK also conducted an environmental impact assessment (EIA) in 2017 as the most environmentally sensitive minefields will be cleared from 2018 onwards. The report identified two particular issues: a) the penguins on the islands that often breed in burrows in mined areas,[27] and b) the sensitive beach and sand dune area at Yorke Bay,[28] where the remaining eight contaminated areas are located.[29] The report set down conditions to ensure that impact to the environment is limited to the minimum practicable.[30]
Gender
Gender policies and procedures are in place to cover mine action on the Falkland Islands/Malvinas, including at the level of the UK FCO, the National Mine Action Authority, the land release contractor (currently SafeLane Global), and the Demining Project Office (currently Fenix Insight). While one third of management positions in SafeLane Global on the Falkland Islands/Malvinas are held by women, none of the survey or clearance personnel is female. This is despite equal employment opportunities.[31] The contractors were also contacted in 2018 by the UK government setting out safeguarding policies and procedures.[32]
Land Release
Feasibility study
In 2001, the UK and Argentina agreed to carry out a joint feasibility study on the clearance of landmines on the islands. Cranfield University was selected by the two governments to carry out the Feasibility Study, including a field survey of the islands. The report, published on 9 July 2007, highlighted the environmental and remediation challenges, the climatic constraints, and the limitations of the existing local infrastructure.[33]
Survey
While non-technical and technical survey have formed a key part of the UK’s operations on the islands for many years, the UK has not historically collated data on area cancelled and on area reduced.[34] During Phase 5(a) (November 2016 to March 2018), technical survey was reported to have been completed in minefields in Port Howard, Fox Bay, and Stanley Area 3, but no data was reported on the amount of mined area reduced through survey.[35] Survey will be conducted during Phase 5(b) for the remaining eight areas in Yorke Bay to support planning and costing of the clearance operations.
Planning and priority setting
At the beginning of operations, the UK prioritized clearance of areas closest to settlements and civilian infrastructure, resulting in release of areas closest to Port Stanley and the roads leading in and out of the islands’ capital. A 2016 study, carried out by the UK’s Defence, Science and Technology Laboratory applied Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis to rank all remaining minefields according to a range of factors including: size/density of minefield; terrestrial factors (remoteness of location, topography, and difficulty of mine removal); human factors (proximity to life, benefits to local population of clearance, and political priorities of the UK/islands governments); and environmental factors (conservation of wildlife and adherence to local legislation). This priority list has informed the Phase 5 demining.[36]
Clearance
Some clearance was undertaken in the early 1980s immediately following the conflict, during which 1,855 mines were removed and destroyed from mined area.[37] However, between the date the UK became a State Party to the Mine Ban Treaty (1 March 1999) and the submission of its first Article 5 deadline extension request in 2008, no clearance took place.[38]
From 2009 until March 2018, 11.84km² of contaminated land has been released; 85 areas out of a total of 122 mined areas identified in 2009.
[1] Email from an official in the Arms Export Policy Department, FCO, 26 June 2018; and Mine Ban Treaty Article 5 deadline Extension Request, 2018, pp. 3 and 7.
[2] Mine Ban Treaty Article 5 deadline Extension Request, 2018, p. 9.
[3] Email from an official in the Counter Proliferation and Arms Control Centre, FCO, 21 August 2018.
[4] Mine Ban Treaty Article 5 deadline Extension Request, 2018, p. 6, and Annex 1, p. 5.
[5] Ibid., and Annex 1, p. 6.
[6] Ibid., p. 6.
[7] Ibid., p. 7.
[8] Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report (for calendar year 2018, Form D, p. 6.
[9] Mine Ban Treaty First Article 5 deadline Extension Request, 2008.
[10] Statement of the UK, Standing Committee Meetings, Geneva, 8 June 2017; and Mine Ban Treaty First Article 5 deadline Extension Request, 2008, p. 4.
[11] Letter from Permanent Joint Headquarters of the UK Ministry of Defence to Landmine Action, 16 February 2009.
[12] Mine Ban Treaty Article 5 deadline Extension Request, 2018, p. 10.
[13] Ibid., p. 2.
[14] Ibid.
[15] Letter from Permanent Joint Headquarters of the UK Ministry of Defence to Landmine Action, 16 February 2009.
[16] Mine Ban Treaty Article 5 deadline Extension Request, 2018, Annex 1, p. 3.
[17] Ibid.
[18] Ibid., p. 12.
[19] Ibid., p. 15.
[20] Ibid., p. 13.
[21] Ibid., pp. 3 and 10.
[22] Statement of the UK, Mine Ban Treaty Intersessional Meetings, Geneva, 8 June 2017; and Mine Ban Treaty Article 5 deadline Extension Request, 2018, p. 3. The demining operations are limited in terms of staff numbers by the limited capacity in terms of accommodation and medical/casevac (evacuation of casualties by air) facilities.
[23] Mine Ban Treaty Article 5 deadline Extension Request, 2018, p. 9.
[25] Mine Ban Treaty Article 5 deadline Extension Request, 2018, p. 10.
[26] Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report (for calendar year 2016), Form F.
[27] Mine Ban Treaty Article 5 deadline Extension Request, 2018, p. 10.
[28] Email from an official in the Arms Export Policy Department, FCO, 28 July 2017; and Mine Ban Treaty Article 5 deadline Extension Request, 2018, pp. 3 and 11.
[29] Ibid., pp. 7 and 14.
[30] Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report (for calendar year 2018), Form F, p. 11.
[31] NPA, “Mine Action Review: Clearing Cluster Munition Remnants 2019,” 1 August 2019, p. 103.
[32] Ibid, p. 105.
[33] Mine Ban Treaty Article 5 deadline Extension Request, 2018, p. 6.
[34] Ibid., pp. 3 and 11.
[35] Email from an official in the Arms Export Policy Department, FCO, 26 June 2018.
[36] Ibid., 21 September 2016, and 28 July 2017.
[37] Mine Ban Treaty Article 5 deadline Extension Request, 2018, p. 6.
[38] Analysis of Mine Ban Treaty First Article 5 deadline Extension Request, 18 November 2008.