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Treaty Status | Management & Coordination | Impact (contamination & casualties) | Addressing the Impact (land release, risk education, victim assistance)

Country summary

As a result of armed conflicts dating back to 1963, the Republic of Guinea-Bissau became contaminated by mines (both antipersonnel and antivehicle) and explosive remnants of war (ERW). On 5 December 2012, Guinea-Bissau declared that it had fulfilled its clearance obligation under Article 5 of the Mine Ban Treaty. However, in 2019, Guinea-Bissau reported residual contamination from ERW.[1]

Guinea-Bissau is responsible for significant numbers of mine/ERW survivors.There was only one physical rehabilitation center, located in the capital Bissau, and persons with disabilities living in remote areas remained difficult to reach. International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) support to the physical rehabilitation center was reported to be ending in December 2021.

Treaty status

Treaty status overview

Under Article 5 of the Mine Ban Treaty, and in accordance with the two-month extension request granted in 2010, Guinea-Bissau was required to destroy all antipersonnel mines in mined areas under its jurisdiction or control as soon as possible, but not later than 1 January 2012. On 5 December 2012, Guinea-Bissau declared that it had fulfilled its clearance obligation under the treaty.[2]

Management and coordination

Mine action management and coordination

The National Mine Action Coordination Centre (Centro Nacional de Coordenção da Accão Anti-Minas, CAAMI), established in 2001 and under the responsibility of the Ministry of Defense since 2009, coordinated mine action operations. It has been inactive since 2012.[3]

Victim assistance management and coordination

Victim assistance management and coordination overview[4]

Laws and policies

There is no law specifically prohibiting discrimination against persons with disabilities.[5] No efforts were made to counter discrimination against persons with disabilities and ensure access to buildings.[6] No improvement was reported in the accessibility of the survivors’ physical environment.[7]

Former military personnel with disabilities received pensions from the Ministry of Defense, but these programs did not adequately address health, housing, or food needs.[8]

Impact

Contamination

Contamination overview (as of December 2019)[9]

Note: CHA=confirmed hazardous area; ERW=explosive remnants of war; and SHA=suspected hazardous area.

Landmine contamination

On 5 December 2012, Guinea-Bissau declared that it had fulfilled its obligation under Article 5 of the Mine Ban Treaty.[10] However, in its declaration of clearance completion, Guinea-Bissau noted that “Battle Area Clearance tasks remain as well as an expected residual contamination which will be addressed by CAAMI.”[11]

Cluster munition remnant contamination

The last known unexploded submunitions were said to have been destroyed by Cleared Ground Demining (CGD) in August 2008,[12] although Guinea-Bissau submitted a Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 report in 2009 which referred to “some clusters” at the Paiol da Bra ammunition storage area (ASA).[13] Subsequently, CGD reported clearing 73 PTAB 2.5M submunitions at Paiol da Bra in 2009.[14]

In June 2010, the general director of the CAAMI acknowledged the existence of a cluster munition problem, but stated that survey was needed to identify its extent.[15] During 2010, CGD found and destroyed six unexploded PTAB 2.5M submunitions during subsurface clearance at Paiol da Bra.[16] In March 2011, NPA stated that no unexploded submunitions had been found during their survey of explosive contamination in Guinea-Bissau.[17]

In its Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 report submitted in November 2019, Guinea-Bissau stated that cluster munition contaminated areas were cleared before the convention entered into force for the country.[18]

ERW contamination

As of the end of 2019, Guinea-Bissau reported that 0.56km² remained contaminated by ERW, and that just under 1km²remained to be surveyed. It noted that 22 months of demining work would be necessary to clear all remaining contamination, but it did not indicate if the country had the capacity to conduct these operations.[19]

Casualties

Casualties overview

Mine/ERW casualties: details

No mine/ERW casualties were reported in Guinea-Bissau since 2016, when a boy was killed by an ERW in Bissorã, Oio region.[20]

The Monitor recorded 211 mine/ERW casualties (91 injured, 75 killed, and 45 survival unknown) between 2001 and 2016. No new mine/ERW casualties were reported in Guinea Bissau between 2016 and 2019. There was no extensive national data collection after 2013. In 2019, national authorities noted that the Ministry of Defense was not informed of new casualties since the CAAMI ceased its activities.[21]

From 1963 to 2019, a total of 1,581 mine/ERW casualties were reported, including at least 1,430 survivors.[22] However, this is not believed to be a comprehensive figure. The 1963–2019 casualty total includes 1,533 casualties noted in a statement of Guinea-Bissau in December 2013 and CAAMI reporting through December 2013, as well as an additional 48 casualties for the years 2014 and 2016. In its 2013 statement, Guinea-Bissau recognized that some mine/ERW survivors might have since died, and that many more probably went unrecorded. No disaggregated information was available on the military and civilian status of those casualties. Guinea-Bissau reported that an estimated 80% of all casualties were boys and men, the majority of whom were farmers. [23] In 2019, Guinea-Bissau reported that there were close to 1,300 mine survivors in the country. [24]

Cluster munition casualties

While the total number of casualties from cluster munitions is not known in Guinea-Bissau, there were 11 casualties in 1998 during an attack on a weapons depot; the explosion that caused the casualties involved cluster munitions.[25] In 2019, the Ministry of Defense responded that it was not aware of any cluster munition casualties in Guinea-Bissau.[26]

Addressing the impact

Risk education

No risk education activities were conducted since 2012. This was reportedly due to a lack of funding.[27]

Victim assistance

Victim assistance providers and activities

Victim assistance operators[28]

Major developments in 2019

Needs assessment

Guinea-Bissau has reported a need to conduct a survey to identify cluster munition survivors.[29]

Medical care and rehabilitation

Six hospitals had the capacity to provide medical care to mine/ERW survivors, but only the Bissau hospital could treat very serious injuries.[30] Large sections of the population did not have access to health services.[31]

The Center for Physical Rehabilitation (Centro de Reabilitação Motora, CRM), supported by the ICRC, remained the only physical rehabilitation center for the country.[32] In 2019, the CRM treated nearly 3,900 patients, a 12% increase compared to 2018. The ICRC improved the management and strengthened the capacities of the CRM. As a result, the quality of services offered at the center improved.[33] The ICRC covered the cost of treatment for 430 CRM patients.[34] Some limited rehabilitation services were also provided in healthcare centers, although staff were not qualified.[35] Persons with disabilities outside the capital remained difficult to reach. The ICRC and the CRM conducted media events and outreach visits to remote areas to identify persons with disabilities in need of physical rehabilitation services.[36] Survivor networks reported that the ICRC’s support to the CRM would end in December 2021.

Since 2015, mine/ERW survivors from Senegal have been receiving prosthetic devices at the CRM through an agreement between the ICRC, the Senegalese mine-action authorities, and Solidarity Initiative for Development Actions (Initiative Solidaire des Actions de Développement, ISAD).[37] The agreement will end when the ICRC closes its program in Guinea-Bissau in December 2021.

There were no psychological support services for mine/ERW survivors.[38]

Socio-economic and psychosocial inclusion

The ICRC referred persons with disabilities to institutions providing livelihood support including vocational training.[39]

Guinea-Bissau has a federation for inclusive sports supported by the ICRC. The ICRC donated wheelchairs and supported activities of the federation.[40]

Cross-cutting issues

The ICRC covered transportation costs for persons living in poverty and/or living in remote areas to facilitate accessibility to the CRM. However, the majority of patients treated at the CRM came from the capital city Bissau.[41]