Words by Stephanie Gallagher.
MAG has provided clearance and mine risk education along a principal road in the Mangbwala area of Equateur Province, to help repatriate more than 8,000 refugees from the Republic of Congo, as well as the safe return of internally displaced persons.
Situated between Dongo and Imese in Equateur Province, the village of Mangbwala lies on a key transit route, which the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) plans to use in order to repatriate over 8,000 refugees from the Republic of Congo.
Five hundred of these are expected in Mangbwala, after heavy fighting in the region during the world’s deadliest conflict since World War II forced thousands of residents from their homes.
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| UNOPS road workers in the Mangbwala area receiving mine risk education |
With government troops having occupied the area from 2002 to 2003, leaving numerous hazardous items behind in their wake, UNHCR and the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) requested that MAG provided clearance and mine risk education (MRE) along the road, which will also be utilised by internally displaced persons (IDPs).
A common misperception in Equateur is the belief that disposing of unexploded ordnance (UXO) in the Congo River will render them safe, which was the case in Mangbwala, where both the Congolese Armed Forces (FARDC) and local villagers had personally removed many items before MAG’s arrival.
Nonetheless, multiple mortars and small arms and light weapons (SALW) were discovered in the vicinity of the village centre in a degraded state. Items MAG cleared included an 82 mm mortar located alongside the road (pictured below) and a fragmentation grenade found in between two houses.
MRE was targeted for children in schools and for local residents on the dangerous practice of handling UXOs, as well as for UNOPS workers repairing the road in anticipation of assisted refugees. Overall, MAG reached more than 300 people in three visits to Mbangbwala.
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| This 82 mm mortar located alongside the road was found by MAG |
Determining the exact locations of hazardous items can be difficult, unless an informant who observed the item being buried or hidden by combatants is found. This is due in part to the dense vegetation which grows over dangerous areas, as the land there remains uncultivated by local villagers fearing accidental injury or death.
After consultation with the village chief of Mbangbwala, MAG was introduced to Junior Monjima, who had seen and helped bury hazardous items as a solider from the FARDC. Mr. Monjima is 31 with a wife, daughter and son. He was able to point out exactly where a dozen 60 mm mortars were buried – 1.5 m into the ground, next to a school on land used for farming – which MAG promptly destroyed in situ.
In a degraded state, the items were becoming more and more dangerous as time passed. Said Mr. Monjima: “I have a lot of admiration for the manner in which the MAG deminers work. I am very proud to have worked with MAG and hope that we can work together again.”
MAG’s community liaison and clearance work in Mbangbwala continues to improve the condition of human security in the region, and demonstrate that the conflict is over through the removal of dangerous items and rendering land safe.
Upon MAG’s departure from Mbangwala, the village chief was informed that all remaining suspicious areas can be reported to MAG by sending word to MAG’s operational base in Mbandaka at any time, with clearance services subsequently provided. By preventing further accident, injury and/or death due to the explosive remnants of conflict, MAG is implementing the first necessary steps to stabilising the peace in Equateur and facilitating the repatriation process.
