As the Government of Sri Lanka feels that an end to the war is in sight, areas of land are now being released for mine clearance.
 |
 |
|
Community Liaison surveying the Sri Lankan Army's (SLA) Forward Defence Line with the SLA... |
 |
|
...and one of the explosive items found. |
 |
|
Part of the Community Liaison survey in Mannar District. |
The Government has stated its intention to return 80 per cent of the displaced people by December, while publicly acknowledging that Humanitarian Mine Action will be an important requirement in the process1.
In response to the expected return of the internally displaced population, MAG has moved additional assets from Batticaloa, in the east of the country, to the district of Mannar in the north-west. MAG now has three teams conducting Community Liaison surveys. One mechanical team and one team of deminers are deployed to conduct technical surveys.
MAG focuses on defining safe areas that can be used immediately by the civilian population, and to identify high risk areas for further potential clearance activities.
MAG’s survey teams collect data from various sources to establish the level, location and impact that mines and unexploded ordnance have on the communities and their plans for return.
Your donation to MAG helps us to move into current and former conflict zones to clear the remnants of those conflicts, enabling recovery and assisting the development of affected populations.
The first source of information in the task area has been the Sri Lankan Army (SLA), who have provided guides and information so that the teams have been able to enter the contentious areas. In addition, the teams have located and met with the local people and then physically mapped the areas on foot.
All information is cross-referenced, categorised and geo-referenced to give an overall picture on the ground. This information is used to support the risk assessment of the areas and ultimately the documentation required by the District Mine Action Office necessary to issue low risk certificates.
 |
|
The Bozena team conduct a technical survey south of Palaikuli. |
 |
|
An LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) fragmentation mine, cleared by MAG. |
 |
|
Spot the mine in the foreground, found on a footpath during the technical survey in the Palaikuli area. [Photos: Mark Buswell/MAG] |
Following the Community Liaison survey teams is the technical survey team. This team uses a Bozena – a mechanical demining machine – and is deployed to areas where there is a probability of mines in order to verify the presence or absence of mines.
Findings on the ground indicate the use of ‘nuisance mining’: a tactic of laying mines which makes finding the location, identification and removal of the mines extremely difficult.
Nuisance mining tends to focus on causing casualties in areas where people feel safest, therefore demoralising troops and creating fear of movement amongst soldiers causing delays. Target areas tend to be gathering points, such as road junctions, shaded areas, water sources and shelter – houses, for instance. This tactic is particularly hazardous to people returning to their homes as there is no marking of these areas as being mined.
Of MAG's allocated task area of 10 square kilometres around the villages of Killikaddaikadu, Nilachenai and Palaikuli, MAG expects to release six square kilometres in the coming days through non technical survey only. The remaining area consists of both barrier and nuisance mining augmented with booby-trapping, and will require considerable effort to further define the extent of contamination and the threat posed to returning communities.
[Note: 1Basil Rajapaksa, during the IDP return ceremony in Musali 30/04/09]
Links:
- MAG Sri Lanka microsite - find out more about MAG's work in the country
- Donate to MAG online - more than 90 per cent of MAG's income is spent directly on clearance programmes
- Other ways to Get Involved - shop, run, walk, skydive, drink wine...
- Click on Tags below for related articles
15 May 09
MAG's work in Sri Lanka is supported by: Actiefonds Mijnen Ruimen (AMR); Allan and Nesta Ferguson Charitable
Trust; Embassy of Japan, Colombo; Hurvis Foundation; Kirby Laing Foundation;
Rowan Trust; Stichting Vluchteling
Back to top
