MAG has completed clearance of the deadly barrier minefield, which for many years has surrounded the town of Kapoeta in Eastern Equatoria and threatened the lives of its residents.
Following the historic completion of operations, MAG is preparing to hand the final section of the barrier minefield – covering 23,005 square metres of land – over to residents. The work was divided into five parts to enable the gradual clearance and release of safe land to local communities. MAG previously handed over parts one and two in 2007, and three and four earlier this year.
Kapoeta experienced high levels of conflict during the civil war. The strategic importance of the town resulted in a minefield believed to have been laid around its northern, eastern and southern borders during the Sudan Armed Forces' (SAF) occupation, to defend against the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA).
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People living on a part of the former minefield cleared by MAG last year. |
The Kapoeta minefield, which covered an area of 283,898 square metres, has hindered development and complicated access to smaller villages in the surrounding area, creating a constant hazard for vulnerable groups, in particular children and women.
The clearance will also benefit the substantial numbers of refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) returning to the area following the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), signed between the Government of Sudan and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM). Such groups are particularly exposed to the dangers posed by explosive remnants of war, as they often return to dangerous areas unaware of the threat or the ways in which they can mitigate that risk.
Sudan is still suffering the effects of the longest civil war in the world, a conflict that raged on and off for 40 years and caused vast numbers of people to flee their homes. An estimated four million people are internally displaced within the country, while 350,000 are refugees in neighbouring countries.
Central to this human catastrophe is the legacy of combat: landmines, unexploded ordnance (UXO), and caches of weapons and munitions. These explosive remnants of war continue to kill and maim, deny access to land and basic resources, and restrict relief and peace monitoring efforts.
Links:
» More about MAG in Sudan
» More news articles from MAG Sudan
» MAG’s work in Sudan is currently funded by: Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration, U.S. Department of State; DFID (UK Department for International Development); EuropeAid; MAG America; Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement, Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, U.S. Department of State; Royal Government of the Netherlands; Survey Action Centre; United Nations.
23 July 08
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