Khidr, a local farmer, told MAG's Community Liaison staff, "We need more farmland cleared so we can make our living."
Unexploded cluster munitions continue to pose a lethal and economic threat to countless communities across Iraq. For internally displaced people (IDPs), looking to return home to Surkw village in the North-west governorate of Dohuk, these leftover remnants of war once impeded conflict recovery. Upon returning home, local farmers were prevented from farming their land and earning a living. MAG's work cleared bomblets that were posing the threat of death and injury and placed local farmers on the path to economic recovery.
During the 1970s and 1980s, Iraqi families were forced from their homes in Surka by conflict and regime-based violence. The village was destroyed and converted into a military camp by the Iraqi army, with large areas used to store weapons and ammunition.
In 1991, the camp itself was annihilated during an aerial bombardment by coalition forces to support the Kurdish uprising. During this conflict, thousands of cluster bombs were dropped. For years after, the area remained unused due to the threat from contamination including cluster munitions that remained on the surface after failing to explode on impact.
The internally displaced population of Surka sought refuge in Mosul, Baghdad, and Basra for years. However, in 2003, the IDPs were forced to move again due to the worsening security situation and increasing violence in those areas.
Many IDPs began to return to Surka, but cluster munitions and other dangerous remnants of conflict blocked important agricultural lands that were needed urgently for farming and grazing animals.
"We returned to our village to farm the land and graze the animals, but even that has been very difficult and dangerous because of those remnants of war," said Mr. Khidr Alyas, a farmer who had returned to Surka from Mosul. "We need more farmland cleared so we can make our living."
A MAG Community Liaison (CL) team deployed to Surka in February. In line with MAG's holistic approach, CL teams are the first to visit a village in order to present MAG, explain what MAG can do to support the community, and gather information on how the community is affected by mine and unexploded ordnance contamination.
MAG's CL team conducted an assessment survey, gathered crucial information about contamination in the area, and delivered emergency Mine Risk Education (MRE) which reduced the immediate threat to life and limb. "I'm very grateful to MAG for providing the information for the villagers on how to avoid those deadly weapons," said Mr. Kamel Murad, Surka village leader.
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A KB-1 cluster bomblet in Iraq |
The results of the survey showed that contamination from cluster munitions and other dangerous remnants of conflict was blocking important agricultural land that was needed urgently for farming and grazing animals. Further technical investigations showed that the area was highly contaminated with unexploded BLU-97 cluster munitions.
The CL team reported these findings back to MAG's operations base in Dohuk. Shortly after, a MAG Conventional Weapons Destruction (CWD) response team, funded by the US Department of State's Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement, deployed to the village. The team safely removed and destroyed 146 hazardous items that posed an immediate threat to the villagers.
Following the response by the CWD teams and further investigation by the CL team, a Mine Action Team deployed to the village in April to undertake further clearance operations of Goze Gundi minefield and safely remove and destroy the remaining cluster munitions. In total, MAG cleared 45,600 square meters of land, and this safe land was handed back to the community in May.
MAG's work not only removed the immediate, live-threatening risk; it also restored the community's ability to thrive and prosper in the post-conflict environment. Now, 300 returnees may resume farming the land and rely on it for future economic development.
"I'm happy that MAG's team cleared Goze Gundi," said Mr. Kamel Murad, Surka village leader. "This will support many families in generating their income."
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Reporting by Zana Kaka, MAG Iraq Deputy Program Officer, and MAG Iraq's Community Liaison Team 10. Photos by MAG Iraq.
MAG thanks the following Iraq program donors: Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement, US Department of State; Irish Aid; Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Government of the Netherlands; Marshall Legacy Institute; German Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Sida (Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency); Stichting Vluchteling; and UNICEF.
