Syria
Support for Mine Action
The Syrian Arab Republic is contaminated by mines and explosive remnants of war (ERW), including cluster munition remnants, a legacy of Arab-Israeli wars since 1948 and the ongoing armed conflict. The fighting has involved extensive use of indiscriminate weapons, which cause both immediate and long-term damage as they result in high levels of contamination of ERW.[1] The Syrian conflict has been marked by a severe lack of access to affected populations, including mine action activities.
In 2012, the UN Mine Action Service (UNMAS) reported that it received US$1.4 million from the UN Supervision Mission in Syria for initial operations in Syria. Also in 2012, Sweden contributed SEK7.26 million ($1.07 million)[2] to the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency (MSB) to provide three technical experts to support emergency operations planning and training with UNMAS.[3]
In June 2013, UNMAS had reduced its budget requirements for 2013 from $5 million to $800,000, largely because of restricted access in Syria, but still remained unfunded for the year as of June 2013.[4] Sweden provided MSB with $425,401 from January–June 2013.[5]
[1] Global Protection Cluster, “Syria Situation Update,” 20 February 2013; and UN Mine Action Service (UNMAS), “Syria,” August 2013.
[2] Sweden, Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report, Form J, 27 March 2013. Average exchange rate for 2012: SEK6.7721=US$1. US Federal Reserve, “List of Exchange Rates (Annual),” 3 January 2013.
[3] UNMAS, “UNMAS 2012 Annual Report,” p. 9; and “MSB operations as a result of the conflict in Syria,” MSB International Operations Magazine, June 2013, p. 11.
[5] Financial Tracking Service, “Humanitarian Aid for Syria Crisis,” 25 July 2013.