Argentina
Impact
Country Summary
The Republic of Argentina reports that it is mine-affected by virtue of its claim to sovereignty over the Falkland Islands/Islas Malvinas.[1] The islands were mined, mostly by Argentinian forces, during the 1982-armed conflict with the United Kingdom (UK). Argentina has reported that no other territory under its jurisdiction or control is mine-affected.[2]
On ratifying the Mine Ban Treaty, Argentina submitted a declaration reaffirming “its rights of sovereignty over the Malvinas, South Georgia and South Sandwich and the surrounding maritime areas which form an integral part of the territory.”[3] It reiterated this declaration at subsequent Mine Ban Treaty meetings.[4]
Argentina submitted a request for a 10-year extension to its Mine Ban Treaty Article 5 deadline on 27 April 2009. In March 2019, Argentina submitted a second extension request for an additional three years, until 1 March 2023.[5] This was a shorter timeframe than the 2018 UK Article 5 extension deadline of 1 March 2024.
At the Eighteenth Meeting of States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty in November 2020, the UK announced that as of 14 November 2020, it had fulfilled its obligations under Article 5 of the treaty in the Falkland Islands/Islas Malvinas. In total, 122 minefields were cleared, releasing 23km² of land.[6]
Argentina responded to the announcement made by the UK by reiterating its rights of sovereignty over the Falkland Islands/Islas Malvinas, stating that the “illegal occupation” by the UK had “effectively prevented [it] from accessing the antipersonnel mines places in the Malvinas Islands in order to comply with the commitments assumed [by] this Convention.”[7] Argentina also noted its regret that the UK “had persisted in carrying out unilateral demining activities” despite having agreed through an Exchange of Notes on 11 October 2001 and 2 August 2006 to conduct a feasibility study on the removal of antipersonnel mines and unexploded ordnance (UXO) in the Falkland Islands/Islas Malvinas.[8]
(See the profiles for the Falkland Islands/Islas Malvinas and the UK for further information).
[1] Argentina Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report, Form A, 8 April 2010.
[2] Statement of Argentina, Mine Ban Treaty Sixteenth Meeting of States Parties, Vienna, 20 December 2017.
[3] Argentina Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 report, Form A, 31 August 2000.
[4] See, Statements of Argentina, Mine Ban Treaty Sixteenth Meeting of States Parties, Vienna, 20 December 2017; and Committee on Article 5 Implementation, Geneva, 7 June 2018.
[5] Argentina Mine Ban Treaty Second Article 5 deadline Extension Request, 19 March 2019.
[6] Statement of the UK, Mine Ban Treaty Eighteenth Meeting of States Parties (virtual), 16–20 November 2020.
[7] Statement of Argentina, Mine Ban Treaty Eighteenth Meeting of States parties (virtual), 16–20 November 2020.
[8] Ibid.