Egypt
Victim Assistance
Several sources have estimated the total number of known casualties to be around 8,000 in the Arab Republic of Egypt. However, the period of data collection for these statistics is not reported. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported in 2006 that there had been 8,313 mine casualties (696 people killed; 7,617 injured; 5,017 were civilians) in the Western Desert since 1982.[1] Almost identical statistics were reported in 1998, but for the period 1945–1996.[2]
By May 2015, detailed information had been collected on 761 survivors in the Matruh governorate.[3] This database was believed to include information on 91–95% of all mine/ERW survivors in the governorate.[4] No data was available on survivors based outside of Matruh and no updates had been announced since 2015.
Through the end of 2016 the National Committee for Supervising the Demining of the North West Coast was responsible for the coordination of victim assistance.[5] In January 2017, Egypt established a new governmental agency for mine action including victim assistance, the National Center for Mine Action and Sustainable Development,to replace the Executive Committee for Supervising Mine Clearance and Development of the North West Coast, established in 2005.[6] Victim assistance activities have been restricted to the Matruh governorate and there was no victim assistance coordination for the rest of Egypt.[7]
The Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Social Solidarity shared responsibility for protecting the rights of all persons with disabilities in Egypt.[8]
In 2015, the UNDP, in partnership with the Ministry of International Cooperation, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Ministry of Defense, launched the second phase of “Support to the North West Coast Development Plan and Relevant Mine Action,” which included victim assistance activities.[9] In 2015, the Executive Secretariat reported that 259 survivors received prostheses under these projects.[10]
In October 2016, the Ministry of International Cooperation, the European Union (EU) Delegation to Egypt, and the UNDP inaugurated the EU-funded Artificial Limbs Center in Marsa Matrouh. The center is the first prosthetics facility in the North-West Coast area and was built to serve the population of Matrouh governorate and its neighboring areas.[11] The UNDP reported that the opening of the center was one of the major accomplishments of the project “Support to the North West Coast Development Plan and Relevant Mine Action: Phase II.”[12]
While the constitution states that all citizens are equal, there is no explicit prohibition on discrimination. Egypt had no legislation prohibiting discrimination against persons with disabilities in education, access to healthcare, or the provision of other state services, nor are there laws mandating access to buildings or transportation. Discrimination remained widespread. Transport on state-owned mass transit buses was free for persons with disabilities, but the buses were not wheelchair-accessible, and access required assistance from others. Persons with disabilities received special subsidies to purchase household products, wheelchairs, and prosthetic devices.[13]
Egypt ratified the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) on 14 April 2008.
[1] Jano Charbel, “Egypt continues to suffer from WWII landmines,” 4 April 2017; and Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Egypt, “A paper on the problem of Landmines in Egypt,” 27 July 2006.
[2] Notes taken by the Monitor, Beirut Conference, 11 February 1999; Ministry of Defense, “The Iron Killers,” undated, pp. 3–4; and Amb. Dr. Mahmoud Karem, “Explanation of Vote by the Delegation of the Arab Republic of Egypt on the Resolution on Anti-Personal Landmines,” Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Policy Document, November 1998. Similar figures cited in a Ministry of Foreign Affairs paper on the Mine Ban Treaty, obtained 5 September 2004, were at the time believed to only apply to casualties occurring in the Western Desert since 1982.
[3] Egypt Mine Action Project North West Coast, “Victim Assistance,” undated.
[4] Executive Secretariat, “Victim Assistance Strategy Paper,” Cairo, 2010, p. 28.
[6] Ministry of Investment and International Cooperation “Minister of Investment & Int'l Cooperation Took Part in a Parliamentary Hearing Session on the Investment Law,” 14 March 2017; and H. Salah, “Establishment of National Center for Mines Action and Sustainable Development completed: Nasr,” Daily News Egypt, 23 January 2017.
[7] Egypt Mine Action Project North West Coast, “Victim Assistance,” undated.
[8] United States (US) Department of State, “2016 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Egypt,” Washington, DC, 3 April 2017.
[9] UNDP, “Egypt - Mine Action Project Quarterly Progress Report,” 1 January 2013–31 March 2013; UNDP, “Support to the North West Coast Development and Mine Action Plan - What is the project about?,” undated; and UNDP, “From Victims to Activists,” undated.
[10] Egypt Mine Action Project North West Coast, “Victim Assistance,” undated.
[11] Ministry of International Cooperation, “Dr. Nasr Inaugurates the First Artificial Limbs Center in Marsa Matrouh,”21 October 2016; and A. Nayder, “Helping Landmine Victims in Marsa Matrouh-And Preventing More,” Because, 3 November 2016.
[12] UNDP, “EU-UNDP initiative opens first Artificial Limbs Center in Egypt's North West Coast,” 22 October 2016.
[13] US Department of State, “2016 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Egypt,” Washington, DC, 3 April 2017.