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Treaty Status | Management & Coordination | Impact (contamination & casualties) | Addressing the Impact (land release, risk education, victim assistance)

Country Summary

The Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is contaminated by mines and explosive remnants of war (ERW), with Northern province most affected, and limited contamination remaining in Eastern and North Central provinces. The north of the country was the focus of three decades of armed conflict between the government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), which ended in May 2009. Both sides made extensive use of mines, including belts of P4 Mk I and Mk II antipersonnel blast mines laid by the Sri Lankan Army (SLA), and long defensive lines with a mixture of mines and improvised explosive devices (IEDs) laid by LTTE.[1] Indian peacekeeping forces also used landmines during their presence in Sri Lanka from July 1987 to January 1990.[2]

Sri Lanka had initially projected completion of mine clearance by the end of 2020. However, it reported that insufficient international funding combined with the identification of 2.88km² ofnew contamination in 2019 pushed the completion date beyond 2020.[3] Sri Lanka anticipates completing clearance by 2025,[4] and planned to develop a new national mine action strategy in 2021.[5]

Risk education is incorporated into the school curriculum in Northern and Eastern provinces.[6] Community risk education is provided by national non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and is coordinated by the National Mine Action Center (NMAC). The Regional Mine Action Office (RMAO) in Kilinochchi provided risk education to local authorities and police officers in Northern province, to support the reporting of ordnance and implementation of the law regarding explosives harvesting.[7] The COVID-19 pandemic impacted risk education activities in Sri Lanka in 2020.

Victim assistance in Sri Lanka is coordinated by the NMAC and relevant government ministries, with the support of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and international and national NGOs.[8] Since 2010, the phasing out of services by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Humanity & Inclusion (HI), and UNICEF has resulted in a decrease in the availability of victim assistance.[9] In 2020, rehabilitation services continued to provide prosthetics and the NMAC commenced a needs assessment survey, to identify mine/ERW victims in Northern, Eastern, and North Central Provinces, with survey in Jaffna and Kilinochchi Districts ongoing.[10]

Treaty Status

Treaty status overview

Article 5 clearance deadline implentation

According to Sri Lanka’s National Mine Action Strategy 2016–2020, the NMAC had anticipated that clearance would be completed in 2020. However, this target was contingent upon receiving a projected amount of funding, which was not obtained. This, combined with the identification of new contamination in 2019, led NMAC to project that clearance would be completed after 2020, although not later than 2025.[11] In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic was also reported to have created challenges, and Sri Lanka planned to develop a new national mine action strategy beyond 2020.[12]

In 2019, Sri Lanka estimated that US$20 million annual funding was needed to sustain the program.[13] In 2020, Sri Lanka reported that US$66 million was required from international donors to sustain operations at the existing level until completion.[14]

Management and Coordination

Mine action

Mine action management and coordination overview

Coordination

The Ministry of Prison Reforms, Rehabilitation, Resettlement and Hindu Religious Affairs became the lead agency for mine action in Sri Lanka in 2015, as chair of the interministerial National Steering Committee for Mine Action (NSCMA). The NSCMA sets policy and manages linkages between the government, the mine action community, and donors.[15] Its policies and decisions are implemented by the NMAC, established in 2010. NMAC liaises with government ministries and development partners, and develops strategic plans and annual workplans. It is also responsible for accrediting operators, setting national standards, and acting as the secretariat of NSCMA.[16]

Clearance operations are coordinated, tasked, and quality managed by the RMAO in Kilinochchi, which works in consultation with District Steering Committees for Mine Action. The committees are chaired by government agents heading district authorities.[17]

Strategies and policies

Sri Lanka planned to update its national mine action strategy in 2021 after convening stakeholder workshops. The new strategy would revise the clearance timeframe based on the results of ongoing re-survey in Northern, Eastern and North Central provinces, which aims to establish an accurate picture of contamination. It was anticipated that a draft strategy would be submitted for government approval in December 2021.[18]

Legislation and standards

In September 2020, approval was obtained from the Cabinet of Ministers to proceed with the draft Antipersonnel Mine Ban Bill. Sri Lanka reported that several drafts were circulated to relevant departments in 2020, with the process continuing as of April 2021. Sri Lanka has not reported on a date by which final approval by the Cabinet of Ministers is expected.[19]

Sri Lanka has reported that its National Mine Action Standards are regularly updated in line with international standards.[20]

Information management

Sri Lanka’s Information Management System for Mine Action (IMSMA) was updated in 2015 and has since undergone improvements, including to correct erroneous data, and to update data based on the results of re-survey, leading to a more accurate representation of remaining contamination.[21]

In 2020, NMAC used IMSMA Next Generation, and discussed an upgrade to IMSMA Core with the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD).[22]

Gender and diversity

Sri Lanka reported that gender and diversity are taken into consideration during the planning, implementation, and monitoring of mine action projects, and that it disaggregated data by age and sex. In 2020, it was reported that clearance operators were increasing the ratio of female employees in their programs.[23] The HALO Trust reported that 40% of their deminers in Sri Lanka were women, many of whom were previously displaced or war widows.[24]

Risk education

Risk education management and coordination overview

Coordination

UNICEF works with NMAC to support risk education activities, which are conducted in schools through the Ministry of Education, and at the community level through local NGOs.[25]

Victim assistance

Victim assistance management and coordination overview[26]

Coordination

The Ministry of Social Services is the lead for the disability sector. The National Secretariat for Persons with Disabilities sits under both the Ministry of Social Services and the Ministry of Social Welfare. It works to ensure, promote, and improve the rights of persons with disabilities through guidance, support, coordination, implementation, and monitoring of development activities.[27]

The ministries of health, education, and defense, and the Directorate of Rehabilitation, are also involved in work related to injuries and disabilities.[28] Coordination between the mine action sector, the National Disability Council, and the Ministry of Health needed improvement.[29] A coordination meeting convened by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in April 2021 led to an agreement to further strengthen coordination between the activities of the Ministry of Health and NMAC, to improve the referral of mine victims to services.[30]

UNICEF supported NMAC in coordinating and providing victim assistance in Sri Lanka.[31] NMAC has a designated victim assistance focal point.[32] UNICEF also supported the Ministry of Social Services to implement a national coordination mechanism for assisting children with disabilities. This coordination mechanism includes government ministries, UNICEF, and NGOs.[33]

Laws and policies

Disability legislation, Act No. 28 of 1996, addresses the access of persons with disabilities in Sri Lanka to education, employment, and public places.

Sri Lanka’s National Action Plan 2019–2021 contains two commitments related to persons with disabilities. Commitment No. 8 aims to minimize the economic and social disadvantages faced by persons with disabilities, by providing disability-friendly housing to 3,200 identified low-income families by 2020. Commitment No. 9 is intended to formulate a disability rights bill, with public participation, in line with the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). The goal was to have this bill enacted by parliament before the end of 2020.[34] In 2021, it was reported that a preliminary draft bill and a government policy statement had been prepared, and that a stakeholder meeting would be convened prior to submission of the final draft. Guidelines also had to be prepared to support the implementation of the new legislation.[35] Once enacted, the Bill on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities will replace Act No. 28 of 1996.

In its most recent Mine Ban Treaty transparency report submitted in 2021, Sri Lanka said a multi-stakeholder workshop was held to consult on updating the National Action Plan on the Equalization of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. It was organized by the National Council for Persons with Disabilities, with support from the Mine Ban Treaty Implementation Support Unit and the United Nations (UN) Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).[36] Inclusive consultations were carried out at provincial level with persons with disabilities and their representative organizations.[37] The plan was amended to require the National Council for Persons with Disabilities to consult with persons with disabilities and their representative organizations in planning, executing, and monitoring public decision-making processes.[38]

Various laws, including the National Disability Policy of 2003, prohibit discrimination against any person with disabilities in employment, education, air travel, other public transport, and access to healthcare. In practice, however, discrimination occurred in employment, education, and provision of state services, including public transportation. Sri Lanka has regulations on accessibility, though accommodation for access to buildings and public transportation for persons with disabilities was rare. Children with disabilities in Sri Lanka attended school at a lower rate than other persons.[39]

Impact

Contamination

Contamination overview (as of March 2021)[40]

Note: CHA=confirmed hazardous area; SHA=suspected hazardous area; ERW=explosive remnants of war.

Landmine contamination

Mine contamination remains in Northern, Eastern, and North Central provinces. In total, 12.79km² of contaminated land covers 304 confirmed hazardous areas (CHAs) and nine suspected hazardous areas (SHAs), as of March 2021.[41] The most significant mine contamination (12.38km²) is found in Northern province, which was the scene of intense fighting during the civil war. Thirteen areas in Eastern province cover 0.31km², and three areas in North Central province cover 0.1km².[42]

The total number of CHAs and SHAs in Sri Lanka has increased slightly since 2017, as a result of development activities and the livelihood activities of resettled internally displaced persons (IDPs) leading to the identification of new SHAs.[43] A re-survey of nine districts in Northern, Eastern, and North Central provinces was completed in 2017.[44] Re-survey is continuing across these provinces, in order to inform the strategy and workplan to completion.[45]

Batticaloa district in Eastern province was the first district to be declared free of landmines in June 2017.[46]

The SLA used both antipersonnel and antivehicle mines during the civil war, with all use said to have been recorded.[47] Operators in Sri Lanka have encountered a wide range of LTTE devices, including antipersonnel landmines with anti-tilt and anti-lift mechanisms. Tripwire-activated Claymore-type mines and, to a lesser extent, antivehicle mines, were also used by LTTE, along with a number of improvised devices.[48]

It is estimated that 80% of those living in contaminated rural areas in northern Sri Lanka are farmers or fishermen, who rely directly on the land to survive. Mine contamination is therefore increasing disparities in wealth and development between the north and south of the country.[49]

Cluster munition remnants contamination

Since 2009, three demining organizations have reported clearing cluster munition remnants in Sri Lanka, including unexploded submunitions, from at least six different sites in the north of the country.[50] A 2016 media report quoted an operator, who said it could not be determined who used the cluster munitions or when, but that they could have been used “any time within the last three decades.”[51] Sri Lanka’s initial Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 report submitted in 2019, and its subsequent 2020 Article 7 report, stated that there was no cluster munition contamination.[52]

ERW contamination

Sri Lanka remains contaminated with numerous types of ERW, including unexploded air-dropped bombs, artillery shells and missiles, mortar bombs, hand-held antitank projectiles, rifle grenades, and hand grenades. Large caches of abandoned explosive ordnance also exist, particularly in the north.[53] These are being cleared concurrently to the remaining minefields.[54]

Casualties

Casualties overview[55]

Note: ERW=explosive remnants of war.

Casualties in 2020: details

Two mine/ERW casualties were recorded in Sri Lanka in 2020—a decrease from the 10 casualties recorded in 2019. The IMSMA database reported that a man was injured in an incident in Jaffna district, Northern province.[56] A female deminer working for the HALO Trust was also injured in an accident in Kilinochchi, Northern province, in July 2020.[57]

From 1999 until the end of 2020, the Monitor identified 1,197 mine/ERW casualties in Sri Lanka (144 killed, 581 injured, 472 survival outcome unknown). In April 2010, it was reported that since the 1980s, there had been a total of 21,993 mine casualties in Sri Lanka—including 1,419 civilian returnees; 3,770 recorded amputees among the armed forces, police, and civil defense forces; and 16,804 mine casualties among LTTE members.[58] In 2015, UNICEF reported that 22,177 casualties had been recorded since the 1980s, including 1,603 civilians. From 2006–2009, accurate casualty information was difficult to access amid ongoing conflict, resulting in under-reporting.[59] NMAC maintains an IMSMA database of mine/ERW victims in Sri Lanka, and reported 1,716 casualties since 1995 including two casualties in Mullaitivu, Northern province, in the first quarter of 2021.[60]

No cluster munition casualties have been recorded in Sri Lanka by the Monitor. The International Truth and Justice Project (ITJP) published a report in 2019, including casualties and injuries from what were described as cluster munitions. However, the weapon was reported with the designation OFAB 500 ShR—a parachute-retarded aerial bomb with multiple warheads which, due to its size and weight, does not meet the Convention on Cluster Munitions definition of a cluster munition.[61] This designation was consistent with reporting and images from use of OFAB 500 ShR in 2008.[62]

In January 2020, NMAC began a survey to identify mine/ERW victims in Northern, Eastern, and North Central provinces. It had completed the survey in five districts as of the end of March 2021, identifying 403 victims. NMAC reported that the survey was collecting information on the gender, age, disabilities, and needs of mine/ERW victims.[63]

Addressing the Impact

Mine action

Clearance operators[64]

Clearance

Land release overview[65]

Note: ERW=explosive remnants of war.

Land release: landmines

In 2020, Sri Lanka reported releasing a total land area of 6.69km², of which 4.59km² was released through the clearance of minefields and 2.1km² through battle area clearance. Since humanitarian mine clearance operations began in 2002 up to 31 March 2021, Sri Lanka has reported releasing 1,295.06km², of which 142.38km² was released through clearance.[66]

From 1 January to 31 March 2021, Sri Lanka reported having released 0.67km², of which 0.66km² was through mine clearance and 0.1km² through battle area clearance.[67]

NMAC commenced re-survey in Northern, Eastern, and North Central provinces in 2020, in order to identify the exact remaining CHAs and inform a realistic timeline to complete clearance.[68]

The HALO Trust undertook survey and clearance operations in Jaffna, Kilinochchi, and Mullaitivu districts in 2020. Delvon Assistance for Social Harmony (DASH) also had seven clearance teams operating in these districts. Mines Advisory Group (MAG) focused on survey of newly accessible areas and clearance in Mannar, Trincomalee, and Vavuniya districts.[69]

Residual hazards

Sri Lanka anticipates that the Sri Lankan Army-Humanitarian Demining Unit (SLA-HDU) will be able to manage longer-term residual contamination, in particular a demining unit established at the SLA Engineering Brigade Headquarters at Boo-Oya, in Vauniya district, Northern province. Mine action operations, including risk education and management of the national IMSMA database, will be continued by the SLA-HDU.[70]

In 2020, NMAC initiated a survey, with the support of MAG, to inform a demobilization plan and livelihood options for deminers, in preparation for the downscaling of the demining program.[71]

Risk education

Risk education operators[72]

Note: NGO=non-governmental organization.

In 2020, UNICEF provided risk education messages to 2,683 children (1,511 boys and 1,172 girls) in Sri Lanka. UNICEF reached nine children with disabilities, and provided training to 122 people to deliver risk education.[73]

From January 2009 to 31 March 2021, Sri Lanka reported that approximately 562,500 community members received risk education, though the data was not disaggregated by age or sex.[74]

Target groups

NMAC has reported that people from southern Sri Lanka who visit the north and east are at higher risk from mines/ERW, due to a lack of knowledge on contamination. Specific livelihood activities such as scrap metal collection, firewood collection, and farming were also considered high risk.[75]

In 2020, risk education was provided to forest officers in all districts of Northern province. They are considered a high-risk group due to their work in forested and potentially mined areas. Several new hazardous areas were reported following risk education sessions with forest officers.[76]

Resettled civilians were targeted to raise awareness of the risk of mines and ERW during livelihood activities, and to ensure suspicious objects or areas were reported. Due to a number of mine/ERW incidents resulting from new development projects in conflict-affected districts, illegal explosives harvesting, and sand mining, risk education was provided to people involved in those activities in Sri Lanka. Cooperation was established with the National Police and security forces to control the illegal harvesting of explosives.[77] In 2020, RMAO conducted risk education sessions with police officers in Northern province, which supported explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) reporting and implementation of the law regarding explosives harvesting.[78]

Delivery methods

Age-appropriate risk education was incorporated into the school curriculum under “Life Skills and Civic Education” in Northern and Eastern provinces in 2011, with UNICEF support.[79] UNICEF supported the Ministry of Education and the National Institute of Education to incorporate lessons in schools for grades 6 to 9, and to train teachers.[80]

Community liaison teams from several national risk education organizations—including Caritas Valvuthayam Mannar, People Vision, the Rural Development Foundation, Sarvodaya, and Social Organizations Networking for Development (SOND)—also conduct risk education in Sri Lanka.[81] Women and schoolgirls work with these organizations to reach out to families and act as peer group influencers.[82]

RMAO provides risk education in schools in high-risk areas and through District Secretariat staff, Divisional Secretaries, Grama Niladari Officers (village administrators), government departments, and police officers. Hazardous areas are recorded and spot tasks are generated through these target groups, as they have greater risk education knowledge.[83]

Major developments in 2020

NMAC does not usually permit international NGOs to deliver risk education in Sri Lanka,[84] but in 2020 the government requested them to provide risk education in their operational areas in 2021.[85]

NMAC reported that a lack of funding for both local and international organizations had reduced the frequency of risk education activities in Sri Lanka in 2020.[86] Risk education activities planned by RMAO were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, though resumed in 2021 with the support of demining operators.[87]

Marking

Areas known or suspected to contain antipersonnel mines in Sri Lanka have all been prominently marked with signs and signboards, displayed in the Sinhala, Tamil, and English languages. Signs are maintained and replaced on a regular basis.[88]

Victim assistance

Victim assistance operators[89]

Needs assessment

The Ministry of Health established and rolled out an injury surveillance system at 14 hospitals in 2017. By 2019, this had expanded to 126 hospitals. NMAC started a needs assessment survey in 2020 to identify mine/ERW victims in Northern, Eastern, and North Central provinces, with survey in Jaffna and Killinochchi Districts ongoing.[90]

Medical care and rehabilitation

Sri Lanka reported significant improvements in medical care, and that people with traumatic lower limb injuries from mines/ERW received adequate services.[91]

The Jaffna Jaipur Centre for Disability Rehabilitation (JJCDR) provided prosthetics using ICRC technology, rehabilitation, and socio-economic support; and visited amputees at the government-run Jaffna Teaching Hospital for post-amputation care. JJCDR also made field visits to mine/ERW survivors, people with war-related disabilities, and other persons with disabilities, to refer them to services. JJCDR was established informally in 1987 to provide prosthetics to civilian war victims, and was officially registered in 2001. In September 2020, a special discussion was held at JJCDR on its sustainability, and a “dire need” for follow-up on future resourcing was recognized.[92]

Sri Lanka reported five rehabilitation hospitals as operational and assisting mine/ERW survivors, in Digana, Jayanthipura, Kandagolla, Maliban, and Ragama. The Ragama hospital functions as a national hospital, while the other four function at the provincial level.[93] National and international NGOs were involved in provision of rehabilitation services in the north and east of the country.[94]

The Jaffna Teaching Hospital is the only hospital in the province run by the central government in Colombo. In July 2019, the Sabah Al Ahmad Center for Physical Rehabilitation was opened at the hospital. The project was funded by the Kuwait Red Crescent Society, at the request of the Ministry of Health of Sri Lanka.[95]

Caritas Valvuthayam Mannar works directly with NMAC to provide victim assistance services. It provides prosthetics and mobility devices at the Mannar Rehabilitation Center and runs an outreach program covering areas including Kilinochchi, Mullaithievu, and Puttalam.[96] In 2020, it reported supporting 264 beneficiaries with prosthetics, orthotics, and assistive devices.[97]

The government-run Ranaviru Sevana Rehabilitation Centre provides physical rehabilitation, social support, economic inclusion, and other assistance to disabled veterans.[98]

Sri Lanka reported several initiatives to improve the rehabilitation services, including the adoption of the Essential Service Package of Sri Lanka, National Guidelines on Rehabilitation Services, and the adaptation of the World Health Organization (WHO) Global Assistive Devices List to the Sri Lanka context.[99]

The Leahy War Victims Fund (LWVF) of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) supported the WHO and Results for Development (R4D) to strengthen and integrate rehabilitation services into Sri Lanka’s existing healthcare systems.[100]

Socio-economic and psychosocial inclusion

There is a general absence of efforts to guarantee the rights of persons with disabilities—including mine/ERW survivors—to live independently and be included in communities, particularly in rural areas.[101] NMAC reported allocating 18 million Sri Lankan rupees (approximately US$90,000) in 2021 to provide immediate assistance to mine/ERW victims, including livelihood assistance, water and sanitation facilities, prosthetics, orthotics, and assistive devices.[102]

Humanity & Inclusion (HI) supported an inclusive livelihood project in 2020 for vulnerable people including women, IDPs, returnees, and persons with disabilities, in Central and Uva provinces.[103]

Sri Lanka reported that mental health services provided by a consultant psychiatrist, Mental Health Medical Officer, and a Community Support Officer were available across Northern province.[104] A mental health network functioned across all national hospitals, and basic counselling services were available and being further developed through training field-level health staff.[105] Psychiatric social workers were based in hospitals, with responsibility for patient support following hospital release, while community support officers were based in the District Secretariat Office.[106]

A National Mental Health Strategy, which drew on the experiences of mine/ERW survivors, was in the process of being finalized by the Ministry of Health in 2020.[107]