Summary

Non-signatory Yemen has expressed support for the Convention on Cluster Munitions, but has not taken any steps to join it. Yemen has participated in several meetings of the convention, most recently in September 2021. Yemen voted in favor of a key United Nations (UN) resolution promoting the convention in December 2021.

Yemen is not known to have produced or exported cluster munitions, but it has acquired them and may still possess stocks. Yemeni forces apparently used cluster munitions in 2009, while a Saudi Arabia-led coalition of states used them in Yemen in 2015–2017 during a joint military operation against Ansar Allah (Houthi) forces.

Policy

The Republic of Yemen has not acceded to the Convention on Cluster Munitions.

Yemen has expressed interest in the convention, but has not taken any steps to join.[1]

Yemen participated in two meetings of the Oslo Process that created the convention—in Lima in May 2007 and Belgrade in October 2007—and has expressed its support for work to prohibit cluster munitions.[2] Yemen did not attend the final negotiations of the convention in Dublin in May 2008, or the Signing Conference in Oslo in December 2008.[3]

Yemen has participated as an observer at the convention’s meetings, most recently the Second Review Conference held in November 2020 and September 2021.[4]

In December 2021, Yemen voted in favor of the key United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) resolution urging states outside the Convention on Cluster Munitions to “join as soon as possible.”[5] It has voted in favor of the annual UNGA resolution promoting the convention since 2017.[6]

Yemen has also voted in favor of UNGA resolutions expressing outrage at the use of cluster munitions in Syria.[7]

Yemen is a State Party to the Mine Ban Treaty. It is not party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW).

Production, transfer, and stockpiling

Yemen is not known to have produced or exported cluster munitions.

Yemen acquired cluster munitions in the past and may still possess stocks. Jane’s Information Group reported in 2004 that KMGU dispensers that deploy submunitions were in service with the Yemeni Air Force.[8] Moldova exported 13 220mm Uragan multi-barrel rocket launch systems to Yemen in 1994. Yemen also possesses Grad 122mm surface-to-surface rocket launchers, but it is not known if the ammunition for these weapons includes versions with submunition payloads.[9]

Use

There is no evidence to indicate that Yemen has used cluster munitions in recent years. Yemen’s Soviet Union-supplied aircraft are capable of delivering Soviet-made RBK cluster bombs; a type of cluster munition that operators have cleared and destroyed from Sadaa and other governorates.[10]

Previous use by others

A Saudi Arabia-led military coalition operating in Yemen against Ansar Allah (also known as the Houthi armed group) forces, used air-delivered and ground-launched cluster munitions in 2015–2017.[11] The Monitor has found no compelling evidence that the Saudi Arabia-led coalition has used cluster munitions in Yemen since then. Neither Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch (HRW), or Mwatana—a Yemeni non-government organization (NGO)—were aware of any use of cluster munitions during the reporting period, from July 2021 to July 2022.[12]

During 2015–2017, the Saudi Arabia-led coalition in Yemen conducted at least 23 cluster munition attacks, using seven types of air-delivered and ground-launched cluster munitions, which were manufactured and exported by three countries.

Cluster munition attacks in Yemen (April 2015 to February 2017)[13]

Note: UAE=United Arab Emirates; UK=United Kingdom; US=United States.

The Saudi Arabia-led coalition used CBU-105 Sensor Fuzed Weapons in several attacks in 2015 and 2016.[14] Saudi Arabia admitted that the coalition had used the CBU-105 once, in April 2015, but claimed that they were not prohibited weapons.[15] The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has denied using the CBU-105 in Yemen.[16]

The United States (US) suspended its cluster munition transfers to Saudi Arabia in May 2016, after reports of civilian harm in Yemen.[17] CBU-105 manufacturer Textron Systems announced in August 2016 that it was stopping its production of the weapons.[18] The move has effectively ended US production of cluster munitions, as Textron Systems was the last US company to produce them.

The Saudi Arabia-led coalition also used BL755 cluster munitions in Yemen, which marked the first recorded use of United Kingdom (UK)-made cluster munitions since the Convention on Cluster Munitions, to which the UK is a State Party, took effect in 2010.[19] The last UK transfers of BL755 cluster munitions to Saudi Arabia occurred in 1989.[20] Saudi Arabia committed to stop using BL755 cluster munitions in December 2016.[21]

In September 2016, States Parties to the Convention on Cluster Munitions issued a joint declaration stating that they “condemn any use by any actor” and expressing deep concern at “any and all allegations, reports or documented evidence of the use of cluster munitions, most notably in Syria and Yemen in the past year.”[22] The European Parliament adopted a resolution in November 2017 which condemned the Saudi Arabia-led coalition airstrikes in Yemen, including the use of cluster munitions.[23]

In a December 2016 statement, the Saudi Arabia-led coalition forces did not deny the use of cluster munitions in Yemen, and argued that “international law does not ban their use.”[24]

Saudi Arabia and the US also used cluster munitions in separate attacks in Yemen in 2009:

• The Royal Saudi Air Force conducted airstrikes and Saudi armed forces intervened on the ground in late 2009 in Saada governorate, after fighting between the government of Yemen and Houthi rebels intensified and spilled over the border with Saudi Arabia.[25] Remnants of CBU-52 cluster bombs were filmed near Saada city.[26]
• On 17 December 2009, US forces used at least five ship-launched or submarine-launched TLAM-D cruise missiles, each containing 166 BLU-97 submunitions, in an attack on al-Ma’jalah, in Yemen’s southern governorate of Abyan, which killed 55 people, including 41 civilians.[27] Neither the US nor the Yemeni government has publicly denied the cluster munition use.[28] The government of Yemen accepted the findings of a 2010 report on the attack by the Yemeni parliament, but never implemented its recommendations to clear the contaminated area or provide compensation.[29]

Policy

The Republic of Yemen signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 4 December 1997 and ratified it on 1 September 1998. The treaty entered into force for the country on 1 March 1999.

Yemen enacted national legislation to enforce implementation of the Mine Ban Treaty on 20 April 2005.[1] It last referred to Presidential Law No. 25 in its Article 7 transparency report for the Mine Ban Treaty submitted in 2007.[2]

Yemen submitted an annual transparency report in 2022.[3] It previously submitted reports in 2019–2021, 2017, and each year prior to 2014 after joining the treaty. Yemen has participated in all four of the Mine Ban Treaty’s review conferences. Yemen has also attended every Meeting of States Parties, most recently attending the Nineteenth Meeting of States Parties, held virtually in November 2021, where it assured that the Yemen Executive Mine Action Center (YEMAC) remained committed to landmine clearance despite security and humanitarian challenges.[4]

In November 2021, Yemen told States Parties that the ongoing conflict, which began with a militia coup against the government in 2014, continues to restrict access to mined areas.[5] In 2022, Yemen requested an extension of an additional five years to extend its mine clearance deadline under Article 5, citing the difficult circumstances faced by the country.[6]

Yemen is not party to the Convention on Cluster Munitions or the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW).

Production, transfer, stockpile destruction, and retention

Yemen has stated that it has never produced or exported antipersonnel landmines.

Yemen has destroyed approximately 108,000 antipersonnel mines from its stocks, in total. In April 2002, it reported having destroyed 74,000–78,000 stockpiled antipersonnel mines.[7] An additional 30,000 mines found in November 2006 were then destroyed in December 2007.[8] Yemen reported in April 2017 that “there are no stockpiled anti-personnel mines found after the last 30,000 mines found and destroyed in 2006.”[9]

In 2017, Yemen reported retaining 3,760 antipersonnel landmines of four types, for training and research purposes. It has declared the same number retained since 2008.[10] Yemen’s Article 7 report for calendar year 2018 did not provide an update on mines retained. Yemen reported in its Article 7 reports for 2019–2021 that “at any given time there are a number of AP [antipersonnel] mines (and AP mines of an improvised nature) held at YEMAC storage locations whilst awaiting destruction…caused by the lack of access to explosives or other means to destroy items in place…The numbers and types vary and are kept only for so long as it takes to organise their destruction.”[11] Yemen has never reported on the intended purposes and actual uses of its retained mines, as was agreed by States Parties in 2004.[12]

At least five types of antipersonnel mines, produced in the 1980s, have been used in Yemen since 2013. None were among the four mine types that Yemen has reported stockpiling in the past (PP-Mi-SR, PMD-6, PMN, and POMZ-2), including for the training of clearance personnel.

Types of antipersonnel mines used in Yemen since 2013

Evidence of further use of antipersonnel mines in 2016 suggests either that the 2002 declaration to the United Nations (UN) Secretary-General on completion of stockpile destruction was incorrect, or that these mines were acquired after 2002. In a September 2016 letter, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Sanaa, controlled by the Houthis and the General People’s Congress (GPC), alleged that individuals had smuggled weapons, including landmines, into Yemen in recent years, noting that the government had not been able to control its land or sea borders due to instability and fighting.[13] In April 2017, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs denied that the Sanaa-based Ministry of Defense stockpiles antipersonnel mines.[14]

Production of landmines by Houthi forces

In September 2018, Conflict Armament Research reported that Houthi forces were “mass producing” landmines and improvised explosive devices (IEDs), and associated triggering devices for victim-activation.[15] This production included the standardization and production of explosive charges, pressure-plates, and passive infrared sensors. Based on field missions in 2017–2018, Conflict Armament Research (CAR) confirmed the use of PMN, PPM-2, and GLD-150A antipersonnel mines; TM-57, PRB-M3, and VS-1.6 antivehicle mines; and improvised mine types including directional fragmentation charges.[16] CAR reported that several types of improvised mines appeared to be mass-produced by Houthi forces, and were used in Aden, Mokah, and other areas on the west coast.[17]

Houthi “rock mines,” or landmines disguised as stones and boulders, discovered during clearance operations in Yemen in 2022 indicate that Houthi forces are producing landmines using knowledge imported by Hezbollah-affiliated groups in the region. Similar mine types were previously used in southern Lebanon.[18]

An Al-Amaliqa Brigades video posted on social media in January 2022 allegedly showed Houthi confiscated UN relief boxes containing Claymore-type mines, Hybrid PMN/PPM-2 blast mines, and PMD-6 type box mines in the Harid district of Ma’rib.[19]

Use

The Monitor was unable to confirm any allegations of new use of antipersonnel mines during the period November 2021–September 2022. Previously, antipersonnel mines, antivehicle mines, victim-activated improvised mines, and other IEDs were used by Houthi-associated forces in Yemen in early 2019, primarily in battles on the west coast near the port of Hodeida. According to unconfirmed figures reported by YEMAC, the Yemeni Army removed over 300,000 Houthi-laid landmines between 2016 and 2018.[20] During the Mine Ban Treaty intersessional meetings in June 2022, YEMAC stated that during 2020–2021, it cleared a total of 3,064 antipersonnel mines and 4,591 explosive devices planted by Houthi militias in residential areas and along roads.[21]

The Group of Eminent Experts on Yemen, convened by the Human Rights Council, reported in September 2019 that “[T]he use of landmines, both anti-personnel and anti-vehicle, by the Houthis has resulted in significant harm to civilians.” The report stated that the Group of Eminent Experts had “investigated reports of civilian casualties caused by antipersonnel and anti-vehicle landmines allegedly emplaced by Houthi fighters in Aden, Al Hudaydah, Lahij and Ta’izz governorates, and examined further reports of civilian casualties from landmines in Abyan, al-Dhale’e, Al-Bayda, Al-Jawf, Hajjah, Ibb, Ma’rib, Sana’a, Sa’dah and Shabwah governorates. It confirmed civilian casualties from anti-personnel landmines verified as having been emplaced by Houthi fighters in incidents it investigated in Aden, Al-Hudaydah, Lahij and Ta’izz governorates.”[22]

In May 2022, in response to the increase in civilian casualties due to landmines, the United Nations Mission to Support the Hodeidah Agreement (UNMHA) called on the international community to support mine action in Yemen with technical assistance and coordination of demining activities.[23]

In July 2022, the Special Envoy for Yemen briefed the Security Council on the newly established truce between the Yemeni government and Houthi rebels, and cited mines as a continued source of conflict-related civilian casualties.[24] Previously, in April 2019, Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported that landmines emplaced by Houthi forces had killed at least 140 civilians since 2018. Yet HRW was unable to confirm when the mines were placed.[25] In November 2018, employees at Hodeidah Port accused Houthi forces of placing mines in the area around the port’s entrances.[26]

There is no evidence to suggest that members of the Saudi Arabia-led military coalition have used landmines in Yemen.

On 2 April 2017, Yemen’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which is controlled by the Houthis and the GPC, denied that Houthi-Saleh forces had used antipersonnel mines, stating that the Sanaa-based authorities were “vigilant in abiding by [their] commitments” under the Mine Ban Treaty.[27] They also accused “armed factions and terrorist groups” of producing and using improvised landmines in Yemen. The ministry added that after the conflict ends, the Sanaa-based authorities are prepared to establish a committee to investigate landmine use in Taizz; to investigate any new information or documentation on the use of antipersonnel mines elsewhere; and to “take the necessary steps in accordance with national laws and regulations and its international obligations.”[28]

Previous use

The first confirmed use of antipersonnel mines by a State Party to the Mine Ban Treaty occurred in Yemen in 2011–2012 at Bani Jarmooz, north of Sanaa, during the uprising that led to the ousting of then-President Ali Abdullah Saleh.[29] According to witness testimony and other evidence, GYATA-64, PMN-1, and PMD-6 antipersonnel landmines were emplaced around camps of the government’s Republican Guard at Bani Jarmooz in late 2011.[30]

In November 2013, the office of Yemen’s prime minister admitted that a “violation” of the Mine Ban Treaty occurred in 2011.[31] Yemen provided States Parties with an interim report on 29 March 2014, detailing plans to clear the mines laid at Bani Jarmooz.[32] In June 2014, it informed States Parties that the Military Prosecutor’s Office had opened an investigation to identify those responsible for the mine use at Bani Jarmooz.[33] In mid-2014, Houthi forces seized control of Bani Jarmooz.

The Mine Ban Treaty’s Committee on Cooperative Compliance has engaged with Yemen on the 2011–2012 use at Bani Jarmooz. In October 2016, the committee expressed appreciation for “the willingness of Yemen to engage in a continued dialogue, share information and clarify the situation with regard to the mentioned allegations.”[34] The committee concluded that “it would welcome updated information on efforts by the government of Yemen to carry out an investigation of the use of mines and any additional information on the use of mines within areas under its jurisdiction or control.”

Note: ERW = explosive remnants of war.

Mine Contamination

The Republic of Yemen is contaminated with mines from conflicts in 1962–1969 and 1970–1983, mines that were laid in border areas between North and South Yemen before they unified in 1990, and mines from successive conflicts that erupted since 1994. These and the ongoing conflicts that flared in March 2015 have “changed the extent and complexity of contamination dramatically,” though its full extent is unknown.[1]

Yemen did not submit an Article 7 transparency report in 2018. As of writing, the last report, submitted in 2017, stated that 569 suspected or known mined areas covering 323km²remained and that survey was expected to identify additional contamination.[2] A 2017 progress report by the UNDP observed that “currently, there are very few tangible indicators measuring contamination or impact and what is available is outdated, ad hocand often anecdotal.”[3]

Some of the heaviest mine and ERW contamination is reported in northern governorates bordering Saudi Arabia (al-Jawf and Saada), southern coastal governorates (Abyan, Aden, Lahej, and Taiz) and center-west governorates (Hodeida, Marib, and Sanaa).[4]

Successive conflicts in the past decade have generated multiple reports of mine use. These include the 2010 insurgency in northern Saada governorate led by Abdul Malik al-Houthi[5] and the 2011 insurgency around southern Abyan launched by militants belonging to Ansar al-Sharia, linked to al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, as well as the war that erupted after March 2015 between Houthi rebels controlling the north of Yemen and the Saudi-led coalition backing President Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi, based in the south.[6] (See Yemen’s mine ban profile for details.)

Improvised explosive devices (IEDs), including improvised mines

The current conflicts have also resulted in increased contamination from improvised mines, such as devices initiated by a pressure plate or crushed necklace, as well as improvised devices activated remotely or by photo-electric cells. Improvised mines as well as other improvised devices are being laid along roads, inside buildings, and built into house walls, posing a serious hazard to displaced families returning to their property.[7]

YEMAC reported Houthi forces emplaced mines of an improvised nature in northern Saada governorate during the 2006–2009 insurgency, and frequently clears “cold” or abandoned devices.[8] Human Rights Watch reported YEMAC had cleared mines of an improvised nature in areas from which Houthi forces withdrew near the Red Sea port city of Mokha in February 2017.[9]

Independent investigators have documented three types of improvised mines used by Houthi forces on Yemen’s west coast that are identical to, or closely resemble, conventional mines. They include a Claymore-type mine almost identical to a Chinese-made directional mine (Type 150-A GLD), a larger directional mine similar to an Iranian-made mine (M18A2) and an antivehicle mine similar to Russian-made TM46 mines. Some of the improvised mines have serial numbers indicating mass production.[10] The UN reported the appearance of improvised sea mines in the Red Sea since 2017.[11]

Cluster Munition Contamination

Yemen was contaminated with ERW, including cluster munition remnants, before 2015, but the escalation of armed conflict since March 2015 has significantly increased both its extent and the threat to the civilian population, mainly as a result of airstrikes by the Saudi Arabia-led coalition.[12] (See the Cluster Munition Ban Policy profile for further information.)

YEMAC reported in 2014 that it had identified some 18km² of suspected cluster munition hazards in the northern Saada governorate bordering Saudi Arabia. It also knew of other areas of contamination in northwestern Hajjah governorate that it had not been able to survey.[13]

Since the start of the latest round of hostilities in March 2015, international observers and researchers reported that Saudi coalition land and aerial bombardments using a variety of cluster munitions had struck many areas of northwestern and central Yemen, with the latest confirmed attacks occurring in February 2017.[14] YEMAC has identified heavy cluster munition contamination in Saada and al-Jawf governorates as well as additional cluster munition contamination in Amran, Hodeida, Mawit, and Sanaa governorates, including in Sanaa city.[15] Contamination was also reported in Hayran, in Hajjah governorate.[16]

Program Management

A National Mine Action Committee (NMAC) is responsible for formulating policy, allocating resources, and developing a national mine action strategy.[17] It is chaired by a minister of state (a member of the cabinet) and brings together representatives of seven concerned ministries. It is unclear if, or to what extent, the NMAC remains functional.

YEMAC was established in Sanaa in January 1999 as NMAC’s implementing body with responsibility for coordinating mine action in the country.[18] Amid the upsurge of violence since 2015, YEMAC has become, de facto, two organizations, split between Sanaa, under the control of the Houthis, and the southern city of Aden controlled by the Saudi-led coalition and Yemen’s internationally recognized but exiled government. The Sanaa office coordinates operations in the north and center of the country while the Aden office oversees operations in southern provinces.[19]

YEMAC is supported by a Regional Executive Mine Action Branch (REMAB) in Aden, also set up in 1999, as well as REMABs in al-Mukalla (Hadramout governorate), opened in March 2004 and Saada (April 2016).[20]

In 2017, the UNDP reported that YEMAC administrative and operational capacity and productivity improved in 2017, helped by training courses for new recruits in ERW clearance, training for a survey leadership group, and Information Management System for Mine Action (IMSMA) training in Jordan for database staff.[21] The UNDP’s international staff included a planning and reporting specialist in Sanaa and a technical advisor based in Aden. National staff included two posts in Sanaa and one in Aden.[22]

Strategic planning

YEMAC does not currently have a strategic plan for mine clearance. Since 2015, mine action has operated on an emergency basis and YEMAC has worked with UNDP to address emergency threats to communities posed by all explosive hazards, including mines, improvised explosive devices, cluster munition remnants, and unexploded aircraft and ground-launched ordnance. The lack of training and equipment limits YEMAC teams’ ability to tackle many of the items encountered.

The UNDP identified three main goals for emergency operations: preventing the situation from getting any worse; mitigating the impact of existing contamination; and, over the longer term, addressing Yemen’s Mine Ban Treaty obligations.[23]

In July 2017, the UNDP started implementing Phase V (2017–2020) of its program in Yemen, which includes support for YEMAC in preparing the request for an extension to its Mine Ban Treaty Article 5 deadline, due for submission by March 2019. It has identified four desired outputs:

• Mine and unexploded ordinance (UXO) contamination is mapped and the impact assessed nationwide.
• Mines and UXO are efficiently cleared in priority areas.
• Risk education is increased in affected communities.
• Survivors are screened, rehabilitated, and supported.

The UNDP estimated total funding required for Phase V at US$39.9 million. As of June 2017, funding pledged amounted to $9.8 million.[24] It sought to increase funding from around $6 million available in 2017 to around $15 million a year.[25]

Information management

YEMAC is responsible for information management and maintains an IMSMA database. The UNDP observed that although not updated, the system was providing more reliable data. Most database staff in Sanaa had left by the beginning of 2017. YEMAC recruited new staff for its offices in Sanaa and Aden, who underwent IMSMA training in Jordan in May 2017.[26]

The UNDP also recruited a mapping expert in 2017 working in the Aden office to boost preparation and distribution of contamination maps.

Operators

YEMAC was Yemen’s only humanitarian clearance operator in 2017. By the start of 2016, it had some 850 staff split between offices in Sanaa and Aden, of whom between 350 and 400 were said to be active. These included three UXO clearance teams set up at the end of 2015 to focus on contamination in cities.[27] YEMAC subsequently recruited additional staff and reported reaching around 700 field staff in 2017.[28] YEMAC also had 19 mine detection dogs (MDD) in 2017, of which six were active supporting survey and clearance.[29]

A Dynasafe MineTech subsidiary, Dynasafe Middle East Project Management, signed an agreement with Saudi Arabia’s King Salman Fund in March 2018 for a $40 million demining operation funded by the Saudi government. The project was due to run for a year initially, with the possibility of extension subject to review. It became operational in May 2018 with headquarters in Marib and sub-offices in Sanaa and Aden. The project expected to build up a staff of more than 400, including 20 international experts and advisers, and to operate with a little over 300 YEMAC staff, including 32 demining teams.[30]

Danish Demining Group (DDG) had offices in both Sanaa and Aden in 2016 but in 2017 worked only in the south. It is accredited to provide risk education, and in 2017 it delivered training for close to 10,000 people.[31]

Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA) conducted an assessment mission to Sanaa in October 2017 to explore the possibilities for establishing a program to support YEMAC’s MDD capacity.[32]

HALO Trust agreed in 2017 to provide training on survey and use of thermite torches for YEMAC personnel in Jordan. However, 10 YEMAC personnel attempting to leave through Aden to attend a HALO course were detained by the authorities at the end of July 2018.[33]

The Saudi-led coalition has two mine action teams, from the UAE and Sudan, deployed in the south. Little is known about their capacity or assets, or any activities. The UAE has reportedly agreed to “clear” Dhubab city in southwestern Taiz governorate.[34]

Land Release

Despite Yemen’s continuing war and a humanitarian crisis described by the UN as the worst in the world, YEMAC expanded capacity and the scope of operations in 2017. YEMAC field staff operated in 55 districts of 14 governorates in 2017. This compares favorably with the previous year when it worked in 47 districts across nine governorates.[35]

Survey in 2017

YEMAC conducted technical survey on a total of 3km² in 2017. More than half of that amount was accounted for by operations to rehabilitate the Amran cement factory, a key economic facility, which had been hit by air strikes in 2015 and 2016, but did not involve mine clearance.

Clearance in 2017

YEMAC cleared 8,556,883m² of ERW-contaminated land in 2017, according to the UNDP, more than double the area recorded as cleared in 2016. Available data, however, did not disaggregate the extent of mine clearance although it involved the destruction of at least 1,729 antipersonnel mines.[36] It also involved the destruction of 3,245 cluster munition remnants.[37]

YEMAC conducted mainly spot clearance of high-threat, high-impact tasks prioritizing civilian infrastructure rather than undertaking large area clearance that would tie down assets for extended periods of time.[38] YEMAC also reportedly cleared 632 items of improvised ordnance in 2017, but available data did not identify how many devices were victim-activated and therefore meet the definition of an antipersonnel landmine under the Mine Ban Treaty.

Some clearance of mines and other explosive ordnance was reportedly conducted by UAE military engineers but the objectives and extent of such activities was unknown.[39]

Clearance in 2016 and 2017[40]

Note: AP = antipersonnel; AV = antivehicle.

Progress in 2018

The improvements in productivity appeared to continue in 2018 with clearance of 5,123,548m² recorded in the first five months of the year. Operations resulted in clearance of 448 antipersonnel mines, 4,122 antivehicle mines, 600 improvised munitions, and 1,846 items of UXO. Most clearance was in Dhamar (1.1km²) and Sanaa (1.01km²) governorates, with substantial areas also cleared in Hajjah, Saada, and Taiz governorates. Most of the items destroyed were in Aden and Sanaa.[42]

Dynasafe MineTech became operational in Yemen in May 2018 and reported clearing 800 mines in June 2018. Project goals include clearance of all high-threat areas, clearing roads to allow safe passage of humanitarian goods, and making schools safe. In August 2018, it reported operating in west coast areas and in the provinces of Lahej, Marib, Sanaa, and Shabwah.[43]

Mine Ban Treaty Article 5 Compliance

Under Article 5 of the Mine Ban Treaty (and in accordance with the five-year extension granted in 2014), Yemen is required to destroy all antipersonnel mines in mined areas under its jurisdiction or control as soon as possible, but not later than 1 March 2020. It will not meet this deadline and will need to request a third extension by March 2019.

Yemen was previously granted five-year Article 5 deadline extensions by States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty in 2008 and 2014. For the second extension, Yemen requested the additional time to clear 107 confirmed mined areas covering 8.1km² but it is not on track to achieve this target.[44] The subsequent escalation in conflict disrupted clearance activity and shifted operational priorities from legacy minefields to emergency clearance of ERW.

Mine clearance in 2013–2017

YEMAC decided in consultation with the UNDP in June 2018 that it would request a three-year extension to its Article 5 deadline from April 2020 until April 2023 on the basis that in the prevailing environment of conflict it was not feasible to plan further ahead (and in the hope the conflicts would come to an end). YEMAC would treat the three years as an interim emergency response, and aim to conduct a national contamination survey to provide a realistic basis for a subsequent 10-year extension request. In the three-year interim period, clearance of legacy minefields, often well-known to communities, would take a lower priority than high-threat ERW.[45]

The Monitor acknowledges the contributions of the Mine Action Review (www.mineactionreview.org), which has conducted the primary mine action research in 2018 and shared all its country-level landmine reports (from“Clearing the Mines 2018”) and country-level cluster munition reports (from “Clearing Cluster Munition Remnants 2018”) with the Monitor. The Monitor is responsible for the findings presented online and in its print publications.

In 2019, 10 donors contributed a total of US$16.1 million to support mine action activities in the Republic of Yemen. This represents an increase of 73% from 2018.[1]

International contributions: 2019[2]

Note: N/A=not applicable.

Since 2015, international assistance to mine action in Yemen totaled some $44.5 million and fluctuated from an annual low of $2 million in 2015 to a high of $16.1 in 2019.

In its 2019 deadline extension request under Article 5 of the Mine Ban Treaty, Yemen indicated that national support to its own mine action programs has been limited to cover the running costs of its mine action authorities, but did not provide details on the level of its contribution.[3]

Summary of support: 2015–2019[4]

The ongoing conflict in the Republic of Yemen prevented the operation of a national casualty surveillance mechanism. The 160 casualties identified by the Monitor for 2017 is certainly an underreporting of the annual total.

In 2017, the Monitor identified casualties in the following governorates: Abyan, Ad Dali, Aden, Al Bayda, Al Jawf, Hadramawt, Hajjan, Hodeida, Marib, Saada, Sanaa, Shabwah, and Taiz.

Various Yemeni authorities and human rights organizations reported annual totals and cumulative totals for all time. However, their reports rarely describe the source or methodology used to compile these figures, and in some cases, do not specify the time period. The figures provided are widely different, indicating the challenge of collecting reliable data in a context of ongoing conflict.

Okaz website reports that in 2017, mines laid by the Houthi killed 147 people, including 18 children and 11 women, and injured 244, including 33 children and 20 women. The majority of accidents took place in Taiz governorate, where 77 were killed and 178 injured. However, it does not provide any source for this information.[2] A media report provides slightly different figures for casualties in Taiz in 2017, where 193 people were killed and injured. Of those killed, 20 were military and 58 were civilian, of whom three were children and six were women.[3] Mwatana’s 2017 annual report for human rights gives a much lower figure of 14 civilians killed (including three women and two children), and 46 injured (including 19 women and 14 injured) as a result of 25 accidents in 2017.[4] Another media source states that in several governorates in the period between 1 January and 31 May 2017, 39 civilians were killed, including five children and three women, while 69 were injured, including 14 children.[5]

According to one media source from 15 April 2017, people were more aware of the dangers than they were in previous years.[6]

Through to the end of 2017, the Monitor identified at least 9,118 mine/ERW casualties in Yemen.[7] The 2017 total of 160 is much less than the 2016 total of 2,037. In 2016, the vast majority of casualties were reported by the ICRC—2,037 people injured by mines/ERW were admitted into 46 ICRC-supported hospitals.[8] However, in 2017, no data was available from the ICRC. The 2016 figure is more than double the 988 reported for 2015. In 2014, the Monitor identified 24 casualties. However, there was likely significant underreporting due to the challenges facing data collection caused by the intensified armed conflict.[9]

Other sources have provided cumulative figures for mine/ERW casualties since the current conflict began. As mentioned above, these vary widely. According to a media report in May 2017, Yemen’s Minister of Human Rights was quoted by a Saudi news agency as saying that landmines may have killed up to 440 people and injured more than 540 others.[10] However, another undated website states that the ministry reported that mines had caused permanent injury to 814 citizens.[11]

A reported entitled “Antipersonnel mine victims in Yemen: during the period from September 2014 to June 2018,” by the Yemeni Coalition for Monitoring Human Rights Violations, reports a total of 1,940 casualties, of which 906 were killed and 1,034 injured. However, it does not explain how this data was collected, nor does it give a breakdown by year. Accidents were reported in 19 governorates. Of the total, 1,508 were men, 116 women, and 316 children. Civilians made up 1,374 of the casualties, and 566 were military. Antipersonnel mines caused 1,196 casualties, antivehicle mines 672, and IEDs 72—no information was available as to whether these were improvised mines.[12]

The majority of casualties have occurred in Taiz governorate. A media source quoted Basam Al Ariqi from the Yemen Executive Mine Action Center (YEMAC) reporting that in Taiz province alone, landmines had killed 268 and injured 214 between April 2015 and March 2017. He also noted that “the conflict zones in Taiz are in residential areas, so the casualties are usually civilians.”[13] Another media source quoted the director of the center for artificial limbs in Taiz, reporting that approximately 315 people were injured in the city from the beginning of the war until mid-June 2017, of which 70% were caused by landmines.[14]

Prior to 2015, the casualty total for 2012 of 263 casualties was the highest annual number recorded by the Monitor for Yemen since research began in 1999, and was due to the conflict and increased population movement in that year.[15] A Landmine Impact Survey (LIS) identified 4,904 casualties through July 2000, of which 2,560 people were killed and 2,344 were injured.[16] In 2010, it was reported in the media that there had been 35,000 mine/ERW casualties in Yemen since 1995.[17]

Cluster munition casualties

In 2017, 54 casualties of cluster munitions were reported in Yemen, 26 were casualties of cluster munition attacks and unexploded submunitions caused 28 casualties.[18]

The 54 cluster munition casualties reported in 2017 represented an increase in the 38 reported in 2016, but was lower than the 104 reported in 2015.

Prior to new use of cluster munitions in 2015, a cluster munition attack in Yemen in December 2009 was reported to have killed 55 people, including 14 women and 21 children.[19] In 2013, it was reported that unexploded submunitions remaining from the 2009 attack had killed four civilians and injured 13 in two incidents, one inDecember 2009, a few days after the attack, and the other in January 2012.[20]

Victim assistance action points

• Improve the collection of casualty data and ensure that information about services for persons with disabilities are available to stakeholders, including civil society organizations as recommended by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
• Resume victim assistance coordination.
• Revise and implement the National Victim Assistance Strategic Plan 2010–2015 to address the existing situation and needs.
• Provide long-term support to survivors.
• Increase the availability of psychosocial support.
• Improve accessibility of buildings.

Victim assistance planning and coordination

International commitments and obligations

Laws and policies

Legislation protects the rights of persons with disabilities, but they were poorly enforced and discrimination remained in the Republic of Yemen. The law reserves 5% of government jobs for persons with disabilities.[4] Although the law mandates that new buildings have access for persons with disabilities, compliance was poor.[5]

Major Developments in 2017–2018

Ongoing conflict throughout 2017 caused all victim assistance activities, including coordination, to stop in Yemen.

Since 2015, YEMAC is working according to an emergency plan and focusing solely on mine clearance. In 2017 through 2018, there was no victim assistance program in place in Yemen, because funding for victim assistance was lacking.[6] Similarly, YEMAC Aden and the UNDP Aden office reported that no services were provided to mine/ERW survivors due to a lack of funding.[7]

The Fund for the Care and Rehabilitation of the Disabled in Sanaa, an independent body, which provided limited basic services and supported more than 60 NGOs assisting persons with disabilities remained operational in some areas of the country, however, during 2017–2018, the fund lost 86% of its financial resources. As a result, support to mine/ERW victims decreased.[8]

In 2017, victim assistance services were reported to be insufficient.[9]

Needs assessment

YEMAC’s victim assistance team screened 1,394 mine/ERW survivors in 2017 in five out of 22 governorates.[10]

UNICEF collected information on children who were killed or injured by mine/ERW and children with disabilities, in order to identify vulnerable children and provide services to address their needs or refer them to appropriate services.[11]

Medical care and rehabilitation

The ongoing conflict dramatically increased demand for emergency and ongoing medical care beyond the capacity of the medical system.[12] In addition to increased demand for emergency medical care, import restrictions and damaged port infrastructure prevented humanitarian aid, food, fuel, and medical supplies from reaching populations affected by the conflict.[13] Only 50% of all health facilities remained functional, and the remaining half facedsevere shortages in medicines, equipment, and staff.[14]

In 2017, the ICRC provided support to emergency and surgical treatment, including through first-aid training and supplies. Medical professionals were trained in mass-casualty management, emergency-room trauma care, and war surgery.[15] The ICRC supported 27 hospitals, including eight with ICRC staff on site. War-wounded people including 201 patients injured by mine/ERW received treatment at ICRC-supported hospitals.[16] The ICRC fully managed two facilities in Aden and Saada.[17] The Yemen Red Crescent Society expanded its emergency response capacities with ICRC support. It provided emergency transport for health referrals and medical evacuations.[18]

In 2017, YEMAC’s victim assistance team provided mobility and assistive devices to 673 mine/ERW survivors (almost half were children) in five governorates.[19] However, YEMAC’s healthcare plan does not provide for long-term support for mine/ERW survivors.[20] Mine/ERW survivors are not covered by health insurance.[21] There was no specific mechanism in place for managing the needs of new mine/ERW victims.[22]

In 2017, more than 6,600 amputees were among over 70,000 persons with disabilities who obtained physical rehabilitation services at five ICRC-supported centers in Aden, Mukalla, Sanaa, Taiz, and Saada.[23] Over 670 new patients were fitted with prostheses.[24] The ICRC supported 12% of the cost of raw materials for the Sanaa Orthopedic Center and all its branches in other governorates, and covered the cost of transportation and accommodation for about 80 destitute patients to reach orthopedic services.[25] The ICRC also donated wheelchairs for the social affairs ministry’s physical rehabilitation programs.[26] To ensure the sustainability of physical rehabilitation services, around 80 physical rehabilitation professionals and 22 students were trained either locally or abroad.[27]

In 2017, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) provided support to more than 20 hospitals and health centers in 11 Yemeni governorates: Taiz, Aden, Al-Dhale, Saada, Amran, Hajjah, Ibb, Sanaa, Hodaida, Abyan, and Lahj.[28] Since 2015, 72,300 patients were treated in MSF facilities.[29] MSF also provided medical supplies and equipment in 2017.[30]

In 2017, Humanity and Inclusion (HI, formerly Handicap International) supported eight health facilities in Sanaa with rehabilitation equipment, training on rehabilitation care and inclusion, and capacity-building on war injury management for physiotherapists. HI also provided rehabilitation care to people who had limbs amputated and needed to learn to use artificial limbs, and delivered assistive devices.[31] In 2018, HI started providing prostheses and orthoses.[32] Children injured by the conflict in all but two governorates (Al Mahrah and Soqtra) received financial support from UNICEF in order to be able to access medical treatment, artificial limbs, and mobility devices. UNICEF also provided medical supplies and raw materials to rehabilitation centers. Due to increased funding in 2017, a greater number of children received these services compared to 2016.[33]

Socio-economic and psychosocial inclusion

The Yemen Association of Landmine Survivors (YALS) is the mine action center’s implementing partner for economic reintegration activities. From 2004 to the end of 2017, YALS provided vocational training to 808 mine survivors.[34] In 2017, 48 mine/ERW survivors including 36 women participated in the YALS livelihood program.[35] YALS was only able to provide psychological support to a small number of survivors (nine), including through hospital visits.[36]

In 2017, HI continued to provide psychosocial support to the war-wounded and their families.[37]

Local organizations and the ICRC promoted the social inclusion of persons with disabilities through sports and awareness-raising events.[38]

Cross-cutting

The UNDP reported that women, children, the elderly, and disabled are at greater risk of losing access to health services. Appropriate services—including outreach services, separated spaces, and availability of female health workers—which are necessary for women and children to access healthcare are lacking.[39] In coordination with the UNDP, the Al Hikma Foundation and YEMAC trained 15 women in victim assistance and mine risk education for 10 days.[40] This training of women would enable women and girls to better access victim assistance services.

HI continued to increase the number of female staff for both functional rehabilitation and psychosocial support,[41] which helps improve the access of female survivors to these services.

Accessibility of buildings remained an issue for mine/ERW survivors and other persons with disabilities, especially in rural areas.[42]

Victim assistance providers and activities