Mine incidents per capita in Karabakh exceed Afghanistan three times

Naira Hayrumyan
12-04-2008 12:23:59 – KarabakhOpen

Since 1995 there were 225 incidents of mine and unexploded ammunition
blasts. The total number of casualties is 298, including 78 children.
66 people died. Most incidents occurred in 2004 and totaled 27, 10 were
killed. This year one incident occurred killing a 15-year-old boy. The
number of mine incidents per capital exceeds Afghanistan three times.

Since 2000 The HALO Trust, one of the major mine clearance
organizations in the world, has been working in Karabakh. The
organization also works in Afghanistan, Cambodia, Angola, Somali,
Kosovo, Georgia and other countries.

According to the organization, in Karabakh mines were planted during
the military conflict, in addition, cluster bombs, projectiles and
other ammunition were used extensively.

Since 2000, 214 fields have been cleared of mines, and 301 have been
cleared of unexploded ammunition. 130 sq km of land has been returned
to the population. 8244 mines and 42 thousand pieces of ammunition have
been disposed.

In an interview with Karabakh-Open.com the manager of The HALO Trust
for Karabakh Patrick Thompson said as of the beginning of 2008 186
minefields and 350 fields contaminated with ammunition remain. With the
current rate of funding and mine clearance personnel it will take 5 to
6 years and 15 million dollars to finish mine clearance.

According to the manager of the program, the organization first arrived
in Karabakh in 1995 to study the engineering services for humanitarian
mine clearance. Afterwards, at the invitation of the Karabakh
government in 2000 the organization set up an office in Stepanakert.

This year the organization recruited a staff and finished their
training. Last week the team started mine clearance. Last year the mine
clearance personnel included 195 people, this year a personnel of 265
works. It includes men aged 25 to 55, the average monthly salary is 350
U.S. dollars.

It is a perilous job but work is organized in a way so as to reduce
risk. Patrick Thompson says over the past 8 years there were three
incidents during mine clearance, no deaths.

The HALO Trust is a humanitarian, not a political organization, says
Patrick Thompson, the manager for Karabakh. He says they cooperate with
the authorities of this territory and are satisfied with this
cooperation. They coordinate their work with the Center for Mine
Problem of the NKR government, to which they report. They also report
to their donors. According to Patrick Thompson, currently they are
sponsored by the governments of Holland, the UK, the USA, as well as
Julia Burke which joined this year.

The manager of The HALO Trust says it is not easy to find sponsors. He
thinks the reason of reluctance of donors regarding Karabakh is that
Nagorno-Karabakh Republic is not recognized.

In answer to our question whether The HALO Trust has partners in
Azerbaijan, Patrick Thompson said no, they only know that in Azerbaijan
the national agency of mine clearance deals with mine clearance.

In Karabakh The HALO Trust cooperated with the Rescue Service. He says
they cooperate with local and international organizations which ask
them to study and if needed clear the territory of mines before
launching construction or other activities.