Focus on demining efforts

For Jumaboi Shokirov, a 19-year conscript in the Tajik army, helping to rid his country of landmines is a source of national pride. "I want to do something for my country. I want to help eliminate this threat," he told IRIN, standing amongst 60 of his peers at a training course enacted by the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the Swiss Foundation for Mine Action (FSD) in Leninsky, 20 km south of the Tajik capital, Dushanbe. A pioneer project to demine thousands of square kilometres of the mountainous Central Asian state, the effort, now in its second phase, is already showing strong dividends. There are now three survey and two manual clearance teams, with the third survey team completing its training on 2 July. Using manpower provided by the Tajik government from its Army Engineer Battalion, the project is spearheading efforts to create a sustainable, indigenous national capacity able to plan, coordinate and implement a comprehensive mine-action programme in the former Soviet republic. SCOPE OF THE PROBLEM Although the landmine problem in Tajikistan is not of the same magnitude as in neighbouring countries - particularly Afghanistan - it remains an issue requiring international help. There are no exact figures on the extent of the landmine problem in Tajikistan, but according to the OSCE, some 2,586 sq.km. - an area the size of Luxembourg - is contaminated, with the number of deaths due to mine-related accidents estimated at more than 30 per year. According to the most recent report by the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL), an estimated 16,000 mines, demolition charges and other explosive devices can be found in the landlocked and impoverished nation, requiring the demining of nearly 2,500 sq.km. of agricultural land and more than 500 sq.km. of roads and paths. Most of the mines were laid during the country's bloody five-year civil war that ended in 1997, but they can also be found along its borders with neighbouring Afghanistan and Uzbekistan.

Mines along the border with Uzbekistan are particularly problematic

And while Tajikistan and Uzbekistan have settled almost 86 percent of their 1,283-km border following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Tashkent maintains that its use of landmines is necessary to prevent drug trafficking and cross-border infiltrations by extremist Islamic groups. "It's a very big problem," Igor Mihailevschi, former OSCE security officer for the country, told IRIN in Dushanbe, noting its regional political dimensions. "Without the good political will of all participants, it is impossible to do anything. For the time being it is not known where the mines are, and on whose territory," he explained, noting a lack of real cooperation from Tajikistan's neighbour. "It's not just the problem of Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, but also the problem of Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan as well," he said, citing mines along that border as well. IMPACT ON LOCAL COMMUNITIES However, it is the impact on local communities that is proving the real tragedy, affecting the lives of thousands. According to unofficial data, since 1992 more than 200 people have been killed and hundreds more injured from landmines left over from the civil war, as well as those planted by the Uzbek government beginning in the summer of 2000. That reality makes the issue of demining in the country vital, given its dual impact on both civilians and the economy as a whole, with large areas once used for agricultural purposes now left unattended. "The local populations simply cannot use these lands given the risk of mines," Jonmahmad Rajabov, project manager for the Tajikistan Mine Action Cell, the government's coordinating body for demining efforts in Dushanbe told IRIN. Since its establishment on 29 July 2003, the office has worked tirelessly in establishing a database of information for prioritising mine clearance sites and survey teams. "All the information we bring in from surveys goes into the database, and the Tajik manager at the Mine Action Cell uses that information to prioritise clearance efforts," FSD programme manager David Smyth told IRIN. Although it was difficult to confirm exactly where the mines were pending a complete and thorough survey of the country, Peter Isaacs, chief technical advisor to the Tajikistan Mine Action Cell, told IRIN, given the number of casualties, the area of the greatest humanitarian impact was along the Uzbek border in Tajikistan's northern Sugd region. "Taking into account the number of fatalities, injuries and cattle being killed over the last year, the humanitarian impact in the Sugd region has probably been greatest," the OSCE's Mihailevschi concurred, noting, despite a lack of reliable statistics, that upwards of 70 people had been killed by mines in the region since 2000. With mines often placed unmarked on mountainous slopes between the two countries - susceptible to movement during seasonal thaws in spring - civilians have repeatedly detonated or tripped over them during routine activities such as herding cattle, collecting firewood or simply walking. In March this year, two teenage boys were killed after wandering onto a minefield near their village of Kizil Pilol along the border while herding their cows, following the death of a 10-year-old shepherd in a separate incident. Additionally, mines in the central area of the country, a legacy of the civil war, continue to maim and kill on an annual basis as well. "In the Central Region, there have been 76 casualties/fatalities since the end of the civil war," Smyth explained.

FSD programme manager, David Smyth demonstrates demining equipment to conscripts of the Tajik army

Regarding the economic impact of the mines, he noted that large swathes of traditional pasture and agricultural lands had remained off limits due to mines, with some local populations cut off from one another as a result. Following the civil war, one road connecting the Tavildara and Rasht valleys in the north was still heavily mined, restricting communities from easily trading with one another. "Now if I want to get from Tavildara up to Gharm [a city between the Alay mountains and the Tajik capital], you are looking at an eight to 10 hour drive," the FSD official said, noting that if the road linking the two valleys was open, you could do it in three or four hours. Land mines along the 1,300 km border between Tajikistan and Afghanistan, however, remain less of a priority. Laid by Soviet forces and border troops and maintained by Russian forces to counter cross-border infiltration and for self-protection, the population in the area is sparse. Additionally, Moscow has recently announced that all minefield records would be handed over to the Tajik authorities, making the task of identifying priority areas all the more easier. "They [Russian forces] have begun to hand over their minefield records to us and there are a number of economically important sites which we will be clearing in the next year or so," Isaacs said. EFFORTS But actual demining is still very much in its infancy. "We didn't clear any mines last year," Isaacs noted. "What we did do, however, is a general mine action assessment, which is in fact gathering information to assess the impact of mined areas on populations." He noted that people often made the mistake of raising a mine clearance team and rushing off to clear mines without a thorough understanding of what the priority areas were. "That's why we have concentrated on gathering information so that we know what the priorities are. There are some mined areas of the central region we won't tackle for years because they don't pose a significant threat to the population," the English adviser maintained. To date, while remote regions remain, the only place where a proper survey has been completed is in the central region, including the Rasht and Tavildara valleys. "Until we send the survey teams out, physically identifying minefields and UXO [unexploded ordnance] sites on the ground, it's impossible to say how many mine sites there are - and how long it will take," Smyth said, noting some 31 mine or UXO contaminated areas had been identified in the central region alone. "It's an ongoing process," he said. And while Tashkent publicly hinted that it was prepared to be more forthcoming on the issue of mines - most recently at the 511th special session of the OSCE Permanent Council in Vienna on 18 June - such rhetoric has yet to be followed up with action. "It should be a two-way street, but it remains a sensitive political issue," Mihailevschi observed. "Efforts by the Tajik side are not enough." Rajabov and his team at the Tajik Mine Action Cell would like to carry out a general mine action assessment in the northern Sugh region, so if and when an agreement was reached with the Uzbek authorities, at the very least they could begin marking and prioritising the area. "At the moment, we don't know whether we should start at the top end or the bottom," Isaacs said pointing to a map. "And it's only through gathering information over the next couple of months that we will be able to make a sensible list of priorities." A WAY FORWARD Meanwhile, efforts to boost the country's national demining capacity continue with young men like Jumaboi Shokirov. Like his fellow conscripts around him, he dreams of a future Tajikistan rid of the landmine menace. "That is my belief," he smiled with enthusiasm. Trained on a humanitarian basis as opposed to a military one, it is hoped that upon completion of their national service, Jumaboi and his friends will remain on, providing a solid and sustainable foundation for the country's civilian demining capacity.

These young conscripts could very well be the foundation of the country's national demining capacity

"What we are looking at doing now with donors, instead of losing their [the trained conscripts] experience, is keeping them on as civilians - something they have all expressed an interest to do: to stay and work for the FSD as civilians, allowing us to train more of these recruits as and when needed," Smyth explained. Under the plan, the men would receive a monthly salary of approximately US $160 a month, including money for the food they would need while working in the field. "Obviously if we let them finish their army [service] and return to their homes, we are not building the national capacity," the FSD official maintained, describing such a move as short-term thinking, requiring a constant replacement and training of people. "If we can keep a core of experienced well-trained men, then we are building a national capacity so at the end of the day, none of us will be needed and we can go home. It will then be up to these people to run their own programme." Tajikistan is a state party to the Ottawa Convention banning the use of landmines in warfare and has requested international assistance to comply with its obligations under the Convention. The country has received almost $2 million towards that effort for 2004, although the government's five-year strategic action plan, recently approved, envisions that some $13.5 million will ultimately be needed.