ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) said Monday that the Netherlands has contributed an additional $3.5 million to clear mines laid by the Islamic State (ISIS) since 2014, particularly in the Shingal district on the Iraqi-Syrian border.
Shingal, largely home to the ethno-religious Yezidi minority before ISIS attacked in 2014, remains riddled with mines four years after the terror group was forced out of the district.
300,000 Yezidis remain displaced in the Kurdistan region, Syria and other countries.
UNMAS’s office in Iraq “welcomes an additional contribution of €3 million (approximately $3.5 million) from The Netherlands to mitigate the threat posed by explosive hazards and enable the return of displaced communities to their areas of origin,” read the statement.
The UNAMS demining team in Shingal is comprised of both Yezidi and Muslim men and women, the organization’s first ever mixed-gender team of deminers.
“This contribution will mainly focus on the Sinjar district where one of the major problems post-liberation remains the presence of explosive hazards,” it added, using the Arabic name for Shingal.
Nadia’s Initiative, established by Yezidi survivor Nadia Murad is also working with the US government and Mines Advisory Group (MAG)to demine several million meters of land in the district.
The district also suffers from insecurity due to disagreements between armed groups and political parties, a lack of infrastructure, and recent Turkish airstrikes targeting the alleged positions of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
“These remnants of war are also a significant obstacle to all rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts. No humanitarian projects can begin if critical infrastructure such as hospitals, power plants, schools, bridges, and roads are littered with IEDs - often barely visible to the untrained eye,” the statement added.
The mine action agency also said that the money will be spent on delivering risk education in affected communities “either on site or in the nearby IDP camps” in addition to explosive hazard management activities.
Although returns to the area remain low, several civilians have died as a result of mine explosions in Shingal city and the surrounding villages.
The Dutch government contributes around $22.3 million in annual subsidies to mine clearing programs, according to an undated article on the government’s website.
Last week, Tsjeard Hoekstra, Chargé d’Affaires at the Dutch Embassy in Baghdad, saw UNMAS’s first-hand explosive management and risk education in Iraq’s Ramadi and Anbar provinces.
“The liberated areas, such as Anbar and Sinjar, need our continued support towards stabilization and recovery, and the Netherlands is proud to strengthen its partnership with UNMAS in this regard,” a UNMAS statement cited Hoekstra as saying.
“We eliminate the explosive threat along roads, under bridges, from power and water plants, from schools, from critical infrastructure, so that those displaced by conflict can return to their homes, begin again to work, to educate their children, to contribute to society, to live a normal life. This would not be possible without the support from our donors,” added Pehr Lodhammar, UMAS Iraq Senior Program Manager.
