Mines in Jordan
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The mine and unexploded ordnance (UXO) problem in Jordan derives from the 1948 partition of Palestine, the 1967–1969 Arab-Israeli conflict, and the confrontation with Syria in 1970’s. The minefields were limited to three major areas, the Northern Highlands, the Jordan Valley and Wadi Araba in the south. There are also UXO in a small number of areas centered in the Ajloun and Irbid governorates. According to military estimates, some 305,000 antipersonnel and anti-vehicle mines were laid on Jordanian territory. Jordan’s mine action plan of June 2005 claimed that 35 million square meters of land across 314 minefields remained contaminated with 203,094 mines.
FACTS:
Arab country in Southwest Asia, bordered by Syria, Iraq, the West Bank, Israel, and Saudi Arabia.
Area: 92.300 sq km
Population: 6,342,948
Demographic: 87 % Arabs and Palestinians, 7 % Armenians, 2 % Kurds, 2 % Cherkessk
State Party to the Mine Ban Treaty (MBT). Not a signatory to the Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM).
Mines in Jordan directly affect over eight percent of the population. Mine contamination blocks access to valuable agricultural land, delays irrigation and hydroelectric projects, restricts housing construction, and isolates historic and cultural heritage sites.
Jordan ratified the Mine Ban Treaty in May 1999 and is committed to its revised obligation to clear all landmines before May 2012.
NPA Mine Action History in the Country
In 2006, the National Committee for Demining and Rehabilitation (NCDR) invited NPA to become the first international demining entity to work in Jordan. NPA was tasked with the clearing of the landmines that were laid by Israel on the border to Israel in Wadi Araba and Aqaba between the Dead Sea and the Red Sea.
Following the success of removing more than 50,000 mines at the Wadi Araba/Aqaba Project, NPA was tasked with the clearance of all landmines on Jordan’s border with Syria, which constitutes the last known stretch of minefields in Jordan. The project is named the Northern Border Project and is a 104 kilometers of continuous mixed minefields with an estimated 136,000 AP- and AT-mines. NPA started clearance 1st of April 2008 and plans to complete the project by December 2011 provided that the necessary funding is available.
Capacity
NPA-Jordan currently has over 150 personnel, including 3 expatriate staff members. Manual clearance is supported by two demining machines and 10 mine detection dogs.
Donors
The Royal Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Embassy of Japan in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, the German Federal Foreign Office, the Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, ASEZA, the Government of Canada & the EC, The United States Department of State.
