PRESS RELEASE | London 19 April, 2024
Six months since the first attack on commercial shipping in the Red Sea, The HALO Trust is calling for a renewed focus on humanitarian development and peace efforts in Yemen, as its civilian population continue to endure one of the worst landmine and unexploded ordnance (UXO) crises in the world.
“With the eyes of the world on the Middle East, it is imperative that we don't forget the ordinary Yemeni men, women, and children living day-to-day in severe humanitarian need, and the dangers posed by unexploded weapons near their homes and communities,” says Matt Smith, Head of Region for Middle East & North Africa.
Most of HALO’s work in Yemen is in crowded and complex urban environments and close to active frontlines and former battlefields, meaning it requires different skills and greater community liaison compared with clearance in rural areas.
Since 2019, HALO Yemen has been clearing mines and other explosives in the frontline in Taiz, a city divided by battle lines between the north and south of the country for the last nine years.
“Despite airstrikes under 20km away, and daily exchanges of fire across frontlines in the city, our teams haven't stopped working in the last six months,” says Smith.
As the only international NGO doing this work in Taiz city, HALO teams have responded to more than 100 call-outs to remove or destroy various dangerous items and has cleared minefields with trained teams and armoured machines, handing safe land back to communities that regularly experience fatal or life-changing accidents.
“In many places, explosives including mines, rockets, mortars, anti-aircraft rounds and IEDs are found among homes, clinics, schools, and other amenities. These pose a daily threat to Yemeni civilians, particularly children. Many children are injured while they play, or when collecting scrap metal to sell and help feed their families,” says Smith.
So far, HALO demining teams have made two million square metres of land safe in Taiz and Aden - the equivalent of around 280 football pitches - so that people can go to work and markets safely, and children can walk to school and play outside without fear of losing a limb, or worse.
“During the 2022 ceasefire, there was a 160% increase in UXO and mine accidents as people tried to return to their homes in Taiz, illustrating that mine action activities will need to play an integral part in the peace process for peacebuilding efforts to be successful. Urban recovery and reconstruction will also be hampered if the amount of explosive ordnance present in urban areas across Yemen isn’t addressed,” Smith adds.
“Clearance of landmines and explosives is needed on key roads along frontlines proposed for re-opening under a UN-brokered truce. HALO works closely with the Office of the Special Envoy (OSESGY) and other actors to address the complex threat should parties reach an agreement.”
Notes to Editors:
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New images are available and we have Yemeni and international staff available for interview.
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HALO Yemen established a registered office in Aden in 2019.
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We work closely with YEMAC, the national mine action organisation,training and mentoring their staff to help develop a sustainable solution to clear landmines and other explosives on a large scale. Here is a short video of the training.
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HALO is the only humanitarian INGO doing Emergency Ordnance Disposal (EOD) in Taiz, and the only one usingmechanical clearance inthe country.
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Most of HALO’s work in Yemen is in crowded and complex urban environments, close to active frontlines and former battlefields, requiring different skills and greater community liaison compared with clearance in rural areas.
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In total HALO has so far made safe 2M square metres of land in Yemen - the equivalent of around 280 Premiership football pitches.
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Since 2019, HALO has: destroyed more than 6,000 munitions/182 tonnes in Aden and Taiz.
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HALO has trained 40,000 adults and children about the dangers of mines and explosives (EORE).
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By recruiting survey teams and deminers from the community, HALO helps provide a secure salary for local people living through the on-gong civil war.
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Our work also helps to restore livelihoods, improve access to natural resources, residential areas, health centres, schools, and wells, and improve freedom of movement.
The HALO Trust is the world’s oldest humanitarian mine clearance organisation. It was founded in 1988 in Afghanistan, where it has operated consistently since.
It employs 12,000 women and men in over 30 countries in landmine and munition clearance, risk education and weapons and ammunition storage. The organisation recently cleared its 2 millionth landmine worldwide.
Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, it mobilised itsstaff fromKramatorsk to Brovary, where it set up the largest humanitarian mine clearance operation in Ukraine. Today it has 1,200 Ukrainian men and women clearing landmines from liberated landin five oblasts.
More info: www.halotrust.org
For media enquiries, please contact:media@halotrust.org
