Team:Edinburgh/mapxmlsenegal



Senegal <![CDATA[Senegal is affected by landmines and explosive remnants of war (ERW), the result of fighting between the Senegalese army and MFDC in Casamance, an area located south of the Gambia and stretching to the border with Guinea-Bissau, comprised of the Ziguinchor and Kolda regions. A peace accord was signed in December 2004, although fighting has continued sporadically, in particular with an MFDC splinter group led by Salif Sadio. Senegal has reported that “since the signature of the agreement, the situation has generally been calm throughout Casamance and there has been a relative absence of armed violence between the parties, although the MFDC’s armed groups have not abandoned their bases.”

The extent of the problem has been broadly captured by the Emergency Landmine Impact Survey of Casamance (ELISC), conducted by Handicap International (HI) in October 2005 to May 2006. The ELISC recorded 149 suspected hazardous areas (SHAs) over an area of 11km2 of land and 63km of roads or tracks affecting 93 communities (containing 7% of the population).

The ELISC did not fully capture the extent of contamination, however. In its Article 7 report for 2006, Senegal noted that certain areas had not been accessible to the survey teams due to security concerns. This was said to be particularly the case with communities along Senegal’s borders with Guinea-Bissau and the Gambia. Similarly, several villages were found inhabited by the survey teams and were therefore not included in the ELISC. According to Senegal, “there is no doubt that not all the contaminated areas have yet been discovered.”

In 2007, one new mine casualty was reported by authorities and operators in Senegal; a man was injured while traveling on foot in Djireuk (Oussouye department, Ziguinchor region).However, the US Department of State noted that “Landmines severely injured four children during the year.” ]]> <![CDATA[]]>