Giving an update about the situation in Yemen, Ameen Saleh Alaqili, Director of the Yemen Executive Mine Action Centre (Yemac), to which Project Masam offers continuing training and support, said:
“Unfortunately, we have reached a tragic situation in Yemen, a national disaster. Project Masam is witness to the volume of landmines, UXOs and IEDs that have been diffused in many areas and villages, in farms and schools.
“The obstacles are many: [Houthi] militias are continuing to randomly place mines in different parts of the country. It appears they don’t use any maps: it becomes all the more dangerous in terms of identifying the location. Climate is also a challenge: rains and floods have drifted a large number of these mines to larger areas which cover tens of square kilometres. The continuing wage of war means the rescue teams cannot access large parts of the country.
“Project Masam and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia are allowing us to work together in order to carry out the process of demining and avoid more victims. The remarkable humanitarian work done on the field has no religion, no politics: it is work designed to save the lives of the civilians, children and women, to ensure that people have peace and tranquillity away from the wounds and the injuries caused by landmines.”
According to an agreement signed in December 2017 with the Yemeni government, Project Masam’s outputs include the rapid identification and clearance of landmines in Yemeni liberated areas, the identification and safe clearance of improvised explosive devices and technical and logistic support to the Yemac.
Project Masam is the largest and most productive programme on the ground coordinating with the Yemeni authorities, and forms part of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s humanitarian efforts to aid the Yemeni people.
