Leading human rights organisations in Yemen have paid tribute to Project Masam’s efforts to reduce the number of landmine victims in the country.
Representatives of Yemen’s Mayyun Organization for Human Rights and Development (MHRD) and the Rasd Organisation for human rights and sustainable development visited Project Masam’s headquarters on March 7.
Project Masam’s assistant managing director Qassim Al-Dosarry received Ali Al-Hudhaifi, head of Mayyun, and Mujahid Al-Qabb, who leads Rasd at the project’s office in the interim capital of Aden.
During the visit, Al-Dosarry gave an overview to the visitors about the project’s humanitarian landmine clearance activities and efforts to save civilians’ lives. The assistant managing director also talked Al-Hudhaifi and Al-Qabb through various methods used to safely remove landmines, explosive items and other remnants of war, and discussed the scale of the disaster caused by landmines in Yemen.
For his part, Al-Hudhaifi, confirmed that thanks to the continuous efforts of Project Masam teams the number of casualties was greatly reduced after hundreds of thousands of landmines and explosive devices planted in homes, sources of livelihood and public spaces were removed.
Al-Hudhaifi also indicated that Project Masam’s experience is unique, both in Yemen and in the world, calling on all other organisations operating in Yemen to follow Project Masam’s lead, which he said positively reflects on the lives of innocent civilians in all the liberated governorates of Yemen.
Meanwhile, Al-Qubb explained that he believed that Masam’s operations to detonate and destroy landmines and other explosive items retrieved in Yemen was one of the activities that distinguishes Project Masam, as the existence of landmines would continue to pose a direct threat to the lives of innocent civilians if not destroyed by specifically-trained professionals.
The Rasd Coalition’s head added that Project Masam’s efforts have gained the love and respect of Yemeni civilians over the years, given the demining team’s closeness to residential, farming or fishing areas.
