The
United Arab Emirates (UAE) has not acceded to the Mine Ban Treaty. It has not
articulated its position on the treaty or the mine issue in the past year. In
2000, the UAE stated that it “confirms its support for the international
effort to ban antipersonnel
landmines.”[1] It did not
attend any Mine Ban Treaty meetings in the reporting period, but did vote in
support of UN General Assembly Resolution 56/24M on the universalization and
implementation of the Mine Ban Treaty, as it had done on similar pro-ban
resolutions in previous years. The UAE is not party to the Convention on
Conventional Weapons (CCW) and did not attend any CCW meetings in 2001 or
2002.
The UAE has stated that it is not a landmine producer or
exporter.[2] The UAE remains
one of just a handful of countries for which Landmine Monitor does not have a
clear indication whether antipersonnel mines are stockpiled.
The UAE is not mine-affected. It has contributed to international mine
action programs in Egypt, Kosovo and
elsewhere.[3] In March 2001,
UAE announced its intention to donate up to $50 million to help redevelop South
Lebanon, including demining activities. The project, “Operation Emirates
Solidarity,” is a two-phase project that commenced on 25 October 2001,
when a memorandum of understanding between UAE and Lebanon was signed by
UAE’s Minister of Defense and Chief of Staff Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Al
Nahyan and Lebanon’s Minister of Defense, Khalil Hrawi (see the Lebanon
report for details on the implementation of this
program).[4]
[1] Letter from the UAE Foreign Ministry
(translated by the UAE Embassy, Washington DC), to Landmine Monitor (HRW), 5
October 2000. [2]
Ibid. [3] See Landmine Monitor Report
2001, p. 1044, for more details. [4]
Cilina Nasser, “De-miming bid launched with help from U.A.E: $50 millions
donation speeds up clearing operation in Lebanon,” Daily Star (Beirut
English language daily newspaper), 26 October 2001.
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