Mine/ UXO contamination

Marking of mined area on the Albanian border with Kosovo The mine and unexploded ordnance (UXO) threat in Northeast Albania emanated from the 1999 Kosovo conflict and includes 120 kilometers of border between Albania and Kosovo (from Shishtavec to the Montenegro border in the North) and up to 20 kilometers inside Albanian territory. After the Albanian Armed Forces' (AAF) survey in 1999, 102 mined and battle areas were identified, representing some 15,250,000 m2 of contaminated area. The threat includes FYR AP and AT mines, unexploded ordnance (UXO), cluster munitions and at least six NATO cluster strikes within the Albanian territory. An added complication is that no records of minefields are available to Albania.

Socio-economic impact

The mine-affected region of northern Albania is the poorest in the country with the unemployment rate verging on 30 %. There are 39 directly affected villages comprised in three main districts - Kukes, Has, Tropoja - all of which have experienced severe difficulties as a result of the mine threat. Civilians in all affected villages have experienced mine accidents, had their freedom of movement restricted, and face a shortage of social services to assist the population. Kukes is an agricultural-based economy and due to the mine threat, approximately 25,500 civilians have been denied access to their land, thus further exacerbating the poverty in the region. The main activities are grazing, farming, gathering firewood, and other subsistence livelihoods. The impact of the contamination on the environment should not be underestimated. Some water sources in NE Albania are still blocked by mined areas and the whole of the Albania/Kosovo border, prime land for eco-tourism development, is a wasteland because of mines and unexploded ordnance contamination.

A grave consequence of the mines is the added difficulty of patrolling the Albania/Kosovo border, where trafficking, and other crimes, takes place on a cross-border basis. Since the end of the Kosovo crisis 13 police officers have already been wounded or killed by mines and UXO in the execution of their duties. Patrolling is almost impossible as it takes 1 to 2 hours to respond to a border incident due to mines and unexploded ordnance contamination. This is a weak point regarding integrated border management in South East Europe.