UNifeed: SUDAN / MALAKAL LANDMINES

SUDAN / MALAKAL LANDMINES

Malakal was a key battlefield during the war between the North and the South, which ended with the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in 2005. But more than half the town's minefields have yet to be cleared and Malakal remains one of the most affected places in the entire Southern Sudan. UNMIS

Duration:02:23Date:18 August 2010

Categories:

United Nations Mission in Sudan, MAINTENANCE OF PEACE AND SECURITY, PROTECTION OF AND ASSISTANCE TO REFUGEES AND DISPLACED PERSONS

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Full Script

STORY: SUDAN / MALAKAL  LAND MINES
TRT: 2.23
SOURCE: UNMIS
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / DINKA / ARABIC / NATS

DATELINE: 24, 25 MAY 2010, MALAKAL, SUDAN

SHOTLIST:

1. Wide shot, family seated in front of hut 
2. Med shot, children seated on the ground 
3. Med shot, de-miner talking to some boys
4. Wide shot, families walking away with some belongings
5. Mid shot, girl walking with a baby carrying a pan on her head.
6. Med shot, de-mining bulldozer on the move
7. Wide shot, de-mining bulldozer in front of huts
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Lance Malin, Chief of Operations United Nations Mines Action Office (UNMAO), Southern Sudan:
“This is a very big challenge for us, its one that we are not going to shy away from, but the problem is in the open areas de-mining is relatively easy. When you have the population leaving within the danger area and the safety distances, it is very very complicated.”
11. Wide shot, UNMAO officers at a de-mining site
12. Mid shot, Unexploded Ordinance (UXO) 
13. Wide shot, residents looking at danger marker
14. Wide shot, de-miners with their dogs working in residential areas
15. Med shot, de-mining dog
16. Wide shot, returnees in front of their tukul talking with Zacharia Monyeik
17. SOUNDBITE (English) Zacharia Monyeik, Regional Coordinator for De-mining commission, Southern Sudan:
“Thousands of squares have been cleared by mine action organization, beginning from where they started in 2008 from the southern part of the town to the northern part. Within those two years, they did a lot. You can see children are able to move, women are able to go round, local people are able to construct “tukuls” as you can see we are standing in the middle of the tukul, this was as a result of Mine Tech, clearing of Landmines. So they are doing a very good job very effectively.”
18. Med shot, Zacharia talking to new returnees
19. SOUNDBITE (Dinka) Aluk Aluk Marial, returnee:
“We are afraid; some people have not seen these things called mines before. We are worried, we don’t know if there are mines in the ground or inside our homes.”
20. Wide shot, mine victim and her daughter
21. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Nychueng Ophel, Mine Victim:
“Mines have done a lot of damages in southern Sudan. God created me full and I could see. But now those who knew me when I was young they could not recognize me. Others may think that God created me blind. But it’s the condition of this world that brought war and mines that deformed me. This is not how I was created.”
22. Med shot, boys watching the de-miners
23. Wide shot, de-mining machine clearing areas between huts

STORYLINE:

Malakal, a town in Southern Sudan, was a key battlefield during the war between the North and the South, which ended with the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in 2005.

Landmines and unexploded ordnances (UXO) were widely used by both the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) during the 22 year conflict.

But more than half the town’s minefields have yet to be cleared and Malakal remains one of the most affected places in the entire Southern Sudan.

Meanwhile, thousands of refugees and internally displaced people continue to return to Malakal. As the population increases large portion of residents are settling in or around mined areas and that makes Malakal a very unique situation because the people are living in the mine field because they have no where else to live.

The United Nations Mine Action Office in Sudan (UNMAO), the second largest mine action program in the world, oversees all mine action activities in Sudan.

Every morning UNMAO arranges for the displaced to be evacuated in the morning so that they can clear around their huts or Tukuls. They return in the evening.

SOUNDBITE (English) Lance Malin, Chief of Operations United Nations Mines Action Office (UNMAO), Southern Sudan:
“This is a very big challenge for us, it's one that we are not going to shy away from, but the problem is in the open areas de-mining is relatively easy, when you have the population leaving within the danger area and the safety distances, it is very, very complicated.”

In 2008 alone, UNMAO in cooperation with the Government of Southern Sudan and the Government of National Unity,  destroyed over thirty-seven thousand ammunition found stockpiled at the barracks in Malakal.

The mine office also deploys additional resources like de-mining machines, mine detecting dogs and manual de-miners used to clear houses, roads and tukuls from UXO’s and helping people to move back safely.

SOUNDBITE (English) Zacharia Monyeik, Regional Coordinator for De-mining commission, Southern Sudan:
“Thousands of squares have been cleared by mine action organization, beginning from where they started in 2008 from the southern part of the town to the northern part. Within those two years, they did a lot. You can see children are able to move, women are able to go round, local people are able to construct “tukuls” as you can see we are standing in the middle of the tukul, this was as a result of Mine Tech, clearing of landmines. So they are doing a very good job very effectively.”

Aluk Aluk Marial and her family are some of the thousands of new returnees to this area. She lives with her five children and grandchildren. She is concerned about the mines and fears when the children go out to play.
 
SOUNDBITE (Dinka Ngok) Aluk Aluk Marial, returnee:
“We are afraid, some people have not seen these things called mines before. We are worried, we don’t know if there are mines in the ground or inside our homes.”

Nychueng Ophel, a mother of three was gathering fire wood when she cut a wire which triggered an explosion. As a result of the explosion, she sustained burns all over her body and lost sight in both of her eyes.

SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Nychueng Ophel, mine victim:
“Mines have done a lot of damages in southern Sudan. God created me full and I could see. But now those who knew me when I was young they could not recognize me. Others may think that God created me blind. But it’s the condition of this world that brought war and mines that deformed me. This is not how I was created.”

As mine clearing efforts continue in Malakal, the UNMAO estimates that it will take another three to four years before the town can be fully cleared of land mines.

The office has been working in Southern Sudan since January 2005, and has to date coordinated the destruction of over 11,000 anti-personnel mines, 2,500 anti-tank mines and 750,000 items of unexploded ordnance in the region. Furthermore it has cleared 11,000 km of roads.

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