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Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Answer

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs which areas of Kosovo remain polluted or contaminated as a result of the NATO military action in 1999; what plans there are to remove and remediate this contamination; what resources have been set aside to carry out this clean- up; and if he will make a statement on the future of Kosovo. [205900] Mr. MacShane: Data on residual mines and other unexploded ordnance in Kosovo is supplied to us by the United Nations interim administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK). At present there are 37 individual dangerous areas left to clear. These areas are mostly in the Dulje Pass close to the Prizren area or along the border with Albania. However, more contaminated areas are likely to be discovered as the population returns to areas which have not been occupied since the conflict. Following NATO intervention in Kosovo to avert an immediate and overwhelming humanitarian disaster, the UK was the first country to have de-miners on the ground in Kosovo. The UK Government have spent over £10 million on de-mining activities in the Balkans, over £5 million of which was spent in 1999-2000 on de- mining in Kosovo. Their de-mining activities have included clearance of unexploded munitions such as cluster bomb submunitions but also cover residual mines and other unexploded ordnance laid (both in set minefields and scattered randomly) during the Serbian- Albanian conflict. The UK Government provide funding to the HALO Trust which is one of the agencies involved in helping to clear the remaining mined areas that have been identified. UK Government funding is also provided to a Kosovo Protection Corps (KPC) capacity building project with Handicap International through the Global Conflict Prevention Pool. UNMIK has an Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) management team whose role is one of coordination, planning and management of the ongoing clearance by all the parties involved: KFOR, KPC and NGOs. The UNMIK EOD team is in effect the primary mine clearing authority. There will be a formal review in mid 2005 of Kosovo's progress in meeting the standards laid down by the UN (Kosovo Standards Implementation Plan (KSIP)). If Kosovo has made the necessary progress, then a process will begin to determine its final status in accordance with UNSCR 1244 (1999). If progress is insufficient, then there will be another review at a later date.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

205900; 429 c24-5W

Session

2004-05

Subjects

Ammunition Contamination Bomb disposal Expenditure Kosovo

Contains statistics

Yes

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk