Executive summary
Timeframe and objectives of the General Survey
The general survey in Serbia was carried out by NPA between 9 November 2007 and 30 November 2008. The immediate objectives were to assist the Mine Action Centre and the Government of the Republic of Serbia in defining the scale of the problem, identify contaminated areas and assist in capacity building to enable the Mine Action Centre to manage operations of surveying and clearing areas contaminated by unexploded cluster submunitions. The long-term objective of the project has been to create a secure environment for the local population, free of hazards of unexploded cluster submunitions.
Results of the cluster hazard assessment
A detailed assessment of the characteristics of deployment zones was carried out in the third phase of the general survey. Survey reports were prepared, data mapping was conducted and the results were entered into the database. By the end of November 2008, the survey teams had prepared 100 reports. The total risk area covered by these reports is 8.3 km2, which will necessitate multi-annual operations of clearance of unexploded cluster submunitions in Serbia. Each report on the general survey contains 313 items of data: thus, a total of 31,300 data entries have been recorded in the database. In addition, there are 100 sketch drawings of risk areas with co-ordinates of breakpoints, 100 drawings of the wider areas, 231 photographs of risk areas, 168 photographs of installed signs of emergency marking, 48 minutes of interviews conducted, and 100 orders/requests for general survey. The number of working hours spent on field operations, data processing and report preparation was 4,424, or an average of 44.24 hours for the preparation of each survey report.
The results of the general survey show a total of 105 cluster ordnance deployment zones located in the territory of Serbia, in 15 municipalities. In these deployment zones, 196 cluster bomb units were used, containing 37,032 pieces of cluster submunitions. Immediately after deployment, the cluster submunitions and bomb remnants were typically collected by military, police and civil defence units. However, records on the removal of unexploded ordnance were not available to the survey teams of the NPA. It is estimated that there are still 2,547 pieces of unexploded cluster submunitions scattered in 105 deployment zones, or an average of 24.06 pieces of cluster submunitions per deployment zone. General survey field activities were completed by early November 2008. All results were processed and entered into the database. The database on the total suspected areas contains 390 polygons, in all 30.7 km2, with an average size of 0.079 km2 per polygon. It was possible to reduce the total suspected area in comparison to the initial assessment of February 2008, for two reasons: (1) reduction in the number of deployment zones after cancellation of non-existent deployment zones of cluster ordnance, and cancellation of deployment zones of graphite cluster submunitions; and (2) more precise assessment and ensuing cancellation of some previously suspected areas. The distribution of suspected areas in relation to the level of assessed hazard was as expected. The lowest share consisted of areas categorized as representing an extremely high hazard. Suspected areas assessed as having higher hazard levels (extremely high, very high and high hazard) constituted 21.52% of the total, or 6.6 km.2
Hazard and accidents caused by cluster contamination
Accidents and incidents have been caused by four types of cluster submunitions: BLU 97, BLU 97 A/B, Mk-4 and Mk-118. Cluster submunitions of the type BLU 97 are the most frequent cause (46.6% of instances), followed by submunitions of the type Mk-4 (in 34.3% of cases). Accidents recorded to date have resulted in 191 victims: 31 fatalities (16.2%), and 160 persons injured (83.8%). The greatest number of casualties occurred during the 1999 deployment of NATO air forces: 27 fatalities, and 152 persons wounded. From the end of the NATO campaign until November 2008, there were an additional 12 casualties, four of them fatalities: three children and one farmer; whereas eight persons have been injured: two de-miners, one farmer and five children.
The hazard of cluster submunitions is not evenly distributed, affecting 28 local communities (mesne zajednice) in 16 different municipalities in Serbia, and a total of 12 out of 30 districts. Some 162,000 people live in the affected local communities. According to the latest assessments, 88,000 are living in the immediate vicinity of suspected areas, and can thus be considered as exposed to daily risk.
Risk behaviour
Risk behaviour of the population was registered in 91.8% of the surveyed risk areas. In most cases (56.2%), such behaviour involved the entry of adults from affected settlements. (See Graph 12.) Children are second in the number of registered cases. They enter together with adult villagers (in 28% of the cases), and less frequently together with adults and "other persons" V i.e. individuals not living in the affected communities. Those living in the affected local communities apparently do not feel directly vulnerable to cluster submunitions. They know that surface-level removal of unexploded cluster submunitions has been undertaken, and assume that what remains is mainly located underground. On the other hand, they do take certain precautions: children tend to enter suspected areas in the company of adults, and group entry is more common than individual entry. Entry into risk areas, proximity to settlements, and children as a vulnarable group are included in the criteria for selection of priorities for clearance of unexploded cluster submunitions.
Economic impact of cluster contamination
It is mostly agricultural land that is blocked due to the presence of unexploded cluster submunitions: 29.7% of the suspected locations relate to agricultural land, or 33.4% of the total area suspected. The second largest barrier caused by unexploded cluster submunitions is the impossibility of reconstructing the infrastructure of settlements and utility facilities (19.9% of the total suspected area). The third largest problem is the impossibility of renovating or restoring housing units (14.2%). Further significant blockage problems relate to the following categories of land use: forest exploitation and maintenance (8.8%), tourism development (9.6%), road communications (6.4%), and new industrial production (4.2%). The analysis confirms that the hazard of unexploded cluster submunitions in combination with blocked resources has a significant impact on the socio-economic situation of the communities affected. The likelihood of fatalities has been reduced, but the number and frequency of incidents is such that the probability of activating unexploded submunitions will rise with the growing needs of the population to use the blocked land.
Size of risk area in Serbia
The extent of risk area still to be cleared of unexploded cluster submunitions in Serbia has been calculated to be approximately 15 km2 o