Egyptians still suffer from German WWII mines in Western Sahara
Mine victims in Egypt organized a vigil in front of the cemeteries of European soldiers in the city of El Alamein, northwest of Egypt in conjunction with the celebrations marking the end of World War II.
A destructive legacy has been left by the fighting forces, and is still strongly present through millions of mines that have turned nearly a quarter of Egypt’s total area into what some describe as 'Satan’s gardens' or 'The Tombs of development tombs' despite the passage of 79 years since the battles of World War II (1939-1945).
On October 23, 1942, the Second Battle of El Alamein erupted, lasting for nearly 20 days between the Allied forces, including Britain, the United States and others, led by British Bernard Montgomery, and between the Axis powers, including Germany, Italy and Japan, led by the German field marshal. The battle was know as the "Desert Fox" Erwin Rommel.
This was one of the most decisive battles in defeating German leader Adolf Hitler and his allies in WWII. However, since that date, the area south of the northern coast and up to Egypt's western border with Libya has become more like a time bomb due to the presence of about 17.5 million mines from the remnants of these battles.
This area exceeds a quarter of a million acres suitable for agriculture, and represents 22% of the total area of Egypt, which is about one million sq km.
Rommel turned El Alamein area into a defensive area, which he described as "Devil's Gardens", and was famous for its barbed wire and mines.
The Graves of Development
The United Nations (UN) estimated the number of Egyptian mine victims at 8,313 as of April 2019, noting that there are still 3,646 sq km of land that has not been cleared, and residents remain at risk.
The last victim of a mine explosion
Last July, in Salloum, on the border with Libya, a young man was walking over a mine. It explode and led to the amputation of part of his right foot. Weeks before that in the same area, 9 people were injured by a landmine explosion while they were trying to cross the Egyptian-Libyan border, on an illegal immigration journey through the desert.
According to reports, Western countries refuse to bear the legal responsibility for the mines in the northern coast and Matrouh, and are satisfied with moral responsibility. In 1996, during the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva, Egypt requested the countries that planted the mines to take responsibility for removing them.
The Executive Secretariat for Demining and development of the Northwest Coast, which was formed under an agreement signed between the United Nations Development Program (UNDP Demining program) and the Egyptian government in 2007 indicates that the remnants of the WWII prevent Egyptians from reaching, and developing an area of about 22% of its territory.
Legal experts and activists are calling for more international pressure to direct states, that have planted the mines to take responsibility for removing them, through providing maps and records of minefields, their locations, and bearing the costs of removing them to help save lives and provide safety for civilians.
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