VIENTIANE: Laos is the most heavily bombed country per capita in history. The United States dropped around two million tonnes of bombs on the country from 600,000 bombing missions during the Vietnam War more than four decades ago.
But many of these bombs failed to detonate. And these unexploded ordnance continue to kill and maim as many as 100 people per year in Laos.
Laos is labelled as the “most heavily bombed country, per capita, in the world” – with more bombs falling on it than Europe had during World War II. And by some estimates, up to 30 per cent of the explosives failed to detonate.
These unexploded bombs remain as lethal today as they did 40 years ago. There are still many unexploded bombs, shells, grenades, and land mines scattered across the Lao countryside. Clearing them is a major challenge for the Lao government and the international agencies involved.
In order to rid the country of this menace, controlled explosions of unexploded ordnance (UXO) are carried out on a daily basis in many parts of Laos. Experts say the small cluster bomblets are the real challenge to remove. "Ninety per cent of the items that we found are cluster munitions, which are the small tennis ball-size munitions,” said Simon Rea, Country Director for Lao PDR, Mines Advisory Group. “The rest would be land-surface ammunition and a few large aircraft drop bombs."
According to the government, around 87,000sq km of Laotian territory is contaminated with UXO – and only two per cent of this area has been cleared.
"At the rate we are going, it will take centuries to clear all these UXO,” said Phoukhieo Chanthasomboune, Director General of Laos' National Regulatory Authority for UXO/Mine Action Sector. “We want the international community to support us, especially in training. We want to have high-standard UXO training centres here to train Laotians on how deal with these bombs."
Although the Vietnam War ended in the 1970s, the damage it caused continues to scar the people of Laos. Unexploded bombs have killed or injured around 50,000 people since 1964. Rehabilitation centres that build prosthetic limbs for victims have been set up across the country.
About 15,000 survivors require assistance for life, and some say help is inadequate, especially for those with a low income. "People like me have multiple disabilities,” said Phongsavath Souliyalath, a UXO victim. And here in Laos there is no support for these sorts of disabilities. I have been trying to search for support but the only available options cost lots of money."
Although funds have increased from US$9 million in 2010 to US$32 million, the Laos government says this amount is insufficient to deal with the scale of the problem. Authorities say more technicians and experts are needed to deal with the situation – and that locals need to be trained to meet this challenge for the problem to come under control in the near future.
- CNA/rw