Laos is a beautiful country, full of lovely people, and the favorite stop of many a southeast Asia backpacker.
But all is not well here, as I quickly learned something was lurking beneath the vegetation that continues to take the lives of villagers every year, and keeps the others living in fear.
The “Secret War” waged by the US from 1964 to 1973 was conducted without the authorization of Congress, without the knowledge of the American public, and in violation of the Geneva Accords. While no longer secret, I guess I missed this in history class, because it was a shock to me. It's resulted in masses of unexploded ordnances (UXOs) that continue to kill and maim over forty years after the war.
Laos holds the grim title of the most bombed country, per capita, in history.
Why all the bombs? The Ho Chi Minh Trail ran from north Vietnam, into Laos, and then back into south Vietnam. The jungle trail was used for moving north Vietnamese troops, supplies, and artillery into south Vietnam. This was naturally a target for the US military, accounting for most of the bombing in southern Laos.
Up north were the Laoation communist insurgency (Pathet Lao) fighting against the Royal Lao government. In an effort to stop the spread of communism in the region, the US bombed this half of the country just as heavily. Initial targets were troops and supply routes, but farms, villages, and towns were equally destroyed to cut off access to men and food.
Finally, some American aircraft flying from Thailand to bomb north Vietnam had to abort mission due to weather or other concerns; they would just dump their bombs on their "secondary target" of Laos before returning back to base.
A few facts:
No matter how you slice the numbers of the most extensive bombing campaign in history, it's hard to fathom:
These UXOs sit armed, waiting to be triggered in a variety of ways: farmers digging, locals harvesting for scrap metal, children playing, fires unknowingly lit on top of.
The good news is, there are some ongoing efforts in Laos to clean up UXOs and assist victims.
The first is the Mines Advisory Group (MAG), a British humanitarian de-mining organization and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate. They are one of a few groups working to survey and clear UXO-contaminated areas around the world, and Laos has been one of their working areas since 1994. I had seen their jeeps and crews at work in Cambodia, and stopped by their visitor center in Phonsavan, Laos to learn more.
Before MAG came to Laos, the locals down played the problem because it was so much a part of everyday life for them. They didn't think it was anything extraordinary; it was a normal risk they lived with, day in and day out.
The presence of UXOs is closely tied to poverty. Fear of encountering bombs prevents farmers from plowing deeper, cultivating new land, or building irrigation systems that would double production, so some families don't even have enough rice for one year. They then need to turn to scrap metal collection to make ends meet. Just a couple weeks ago, six people in Vietnam were killed when a mortar shell they were sawing for scrap metal exploded. MAG worked with the local foundry in Phonsavan to stop accepting UXOs and put a safe reporting program in place instead.
With no end in sight, instead of simply clearing the most acres, MAG works with villages to identify contaminated areas that, if cleaned, would have the greatest impact on alleviating poverty. They train and employ locals to clear vegetation and sweep land with metal detectors in half meter lanes. Every beep needs to be uncovered by hand, even if it ends up being shrapnel. UXOs are then blown up from a safe distance.
MAG has cleared over 200,000 UXOs in Laos, but even with other organizations also working, that's a drop in the bucket. At least decades of work likely remain.
A second effort is COPE, the Cooperative Orthotic and Prostethic Enterprise, which is "helping people to move on."
It was started to assist UXO victims, but they'll help amputee victims from accidents, polio, or other diseases in need. I didn't find a whole lot to rave about in Vientiane, but their visitor center there was well worth the visit.
Survivors usually can't make it to a hospital quickly; even of they do, resources are limited and blood is in short supply, so injuries often become amputations.
COPE trains physiotherapists, provides occupational therapy for patients, and designs and manufactures custom-made prosthetic limbs. Their services are free for anyone who can't afford them, including transportation, consultation, custom fit, and physical rehab.
A new limb goes a long way for victims. They provide hope and let them to return to daily life. One kid stayed at home for three years until finding COPE; now he's back to going to school, playing with friends, and showing off his new leg. They also help families of victims by easing the burden of caring for a victim. Without COPE, victims would struggle to get by with a homemade prosthesis.
COPE gives hope in the form of 1,300 custom, high-quality limbs per year.
COPE even partnered with MAG to create a prosthetic leg with no metal; some recovered UXO victims are now employed by MAG as clearance technicians, so others won't suffer as they have.
UXOs are so widespread that they've long been a part of rural daily life. Boats are made from fuel tanks; ladders, doors, and fences from UXOs; belts, buckets, and whisky cookers from flare casings. They are a common decoration, and sometimes act as stilts for stilted houses. Kids grew up seeing these, so did not fear them when they encountered them in the woods. In fact, bombies look like attractive yellow balls or fruits to kids, and picking them up to toss or kick is enough to spell disaster.
To address this, awareness campaigns with puppets, songs, and art have been rolled out in schools to teach kids of the hazards, so they know to steer clear of any bombies they find in the wild.
These cleanup efforts are only good until more cluster bombs are dropped. The Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM) prohibits the use, stockpile and transit of cluster bombs, which disproportionately affect civilians during conflicts, and long afterwards too.
108 countries have signed the treaty. The United States has not.
But all is not well here, as I quickly learned something was lurking beneath the vegetation that continues to take the lives of villagers every year, and keeps the others living in fear.
The “Secret War” waged by the US from 1964 to 1973 was conducted without the authorization of Congress, without the knowledge of the American public, and in violation of the Geneva Accords. While no longer secret, I guess I missed this in history class, because it was a shock to me. It's resulted in masses of unexploded ordnances (UXOs) that continue to kill and maim over forty years after the war.
Laos holds the grim title of the most bombed country, per capita, in history.
Why all the bombs? The Ho Chi Minh Trail ran from north Vietnam, into Laos, and then back into south Vietnam. The jungle trail was used for moving north Vietnamese troops, supplies, and artillery into south Vietnam. This was naturally a target for the US military, accounting for most of the bombing in southern Laos.
Up north were the Laoation communist insurgency (Pathet Lao) fighting against the Royal Lao government. In an effort to stop the spread of communism in the region, the US bombed this half of the country just as heavily. Initial targets were troops and supply routes, but farms, villages, and towns were equally destroyed to cut off access to men and food.
Finally, some American aircraft flying from Thailand to bomb north Vietnam had to abort mission due to weather or other concerns; they would just dump their bombs on their "secondary target" of Laos before returning back to base.
- Cluster munitions, or cluster bombs, were one of the most common ordnances used.
- A rocket-shaped cluster bomb would open during flight and release hundreds of submunitions, or "bombies" as they're known in Laos. These were specifically anti-personnel weapons, and mostly killed civilians.
- Many bombies failed to explode on impact, making them the most common type of unexploded ordnance (UXO).
- UXOs remain buried under rice fields, jungles, playgrounds, and houses.
- From 1964 to 1973, the US carried out over 580,000 bombing missions over Laos.
- Two million metric tonnes of ordinance were dropped; that's more than the Allies dropped on Germany and Japan combined during World War II.
- That's the equivalent of one planeload dropped on Laos every eight minutes, non-stop, for nine years.
- This included 270 million bombies dispersed by cluster munitions.
- One of the rocket shaped casings pictured above could hold 680 bombies, each of which had a killing radius of 30m.
- When a bombie goes off, it releases 300 BBs at ballistic speed. One BB can kill.
- An estimated 30 percent of bombies did not detonate, due to being dropped too low; landing in water and only partially arming; or simply malfunctioning. This means as many as 80 million unexploded bombies remained after the war.
- After the war, 14 of the 17 Lao provinces were contaminated with UXOs.
- UXOs have been found in 25% of all villages.
- More than half of all UXO victims die on the spot.
- Roughly half of recent UXO victims have been children.
- 30,000 people were killed or injured during that nine year campaign, with an additional 20,000 civilians severely injured by UXOs in the years since.
- For comparison, the country of Laos is smaller than the state of Michigan.
These UXOs sit armed, waiting to be triggered in a variety of ways: farmers digging, locals harvesting for scrap metal, children playing, fires unknowingly lit on top of.
The good news is, there are some ongoing efforts in Laos to clean up UXOs and assist victims.
The first is the Mines Advisory Group (MAG), a British humanitarian de-mining organization and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate. They are one of a few groups working to survey and clear UXO-contaminated areas around the world, and Laos has been one of their working areas since 1994. I had seen their jeeps and crews at work in Cambodia, and stopped by their visitor center in Phonsavan, Laos to learn more.
Before MAG came to Laos, the locals down played the problem because it was so much a part of everyday life for them. They didn't think it was anything extraordinary; it was a normal risk they lived with, day in and day out.
The presence of UXOs is closely tied to poverty. Fear of encountering bombs prevents farmers from plowing deeper, cultivating new land, or building irrigation systems that would double production, so some families don't even have enough rice for one year. They then need to turn to scrap metal collection to make ends meet. Just a couple weeks ago, six people in Vietnam were killed when a mortar shell they were sawing for scrap metal exploded. MAG worked with the local foundry in Phonsavan to stop accepting UXOs and put a safe reporting program in place instead.
With no end in sight, instead of simply clearing the most acres, MAG works with villages to identify contaminated areas that, if cleaned, would have the greatest impact on alleviating poverty. They train and employ locals to clear vegetation and sweep land with metal detectors in half meter lanes. Every beep needs to be uncovered by hand, even if it ends up being shrapnel. UXOs are then blown up from a safe distance.
MAG has cleared over 200,000 UXOs in Laos, but even with other organizations also working, that's a drop in the bucket. At least decades of work likely remain.
A second effort is COPE, the Cooperative Orthotic and Prostethic Enterprise, which is "helping people to move on."
It was started to assist UXO victims, but they'll help amputee victims from accidents, polio, or other diseases in need. I didn't find a whole lot to rave about in Vientiane, but their visitor center there was well worth the visit.
Survivors usually can't make it to a hospital quickly; even of they do, resources are limited and blood is in short supply, so injuries often become amputations.
COPE trains physiotherapists, provides occupational therapy for patients, and designs and manufactures custom-made prosthetic limbs. Their services are free for anyone who can't afford them, including transportation, consultation, custom fit, and physical rehab.
A new limb goes a long way for victims. They provide hope and let them to return to daily life. One kid stayed at home for three years until finding COPE; now he's back to going to school, playing with friends, and showing off his new leg. They also help families of victims by easing the burden of caring for a victim. Without COPE, victims would struggle to get by with a homemade prosthesis.
COPE gives hope in the form of 1,300 custom, high-quality limbs per year.
COPE even partnered with MAG to create a prosthetic leg with no metal; some recovered UXO victims are now employed by MAG as clearance technicians, so others won't suffer as they have.
UXOs are so widespread that they've long been a part of rural daily life. Boats are made from fuel tanks; ladders, doors, and fences from UXOs; belts, buckets, and whisky cookers from flare casings. They are a common decoration, and sometimes act as stilts for stilted houses. Kids grew up seeing these, so did not fear them when they encountered them in the woods. In fact, bombies look like attractive yellow balls or fruits to kids, and picking them up to toss or kick is enough to spell disaster.
To address this, awareness campaigns with puppets, songs, and art have been rolled out in schools to teach kids of the hazards, so they know to steer clear of any bombies they find in the wild.
These cleanup efforts are only good until more cluster bombs are dropped. The Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM) prohibits the use, stockpile and transit of cluster bombs, which disproportionately affect civilians during conflicts, and long afterwards too.
108 countries have signed the treaty. The United States has not.