FILE PHOTO: The Mines Advisory Group (MAG) clearance team searching for unexploded bombs in Khammouane province, Laos in 2024. - MAG via Bernama
VIENTIANE: Clearance teams removed 35,446 items of unexploded ordnance (UXO) in the first six months of this year, including more than 16,000 cluster munitions, across 14 provinces.
Despite these efforts, seven UXO-related accidents occurred during this period, resulting in 12 casualties—four of them fatal—highlighting the continuing danger that UXO poses to communities, particularly children, who made up the majority of victims.
The figures were reported at the first UXO/Mine Action Sector Working Group meeting held in Vientiane on Tuesday (July 8), which brought together high-level government representatives, development partners and UXO operators to reflect on progress and set a strategic direction for the remainder of the year.
The meeting was chaired by Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Anouparb Vongnorkeo; Ambassador of the United States to Laos, Heather Variava; and Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Laos, Martine Thérer.
Director of the National Regulatory Authority for the UXO/Mine Action Sector in Laos (NRA), Bounpheng Sisawath, presented a comprehensive update on the progress made this year.
From January to June, UXO teams surveyed 9,413 hectares of land, confirmed 6,984 hectares as hazardous, and cleared 2,717 hectares across 14 provinces, providing safe access to land and unlocking opportunities for farming, infrastructure development, and livelihoods.
Risk education reached 181,531 people in 11 provinces, strengthening their ability to recognise threats, adopt safer behaviours and prevent accidents.
Assistance was also provided to 172,109 UXO accident survivors, enabling them to regain mobility, rebuild their confidence and resume independent lives.
While celebrating this progress, the meeting acknowledged that annual targets will be difficult to achieve due to funding reductions and temporary budget cuts in the first half of the year.
From January to June, seven UXO accidents occurred in four provinces, resulting in 12 casualties, including four fatalities.
The fact that 67 per cent of the victims were children underscores the critical importance of enhancing targeted risk education—prioritising at-risk populations such as children and adult men—alongside expediting clearance efforts in high-priority areas.
UXO-related accidents are a stark reminder that these remnants of war continue to endanger lives and disrupt development, especially for the most vulnerable.
Last year, UXO-related accidents injured 36 people and killed seven others in the first six months, with most accidents occurring while children were playing with cluster bombs, not knowing what they were, or people were digging their fields and struck an unexploded device. - Vientiane Times/ANN
