VIENTIANE: (Bernama) The global effort to eliminate cluster-munition remnants will take centre stage as the international community gathers in Laos this week amid continued concerns over civilian casualties caused by the weapons.
The Third Review Conference of the Convention on Cluster Munitions will be held in Vientiane, the capital of Laos, from Sept 14 to 18.
Two major international reports released ahead of the conference have highlighted the scale of the threat and the continuing human cost of cluster munitions worldwide.
The Cluster Munition Monitor 2026 report, released on Sept 8, said at least 1,063 people were killed or injured by cluster munitions last year, one of the highest annual totals recorded since monitoring began in 2008.
The report compiled by the Switzerland-based Cluster Munition Coalition said civilians accounted for 87 per cent of reported casualties.
"Cluster munitions continue to kill, maim, and injure civilians, including children,” Dr Rohan Gunaratna, Professor of Security Studies at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies at Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University, told Bernama.
The recent report highlighted cluster munition attacks or remnants in nine countries in South Asia, Southeast Asia, West Asia, and Europe.
On the future of the global ban on cluster munitions, Rohan said an unequivocal message should be sent that the global norm against these indiscriminate weapons is non-negotiable and requires renewed financial and political backing.
Meanwhile, the Clearing Cluster Munition Remnants 2026 report by Mine Action Review also highlighted the scale of the clearance challenge.
In 2025, states parties destroyed 64,898 cluster munition remnants, with Laos, one of the world's most heavily contaminated countries, clearing 55,808.
The reports said these buried devices remain a threat to rural communities, livelihoods, and children, many of whom encounter unexploded remnants in areas used for farming and daily activities.
"Member states must strongly condemn any ongoing production, transfer, and use of cluster munitions by any actor, stressing that targeting civilians with these weapons violates international humanitarian law,” said Rohan.
He said the meeting in Laos should also back the Vientiane Capital Action Plan 2027-2031, with clear and accountable benchmarks for the next five years.
Vivekananda International Foundation, New Delhi Senior Fellow and Editor, Brigadier (Retired) Vinod Anand, said unexploded ordnance (UXO) and landmines remain an unresolved scourge of past wars that continue to haunt countries and communities long after the fightings have ended.
"This is a problem in Southeast Asia and other parts of the world. Countries affected by past wars need substantial resources and modern technology to address these threats and reduce civilian casualties. It is difficult to detect explosives buried underground,” he told Bernama.
According to the Lao National Unexploded Ordnance Programme (UXO Lao), more than two million tonnes of ordnance were dropped on Laos between 1964 and 1973 during the Laotian Civil War.
The bombing included more than 270 million cluster submunitions. An estimated 30 per cent of the submunitions failed to explode and continue to threaten rural communities today.
More than 50,000 people were killed or injured by UXO in Laos between 1964 and 2008 with about 20,000 casualties occurring in the post-conflict period, according to Lao government data.
Across the world, governments and mine-action organisations are racing to clear the hidden remnants of past conflicts before more lives are lost.
In Afghanistan, the Directorate of Mine Action Coordination said 217 weapon-contamination incidents occurred last year, resulting in 92 deaths and 375 injuries. Children accounted for 309 of the 467 casualties. - Bernama
