End the Vietnam War(s)
Past time to clean up our deadly mess.

Bombies in Laos

(April 30, 2009)   Thirty-four years ago today, Saigon fell to North Vietnamese forces, finally ending U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. But millions of cluster bomblets and other unexploded ordnances (UXO) left behind continue to kill and maim-- in Laos and Cambodia, as well as Vietnam.

Laos, which has long been isolated from the international community, has taken a surprising lead role in the new global treaty banning cluster bombs. In March it became the fifth country to ratify the Convention on Cluster Munitions and will host the treaty's first review conference five years after the treaty enters into force. As a party to the treaty, it will be required to clear its land within ten years of the massive ordnance dumped on it by American planes in the 1960s and 70s.

Several of USCBL's coalition members are working to redress this continuing deadly legacy in Southeast Asia. Legacies of War, a Lao-American organization, educates on the issue and advocates for the removal of unexploded bombs in Laos; the Mennonite Central Committee has worked to bring the cluster bombing of Laos to public attention for more than two decades; Handicap International promotes disability rights and aids landmine/UXO victims in Laos, Vietnam, and Cambodia; and Adopt-A-Minefield funds demining in all three countries.  All of these groups, along with other USCBL partners, are pressing Congress to double the amount of demining funds going to the three countries, from roughly $7 million per year to $15 million per year for 10 years. 

For more on the Mine Ban Treaty, go to www.icbl.org

US Campaign to Ban Landmines
c/o Handicap
International — US
6930 Carroll Avenue,
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Tel: (301) 891-2138
USCBL@handicap-international.us