Northern Laos - Floating Down the Mekong and Unexploded Ordenances (UXO's)

My time in Northern Laos was split between a 2-day boat ride on the Mekong from Northern Thailand/Laos to Luang Prabang, Laos along with a visit to Phonsavan and the Plain of Jars. My photo album for this section is a photo journal with explanations of time spent on the Mekong, in Luang Prabang, and the Plain of Jars in Phonsavan. However, because I think awareness of global issues is very important, below is some information on UXO's in Laos. Read on. You will be astonished and horrified.

UXO Lao’s Fight against Unexploded Ordnance by Bounpheng Sisavath, UXO Lao March 2006

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The Lao National Unexploded Ordnance Programme (UXO Lao) has established a regional office and field offices in nine heavily impacted provinces in Laos. In 2003, the government announced a national strategic plan to deal with the UXO problem, introducing major reforms in the sector and defining clear objectives for clearance operations. UXO Lao productivity has greatly increased since then and is on track to more than double its annual output by the end of 2008.

The Lao People’s Democratic Republic has the distinction of being, per capita, the most heavily bombed nation in the world.¹ As a result of the broader conflict in Indochina during the 1960s and 1970s, Laos was the scene of extensive ground battles and intense aerial bombardment.

From 1964 until 1973, over half a million bombing missions were carried out over the country, and as a result, over two million tonnes (2.2 million tons) of bombs were dropped.¹ Based on its experience over the last 10 years, UXO Lao estimates that up to 30 percent of all ordnance dropped failed to detonate on impact, leaving a lethal legacy that continues to kill, maim and impoverish over 30 years later. This explosive ordnance included vast quantities of cluster bombs which released sub-munitions, or bomblets (also referred to as "bombies" by the Laotian people). Such unexploded bomblets become, in effect, anti-personnel munitions. Bombing records provided by the U.S. government indicate that over 80 million of these bomblets were dropped all over the country.² There are also vast quantities of unexploded large bombs, rockets, grenades, artillery munitions, mortar shells, anti-personnel landmines and improvised explosive devices lying around.

Such large-scale contamination has resulted in over 13,000 casualties since 1975, and vast portions of agricultural land have been rendered unusable...

More more information on Laos and UXO's:
http://maic.jmu.edu/JOURNAL/9.2/focus/sisavath/sisavath.htm
http://www.mineaction.org/country.asp?c=15

http://picasaweb.google.com/andriadhautamaki/NorthernLaosFloatingDownTheMekongAndUnexplodedOrdenancesUXOS#