Laos: the enduring threat from cluster munitions

Cluster munitions – the menace

©ICRC/J. Holmes/la-e-00952

Piles of rusted war material including bombs, mortars, and unexploded submunitions outside a metal foundry in Xieng Khouang province. The metal foundry has had numerous accidents with items like these exploding; the management is seeking help from UXO Lao and MAG (Mines Advisory Group).

©ICRC/J. Holmes/la-e-00929

Download - high resolution
(ZIP 0.8 Mb)

Remains of a cluster munition casing, which contained some 250 submunitions and was found in the countryside.

Teaching children about the risks

©ICRC/J. Holmes/la-e-00951

Download - high resolution
(ZIP 0.8 Mb)

Children in Xieng Khouang province attend a UXO education session organised by the UXO Lao. The NGO tours villages and hamlets in areas affected by UXO.

©ICRC/J. Holmes/la-e-00944

Download - high resolution
(ZIP 0.8 Mb)

For children in Xieng Khouang province, the risks of UXO are very real. Yet they need constantly reminding of the deadly dangers lurking in forests and fields.

Clearing contaminated areas

©ICRC/P. Herby/la-e-00953

Download - high resolution
(ZIP 0.8 Mb)

In the fields of Xieng Khouang province a clearance team uses a detector to look for UXO and other metal objects.

©ICRC/J. Holmes/ la-e-00931

Download - high resolution
(ZIP 0.2 Mb)

The team also uses a detector for checking large surfaces.

The human cost of cluster munitions

©ICRC/J. Holmes/la-e-00938

Download - high resolution
(ZIP 0.9 Mb)

A father watches over his daughter who was injured by submunitions that had lain close to their home for more than 30 years. The submunitions were set off while digging a ditch; this girl's mother and brother were injured and another brother died.

Rehabilitation measures

©ICRC/J. Holmes/la-e-00923

Download - high resolution
(ZIP 0.2 Mb)

In the Lao capital, Vientiane, a technician at the Lao Government Rehabilitation Centre prepares plaster molds for artificial limbs that are provided for UXO victims.

©ICRC/J. Holmes/la-e-00948

Download - high resolution
(ZIP 1 Mb)

Scrap metal is gathered up by local people to sell, helping to supplement their meagre income. But very often these items turn out to be live rounds or unexploded munitions which can be detonated by handling, causing death and injury.

©ICRC/J. Holmes/la-e-00934

Download - high resolution
(ZIP 0.8 Mb)

A member of a UXO (unexploded ordnance) clearance team locates an unexploded submunition and carefully excavates it so that it can be destroyed.

©ICRC/J. Holmes/la-e-00950

Download - high resolution
(ZIP 0.8 Mb)

Getting children to learn and remember through drama and games is one of UXO Lao's methods in explaining the dangers of UXO to children in Xieng Khouang province. Here, puppets warn about the dangers of touching or playing with any UXO they find.

Download - high resolution
(ZIP 0.2 Mb)

The children are urged to recognize the different types of UXO. Here, a pupil identifies the many different kinds of munitions.

Download - high resolution
(ZIP 0.7 Mb)

Once the team member at the front has located a metal object, a colleague comes to dig it up, if possible.

Download - high resolution
(ZIP 0.8 Mb)

The clearance team destroys a cache of unearthed ordnance, including white phosphorus, submunitions and mortars, at a safe distance from the village.

Download - high resolution
(ZIP 0.9 Mb)

The mother also suffered severe fragmentation wounds in the blast.

Download - high resolution
(ZIP 0.9 Mb)

Lao Government Rehabilitation Centre. The Centre is assisted by COPE (Cooperative Orthotic and Prosthetic Enterprise), a locally-based NGO. As word spreads of these facilities more and more people – including UXO victims - who had previously used home-made artificial limbs turn up for treatment.