Documentary film: US Cluster Bomb Legacy Costing Lives In Laos

The Legacy: The Vietnam’s dark legacy is still costing lives in Laos. Meet the brave women trying to clear the bomb fields.

A thoughtfully made documentary by ABC Australia.

Laos and Cluster Bombs

50 years ago (1964) on June 9, the first American bombs fell on Laos. It started a bombing campaign that resulted in Laos becoming the most heavily bombed country per capita. The terrible legacy of cluster bombs in Laos continues to be felt.

During the Vietnam War, between 1964 and 1973, American bombs rained on Laos in the so-called “Secret War”. More than 270 million bombies were dropped and it is estimated that 1.5 million people were killed. It made Laos the most heavily bombed country on earth per capita in history. Up to 30% of the cluster munitions didn’t detonate. Lao people are still suffering from the unexploded ordnance (UXO) forty years later. In the last decade, there have been approximately 300 new UXO casualties reported every year, and 40% of them are kids.

Laos is one of the poorest countries in the world. UXO contamination is a key cause of poverty and is one of the prime factors limiting the country’s long-term development. Like Laos, today there are still countries suffering from cluster munitions, such as Cambodia, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon, Georgia and Syria, to give just a few. Even though the international treaty, “Convention on Cluster Munitions”, took effect on August 2010 to prohibit the use, production, transfer and stockpiling of cluster munitions, and require states to destroy existing stockpiles of the weapons, clear contaminated areas and assist survivors and affected communities, there are still countries that have not ratified the Convention; and some financial institutions still invest in the manufacture of cluster munitions.