‘A Good Chance People Are Going to Die', as U.S. Halts Funding for Mine Clearing

New York Times

28-01-2025

The Vietnam War ended half a century ago, but American weapons from that era continue to kill people to this day. Unexploded bombs rained down by American troops are littered across large swaths of Vietnam and neighboring Cambodia and Laos. They have killed tens of thousands and maimed many more since the fighting ended.
People have been working to clear out these bombs for decades, but experts say it may take another 100 years to finish the job. The United States is a big part of the effort and has given out more than $750 million over the past three decades to clear out the unexploded ammunition in the three countries.
But that funding has come to a grinding halt.
On Saturday, the State Department said it was suspending its global mine-clearing programs for at least three months. It followed a Trump administration announcement of sweeping pauses of U.S. foreign aid. These moves will ripple through many parts of the world where the United States helps pay for disaster relief, aid for refugees as well as health and anti-poverty programs. Even though the long-term effects of the funding pause are unclear, some experts warned of deadly consequences, particularly in places strewn with land mines, cluster munitions and other unexploded bombs.
'There is a good chance people are going to die,' said Bill Morse, who co-founded Cambodian Self Help Demining and the Landmine Relief Fund. 'Somebody is going to walk into a minefield that should have been cleared this week, boom.'
In Vietnam, there was bewilderment. Tran Phu Cuong, director of a government agency responsible for managing international aid into Vietnam, pointed out that the Vietnamese people are still living with the lingering effects of the 'unjust' war. Those include the unexploded bombs and the lasting effects of 'Agent Orange,' the chemical toxin that the Americans sprayed during the war that has been linked to cancers and birth defects.
'The U.S. government and the American people bear responsibility for addressing the consequences of the war,' Mr. Cuong said.
Millions of acres of land in Vietnam — nearly a fifth of the country — remained contaminated as of 2023.
Ho Van Lai was 10 when he came across a cluster bomb in Vietnam's Quang Tri Province in 2000 while playing with his cousins. He picked up the small round objects, which detonated immediately, killing his two cousins. He lost both legs below the knee, one arm below the elbow and the sight in one eye.
Mr. Lai, 34, who is teaching schoolchildren to identify and avoid unexploded bombs, said he was 'very sad' to hear that the Trump administration was cutting funding for demining.
'The U.S. support for mine clearing efforts in Vietnam has given the U.S. a good image,' Mr. Lai said.
In Cambodia, Sok Eysan, the spokesman of the ruling Cambodian People's Party, said it was the U.S. president's prerogative to cut these funds, but added: 'Who created the wars which left these countries with land mines? Everyone knows.'
On Jan. 16, Pov Nepin, 36, was removing mines for the Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority, a government agency, in Oddar Meanchey Province in northwestern Cambodia when an anti-tank mine killed him. He had cleared hundreds of mines since 2021, inspired by his father, who was a doctor helping people who had been injured by mines, according to Pov Davann, 29, a brother of Mr. Pov Nepin.
'It is very sad news for all Cambodians to hear about the funding cut,' said Mr. Pov Davann. 'There are still a lot of land mines in Cambodia which we need to clear for farmers.'
In recent years, China has stepped up its effort to help countries in Southeast Asia clear their mines. Mr. Morse, the co-founder of the demining organization in Cambodia, warned that the Trump administration's decision will prompt Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos to turn more toward Beijing.
Since the war ended, 40,000 people in Vietnam have been killed by unexploded bombs and another 60,000 injured. The death toll in Cambodia surpasses 65,000.
The U.S. Agency for International Development, or U.S.A.I.D., has helped provide treatment to people maimed by these weapons. But the bulk of global mine clearing funding from the United States has come from State Department programs.
In recent decades, the tiny landlocked country of Laos has been one of the top recipients of money to destroy conventional weapons. The bombing campaign launched by the United States made Laos the most heavily bombed country per capita.
More than 22,000 people there have been killed by unexploded bombs from that era.
In Laos, officials have said that the country needs $50 million annually for ongoing clearance of land mines and unexploded remnants of war. The government contributes $15 million and relies on international assistance from Japan, the United States and the United Nations Development Program.
Sera Koulabdara, the chief executive of Legacies of War, a U.S.-based advocacy group for global demining, said she was going to lobby officials in Washington to reconsider the decision.
'This aid suspension is not sending a good message to the parts of the world who really depend on us,' said Ms. Koulabdara, who fled Laos for the United States when she was 6. 'Congress really needs to reconsider this decision and hold our current administration accountable.'