| <UZBEKISTAN | FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF YUGOSLAVIA1> |
Key developments since May 2001: Mine action activities by non-governmental organizations continue to expand, including outside of Quang Tri province for the first time. The national Landmine/UXO Impact Survey has not yet begun.
Vietnam has not acceded to the Mine Ban Treaty. It abstained from voting on the pro-mine ban UN General Assembly Resolution 56/24M in November 2001. Vietnam did not send an observer to the Third Meeting of States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty in September 2001, though it had the previous year. It did not attend the intersessional Standing Committee meetings in January and May 2002.
Vietnam did, however, participate in a number of regional landmine meetings. It attended the Regional Seminar on Stockpile Destruction of Anti-Personnel Mines and Other Munitions, held in Malaysia on 8-9 August 2001. It also participated in the regional seminar, Landmines in Southeast Asia, hosted by Thailand from 13–15 May 2002. Vietnam’s delegate gave a presentation on mine clearance and technologies, and stated, “We are seriously studying the Ottawa Convention.”[1] It also attended an informal ASEAN meeting on landmines held in Geneva on the margins of the Mine Ban Treaty intersessional meetings in January 2002.
Vietnam has not ratified the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW), although it signed in 1981. It attended the Second CCW Review Conference in December 2001.
Ministry of Defense (MoD) officials would not discuss production or stockpiling issues with Landmine Monitor.[2] There has been no indication that the government has changed its policy not to export antipersonnel mines to other countries. There is no evidence of recent use of landmines in Vietnam, although MoD officials will not comment.
In 2002, the government re-stated its earlier estimate that around 16,478 million square meters of land remain contaminated by landmines and unexploded ordnance (UXO) leftover from the Vietnam War.[3] This estimate, which equates to about five percent of Vietnam’s land, was first made in 1998; apparently no new aggregate figures have been compiled by the government since then.[4] At the regional landmine seminar in Bangkok in May 2002, Vietnam gave a presentation estimating that US$4 to 5 billion will be required to clear all the mines and UXO and that the work will take several decades.[5]
In November 2000, the US State Department signed an agreement with the Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation (VVAF) to conduct a nationwide Landmine Impact Survey in Vietnam.[6] The State Department has conditionally pledged US$6 million for the project, which is estimated to take three years once started.[7] As of July 2002, VVAF was still involved in negotiations with Vietnam’s Ministry of Defense, the national implementing partner for the project, in order to agree on a final project document and implementation plan to be presented to, and approved by, the office of the Prime Minister.[8] Once approved, a pilot survey will be carried out in three provinces, followed by a regional survey, and then expansion to a national level survey involving all 61 provinces.[9]
According to Dr. Guy Rhodes, Landmine Impact Survey Program Manager at VVAF, the focus of the survey will be: (1) to record the location of mine and UXO contamination, and (2) to evaluate the socioeconomic impact of the contamination. Vietnam’s MoD has particularly emphasized the location element of the project as a principal objective of the survey, including density evaluations and ordnance types where appropriate.[10] The field-collected survey data will be stored using the Information Management System for Mine Action (IMSMA) computer database. The survey data will be linked to archive data from the Vietnam War, generated by the Indochina Bomb Data Project.[11]
The Vietnamese organization, RENEW, in conjunction with the People’s Committee of Quang Tri and the Youth Union, was granted permission in July 2001 by the office of the Prime Minister to conduct a baseline community impact survey in Trieu Phong district. RENEW is currently collaborating with researchers from the University of Hue to design a comprehensive community impact survey that will aim to collect data on a number of issues including landmine/UXO incident statistics and community development impact. RENEW is optimistic that it will begin implementing the survey before the end of the 2002 calendar year.[12] RENEW will receive both technical and financial support for the implementation of this survey from some NGOs, including the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, Asia Landmine Solutions, and OXFAM Hong Kong, as well as UNICEF.[13]
According to information provided by various organizations to Landmine Monitor, about 3.835 million square meters of land were cleared in Vietnam from 1999-2001, not including clearance by the Vietnamese Army. The national priorities for clearance remain in support of major infrastructure and commercial development projects.[14]
The Vietnamese Army. The Ministry of Defense engineer units continued active clearance efforts in association with construction or engineering projects such as bridges, dams, highways, and seaports, but little specific information is available. Notably, clearance continued related to the construction of the Ho Chi Minh (HCM) national highway.[15] According to media reports, Vietnamese soldiers working on the project defused 18,513 individual items of ordnance, including 84 heavy bombs, between May and October 2001.[16] Partly because of the high level of mine/UXO contamination encountered along the route, the project is estimated to be 30 to 40 percent behind schedule.[17]
Mines Advisory Group (MAG). MAG completed its first clearance project on the site of a former US Marines Fire Support Base in Quan Ngang, Truc Lam village in Gio Linh District of Quang Tri province. MAG-trained teams of local deminers began clearance in 1999 and cleared over 1.2 million square meters of land, including destruction of 2,019 landmines (mostly U.S. M14 mines) and 8,384 items of UXO. MAG has been working with Plan International, OXFAM Hong Kong, and local government partners on community development projects as part of a local resettlement program on the site. Families were selected to return to the cleared land through a community participatory process involving all local stakeholders.[18] MAG has developed a local civilian clearance capacity of 69 men and women, plus a team of support staff in Quang Tri province.[19]
In July 2001, MAG started implementation of the first mobile Mine Action Team pilot project in Vietnam in Gio Linh District.[20] Between July 2001 and April 2002, the Mine Action Team removed all mine/UXO threats that were reported by the local population throughout 19 Communes, a total of 14,954 households were systematically visited, 1,502 EOD tasks were completed destroying a total of 101 landmines and 9,066 items of UXO. Commune leaders were also permitted to request the assistance of the Mine Action Team in clearance of public areas within their communes for the building of community facilities, such as schools, roads, wells, and water systems.[21]
In May 2002, MAG moved its Mine Action Team resources to Hai Lang District of Quang Tri Province, another heavily contaminated area prioritized for clearance by the provincial authorities. MAG will conduct a similar, district-wide clearance and community support operation in Hai Lang. The Mine Action Team program has been budgeted to last through 2004 and will cover three districts of the province.[22]
As of March 2002, MAG was waiting for government approval for an integrated community development and UXO clearance project to be carried out in coordination with Plan International in Quang Binh Province. It would involve clearance of 1.65 million square meters of heavily contaminated farmland in Le Thuy District, in what used to be a key section of the Ho Chi Minh Trail.[23]
In Thua Thien Hue Province, MAG is providing technical advice and training support to Australian Volunteers International’s (AVI) Humanitarian Mine Action Project in Phong Dien District. This project, funded by the Australian government, is due to start in mid-2002 and end in 2005. It is only the second international project set up outside of Quang Tri. The project is aimed at clearing an estimated 1.2 million square meters of agricultural land that, when finished, would be followed up by a micro-credit poverty alleviation program to be managed by AVI.[24]
Gerbera/SODI/Potsdam. Gerbera is a German commercial demining company that is subcontracted by the SODI and Potsdam organizations to clear mine/UXO contaminated areas for resettlement and development projects. Between March 2001 and March 2002, Gerbera cleared an estimated 700,000 square meters of land, and destroyed over 13,000 UXO, in Quang Tri Province.[25]
In February 2002, in Thua Thien Hue Province, Gerbera began the first international clearance project permitted to operate outside of Quang Tri. As of March 2002, Gerbera had cleared 500,000 square meters of land and destroyed 2,500 UXO at a former US military base near the provincial airport of Phu Bai. Gerbera is contracted to clear 750,000 square meters of land in total on this site, after which its sponsoring organization for this project, Potsdam, will begin the resettlement of 60 local families into the area. Heinz Werther estimates completion of the clearance phase of this project by December 2002.
Following the completion of a separate clearance operation at a former US military base, Ai Tu, in Trieu Phong District of Quang Tri Province in March 2001, Gerbera’s sponsoring organization, SODI, began the resettlement of families into this area. As of March 2002, SODI had resettled 56 of the target 100 families into new homes and hoped to have the remaining 44 families resettled by the end of 2002.[26] The resettled families are selected by the local People’s Committee based on economic need and ancestral proprietorship.
In December 2001, Gerbera completed clearance of 600,000 square meters of land on a former South Vietnamese military base in Cam Lo District, Quang Tri Province, Cua commune. The resettlement and integrated economic development phase of this project will be sponsored by SODI, but as of March 2002, it had yet to begin.
In January 2002, Gerbera also began clearance of a 780,000 square meters plot of land on the site of a former US military base named C2 in Cam Lo District.
In March 2002, Gerbera expanded the number of deminers it employs from 42 to 57 in Quang Tri Province and from 25 to 40 deminers in Thua Thien Hue Province.
Gerbera plans, in cooperation with the local Youth Union and Women’s Union, to conduct surveys to determine mine/UXO contamination levels in each commune in Cam Lo District, and also to disseminate mine awareness literature throughout the district. Once the presence of mines/UXO has been verified on a person’s property, a mobile clearance team will be dispatched to clear the ordnance.
Clear Path International. Since January 2001, Clear Path International (CPI) has funded a humanitarian mine clearance operation managed by the commercial demining group, Unexploded Bomb International (UXB), on a 435,000 square meter site at a former US military base in Quang Tri.[27] As of March 2002, 424 pieces of ordnance had been removed from the area and destroyed. The clearance project is slated to finish by August 2002. CPI also sponsors an Emergency Ordnance Disposal Team project that responds to calls by residents of the Quang Tri provincial capital, Dong Ha, to remove ordnance from their property. This program began in November 2001, and through March 2002 they had received 38 emergency calls and removed 201 pieces of ordnance.
Peace Trees Vietnam. The American organization Peace Trees Vietnam (PTVN) has been building a village on a 400,000 square meter site in the Quang Tri provincial capital of Dong Ha, for the resettlement of 100 families.[28] PTVN is conducting this project in cooperation with the Dong Ha People’s Committee and the Quang Tri Foreign Relations Department, who have contributed US$100,000 from the provincial budget to this program. The 400,000 square meters of land were cleared by the commercial demining company UXB in 2000.[29] According to Quang Le, Director of Peace Trees Vietnam, as of March 2002, 30 houses were built, and an infrastructure development project to build roads and supply electricity and running water to this village is underway. This is a two-year program to be completed by September 2002.
For several years, the Vietnamese government has expressed interest in forming an inter-agency national mine action coordinating body, but there has been no significant movement toward its establishment.[30] All government-sponsored mine/UXO clearance activities are controlled by the Ministry of Defense.[31]
If an NGO has a project proposal for mine action in Vietnam, it must first secure a sponsoring agency at the national level. This role is filled by the People’s Aid Coordination Committee (PACCOM), which, upon conditional approval of a project proposal, will then submit it to the People’s Committee and other relevant provincial authorities to work out project details. For project proposals that are budgeted for over US$500,000, PACCOM must secure final approval from concerned ministries in Hanoi.[32]
According to reports from donors, more than US$25 million has been provided or pledged for mine action in Vietnam in recent years. This includes the US$11.2 million donated in March 2002 by the Japanese government to the Ministry of Defense for mine clearance equipment to be used in infrastructure development projects, such as the HCM highway.
Vietnam. The Ministry of Defense has a budget for mine clearance, but the figures are not available. Most of the government funding comes through the Ministry of Planning and Investment in the form of infrastructure development projects. The government is currently allocating major resources to the Ho Chi Minh National Highway project; the estimated cost for completion of the mine/UXO clearance component of this project is US$500 million.[33]
Australia. The Australian government’s international development agency, AusAID, has committed US$1.9 million to a three-year integrated mine/UXO clearance and development project in Thua Thien Hue province. The program will be managed by Australian Volunteers International (AVI).[34] MAG will provide technical support.
Germany. The German government provided US$707,150 in 2001 to Sodi and Potsdam.[35]
Ireland. The government of Ireland provided a grant to the Mines Advisory Group for £195,000 to support its Mine Action Team project in Quang Tri. The grant is budgeted to last for 18 months, from July 2001 to December 2002.[36]
Japan. In March 2002, the Japanese government donated US$11.2 million to the Ministry of Defense for mine clearance equipment to be used in infrastructure development projects, such as the HCM highway.[37] The Japanese government has also reportedly donated six Hitachi bulldozers to the Vietnamese military for demining purposes during this reporting period.[38]
United States of America. From 1999-2002, the United States has provided about US$5.3 million to Vietnam for humanitarian demining assistance.[39] This included $3.5 million in fiscal year 2001 for demining equipment, personal safety equipment, metal detectors, vehicles, and support for the Landmine Impact Survey. Other projects in FY 2001 included funding one computer system and database to identify location of mines and UXO, and another system to assist the government in managing its mine and UXO clearance programs.[40] The expected funding for fiscal year 2002 is US$2.5 million dollars, including $1 million for the Landmine Impact Survey.[41]
The Freeman Foundation. The US-based Freeman Foundation continues to be one of the major financial donors to international humanitarian clearance operations in Vietnam. The Freeman Foundation has provided the Mines Advisory Group with a two-year US$1.5 million dollar grant to fund two large-site clearance operations in Quang Tri, as well as MAG’s Mine Action Team project in Gio Linh district. This grant was allocated to MAG in August 2000 and is scheduled to last through July 2002.[42] In addition, the Freeman Foundation has pledged US$742,000 for Clear Path International’s clearance in Dong Ha, Quang Tri. CPI also uses this grant money to pay for their Emergency Ordnance Disposal project in Dong Ha.[43]
Sodi and Potsdam Komunikation e.V. Solidaritatsdienst-International e.V. (Sodi) and Potsdam Kommunikation e.V. (Potsdam) are the primary funders for Gerbera projects in Vietnam. Those two organizations receive funds for demining projects from the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs, including US$328,911 to Potsdam and US$378,239 to Sodi in 2001.[44] In Cam Lo District, the “C2” former US military base project is funded at US$550,000.[45]
United Nations Association – USA. In 2001, the UN Association-USA[46] began sponsoring an “Adopt-A-Minefield” program in Vietnam.[47] Individuals or organizations “adopt” a plot of land and raise the necessary funds for the clearance work. MAG is Adopt-A-Minefield’s implementing partner in Vietnam.
Project RENEW. RENEW is the first integrated humanitarian mine action program managed and implemented entirely by local Vietnamese staff.[48] RENEW, which operates in conjunction with the Quang Tri People’s Committee, was granted permission by the office of the Prime Minister to conduct an 18-month mine action pilot program in Trieu Phong District, Quang Tri Province, in July 2001.[49] RENEW receives technical assistance from two sponsoring international organizations, Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund and Asian Landmine Solutions, for their activities in mine risk education, survivor assistance, survey, and the establishment of a region-wide mine action coordination office in Dong Ha.
RENEW has a mine risk education campaign that actively promotes the participation of children for spreading the message about landmine and UXO safety. RENEW has organized a number of talent shows in Trieu Phong District with participation by at-risk children; these attracted large audiences of community members, and were rebroadcast on television throughout Quang Tri. RENEW has also organized “Mine Awareness Marches” through various communes in Trieu Phong District led by children. Since July 2001, RENEW has hosted four public mine awareness workshops; these have also been broadcast on television in Quang Tri. RENEW has also produced two 30- and 60-second educational spots for television.
Peace Trees Vietnam. In the beginning of 2002, Peace Trees Vietnam expanded their mine risk education activities in Quang Tri to include teacher-training programs.[50] PTVN started a program, conducted in cooperation with the provincial Youth Union and Women’s Union, to train local educators in a basic child-safety and accident prevention curriculum. PTVN plans to start a mobile mine education program that will involve educators from their Mine Awareness Center, driving to remote areas of the province to provide training and literature about mine safety to teachers and students. PTVN is working in coordination with the Quang Tri Women’s Union to sponsor the building of five libraries in five separate communes that have had little or no access to mine-safety information up to this point.
Catholic Relief Services. CRS began a mine risk education and safety training course for teachers in Trieu Phong district in November 2001.[51] This training course was built around data gathered in a CRS survey that evaluated the existing level of mine awareness in the district. CRS is working in cooperation with the Ministry of Education and Training to develop materials for a curriculum-based classroom teaching program about mine/UXO safety, to be introduced as part of the compulsory primary school curriculum in 2002.
UNICEF. UNICEF has proposed a baseline survey in Quang Tri to determine the level of knowledge of local people on issues relating to mine-safety practices. UNICEF hopes to implement the survey before the end of 2002. The survey will serve to determine the message and scope of UNICEF’s national mine risk education media campaign that will follow. The campaign will consist of television commercials, print ads, and radio spots aimed primarily at children. UNICEF mine risk education programs have been budgeted at US$280,000 for the year 2002.[52]
There is no comprehensive mechanism for collecting and recording data on mine/UXO casualties in Vietnam. However, there are frequent reports in newspapers of mine/UXO incidents that result in death or serious injury. Incidents causing the death of at least 46 people and injuring another 20, including 34 children, were reported in 2001 in several provinces including Quang Tri, Dak Lak, Lang Son, Khanh Hoe, Tay Ninh, Dong Nai, Quang Nam, and Phu Yen.[53] According to Quang Le of PTVN, in 2001, 26 casualties were reported in Quang Tri province alone, with 14 people killed and 12 injured. He says the majority of the casualties are children who mistake pieces of ordnance for toys and men involved in the scrap metal trade.[54]
In October 2001, two military deminers were killed while engaged in site clearance on the Ho Chi Minh Highway project.[55]
It is believed that many casualties occurring in remote areas are not reported. The US State Department has estimated that mines/UXO cause over 2,000 casualties a year.[56] In a nationwide survey completed in May 1998, it was reported that since the end of the war, 38,248 people had been killed and 64,064 injured by landmines and UXO.[57]
Casualties continue to be reported in 2002. In one incident, in March 2002, one construction worker was killed and seven others injured, including two passersby, when a piece of ordnance, accidentally mixed in with rocks dredged from the Red River for a construction project, exploded on a street in Hanoi.[58]
In Vietnam, medical and health care services are provided by the national Ministry of Health at the province, district, and commune levels, and rehabilitation services are provided by the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Labor, Invalids, and Social Affairs (MOLISA). No distinction is made in treatment and rehabilitation services for landmine and UXO survivors.[59] In practice, most international NGOs working on disability issues also do not make a distinction between landmine/UXO survivors and other disabled people.[60]
In 2001, the Community Based Rehabilitation (CBR) program expanded from 40 to 45 provinces, leaving 16 provinces nationwide that still do not benefit from access to the government-sponsored program. Budgetary constraints and a lack of teaching materials and experienced trainers are cited as the reasons that the program has not expanded to all provinces. The Ministry of Health estimates that 80 to 90 percent of persons with disabilities in the provinces with the CBR program have nominal access to the facilities. In addition to providing basic medical rehabilitation services, the CBR program also focuses on vocational training and social reintegration programs for persons with disabilities.[61]
RENEW has a survivor assistance component to their mine action program in Quang Tri province. As part of the program, RENEW is upgrading facilities at nineteen nurse stations in communes around Trieu Phong, providing updated medical equipment and first aid training specific to mine/UXO casualties. Two hundred and forty-five community health care workers are being trained to deal with emergency medical procedures for landmine/UXO casualties. RENEW also works with mine/UXO survivors throughout Trieu Phong District to design creative programs to reintegrate survivors back into the workforce. In July 2001, RENEW implemented a program to train mine/UXO survivors whose injuries prevent them from plowing their fields, to grow edible mushrooms in their homes for sale to wholesale markets. As of March 2002, the program has been implemented in 30 communes of Trieu Phong District, with 50 families participating.[62]
In May 2001, Clear Path International (CPI) signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Committee for Families and Children, to provide Emergency Outreach Services to landmine/UXO survivors in Quang Tri Province. The Emergency Outreach Services program addresses three distinct priorities: providing financial support for the emergency medical needs of casualties on a case-by-case basis, including funding special medical procedures; providing transportation, if necessary, to regional hospitals for special rehabilitation programs; and, offering financial assistance to families, with the objective of preventing economic collapse in the critical period following an incident. CPI is also committed to providing educational scholarships to children who have been injured by landmines/UXO, or to children of parents that have been injured, so that the children can continue their studies.[63] In 2001, CPI assisted 323 individuals, including 254 mine/UXO survivors. Assistance also included the provision of fourteen prostheses, 150 hospital beds, 91 mattresses, two patient monitors, seven boxes of surgical supplies, and various other accessories and mobility devices. Since late 2001, CPI has the permission of the People’s Aid Coordinating Committee (PACCOM) to implement a comprehensive mine/UXO survivor assistance program in the six Central Region provinces on an emergency basis.[64]
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has operated an orthopedic program in Vietnam since 1989 at the Rehabilitation Center in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC Center) in cooperation with MOLISA. Since 1995, the program has been funded by the ICRC Special Fund for the Disabled (SFD). The program covers the cost of the first prosthetic fitting of amputees considered “destitute.” Those coming from surrounding provinces are accommodated free of charge at the HCMC Center and have their travel and meal costs reimbursed. In 2001, the ICRC paid for 891 of the total 2,067 limbs that were produced in the workshops in Ho Chi Minh City, and also for another 337 limbs produced in Da Nang as part of a pilot program for training local prosthetic technicians.[65] Landmine Monitor was unable to ascertain the number of mine/UXO survivors assisted. Other activities in 2001 included: the setting up of a quota system giving priority to women and children; continuing the introduction of the polypropylene prosthesis-manufacturing technique to five other MOLISA centers in Da Nang, Can Tho, Quy Nhon, Vinh, and Thanh Hoa; and the SFD funded a training course at the Vietnamese Training Center for Orthopedic Technologists (VIETCOT) in Hanoi for two students from the HCMC Center and one from the Kon Tum prothestic-orthotic center. The Kon Tum center, in the central highlands, is supported by the Swiss NGO Nouvelle Planète.[66]
Handicap International Belgium operated a community based rehabilitation program for mine/UXO survivors in Quang Tri province until the end of 2001. The program is based on a community network of volunteers who identify and care for disabled persons in their neighborhoods. The program continues and is fully autonomous after the completion of training for 11 doctors and physiotherapists who are now qualified to train district supervisors and community agents. At least 4,924 disabled people benefit from the program.[67]
PTVN assists survivors with the cost of food and medicines, and provides transportation to provincial hospitals and regional rehabilitation clinics, on a case-by-case basis. PTVN is notified by the local Department of Labor, or the provincial hospital, when a new landmine/UXO casualty has been admitted. Through direct consultation with the survivor and his or her family, the patient’s immediate needs are determined and PTVN helps the family plan a long-term course of action to ease inevitable financial burdens. PTVN also provides long-term assistance to families if necessary, however, the goal is to help the families become self-sufficient.[68]
The US-based NGO Health Volunteers Overseas has operated in Vietnam since September 1992. The Vietnam Rehabilitation Project aims to improve the quality of rehabilitation services and care through the training of health care specialists throughout the country. Linkages have been developed between US and Vietnamese universities to strengthen the training of teachers in the rehabilitation field. National curricula have been developed in the fields of rehabilitation medicine and nursing, and in physical therapy. The program is funded by USAID’s Leahy War Victims Fund.[69]
In 2001, there were nine local NGOs that functioned primarily as self-help associations for persons with disabilities. Most of these organizations, which are registered with the Disability Forum, are based in Hanoi.[70]
The government’s Ordinance on Disabled Persons has been in effect since 10 July 1999. On 22 January 2001, MOLISA established a National Coordinating Council on Disabilities (NCCD).[71] However, according to Hong Ha, Coordinator of the national Disability Forum, the implementation of the laws by the NCCD has been slow due to a lack of an efficient enforcement and monitoring system. A lack of sufficient resources and determination on the part of the concerned ministries is the most frequently given reason for the government’s failure to enforce the existing disability laws.[72]
Vietnam participated in the South East Asia Regional Conference on Victim Assistance in Bangkok from 6-8 November 2001.
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[1] Oral remarks. Notes taken by ICBL Coordinator Elizabeth Bernstein.
[2] A Ministry of Defense official told Landmine Monitor in 2000 that landmine production continues. See past Landmine Monitor reports for known details on Vietnam’s production, and past import, export, stockpiling and use of antipersonnel mines.
[3] Col. Bui Tam, Director, Ministry of Defense Mine Technology Center (BOMICO), “Vietnam, Demining Activities and Challenges,” Press Release, February 2002.
[4] See Landmine Monitor Report 2000, p. 542.
[5] Presentation by Le Huy Hoang, Nguyen Trong Canh and Dang Tran Nam Trung, “Vietnam: mine clearance and technology,” Regional Seminar on Landmines in Southeast Asia, Bangkok, 12 May 2002.
[6] See Landmine Monitor Report 2001, p. 584.
[7] As of March 2002, VVAF had received US$1.7 million from the State Department. Interview with Dr. Guy Rhodes, Landmine Impact Survey Project Manager, Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation, Hanoi, 8 March 2002. See http://www.state.gov/t/pm/rls/fs/2001/5820.htm.
[8] Interview with Dr. Guy Rhodes, Landmine Impact Survey Project Manager, Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation, Hanoi, 8 March 2002; updated in June 2002.
[9] Ibid.
[10] Ibid.
[11] The Indochina Bomb Data Project was undertaken by Federal Resources, a private US-based company, in conjunction with the US State Department; Interview with Dr. Guy Rhodes, Landmine Impact Survey Project Manager, Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation, Hanoi, 8 March 2002.
[12] Interview with Hoang Nam, Project Coordinator, Project RENEW, Quang Tri, 18 March 2002. The survey apparently got underway in Trieu Phong district in the second week of July 2002.
[13] Interview with Chuck Searcy, Country Representative, Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, Hanoi, 1 March 2002.
[14] Interview with Lt. Col. Frank Miller, Military Attaché, US Embassy, Hanoi, 13 March 2002.
[15] For more information about the clearance operations for the Ho Chi Minh Highway project see Landmine Monitor Report 2001, p. 587.
[16] “Bomb Kills Disposal Expert on Ho Chi Minh Highway,” Reuters (Hanoi), 2 October 2001.
[17] Interview with Lt. Col. Frank Miller, Military Attaché, US Embassy, Hanoi, 13 March 2002.
[18] Interview with Nick Proudman, MAG Program Manager, Quang Tri, 19 March 2002. Proudman noted that the high concentration of mines and UXO made it difficult for local farmers to graze their cattle or plant a complete rice harvest. Between 1973 and 1998, 29 people were killed, 45 people injured, and 97 head of livestock lost on the site. Also, email to Landmine Monitor (HRW) from Tim Carstairs, Director for Policy, MAG, 30 July 2002.
[19] Email from Tim Carstairs, MAG, 30 July 2002.
[20] For more details on this innovative approach using Vietnamese staff, see Landmine Monitor Report 2001, p. 588.
[21] Interview with Nick Proudman, MAG, Quang Tri, 19 March 2002; email from Tim Carstairs, MAG, 30 July 2002.
[22] Interview with Nick Proudman, MAG, Quang Tri, 19 March 2002.
[23] Ibid.
[24] Email from Tim Carstairs, MAG, 30 July 2002.
[25] The following section came from an interview with Karl Heinz Werther, Gerbera Project Manager, Quang Tri, 20 March 2002.
[26] See Landmine Monitor Report 2001, p. 588.
[27] Interview with Hugh Hosman, Country Representative, Clear Path International, Quang Tri, 19 March 2002.
[28] Interview with Chuck Meadows, Executive Director, and Quang Le, Country Representative, Peace Trees Vietnam, 16 March 2002; see also Landmine Monitor Report 2001, p. 586.
[29] See Landmine Monitor Report 2001, p. 586.
[30] Ibid., pp. 588-589.
[31] Interview with Lt. Col. Frank Miller, Military Attaché, U.S Embassy, Hanoi, 13 March 2002.
[32] Ibid.
[33] See Landmine Monitor Report 2001, p. 584.
[34] Meeting with Shireen Sandhu, First Secretary of AusAid, Australian Embassy, Hanoi, 1 March 2002.
[35] UNMAS Mine Action Investment Database.
[36] Interview with Nick Proudman, MAG, Quang Tri, 5 April 2002. During fiscal year 2001, MAG used £33,000 of the grant.
[37] Interview with Yuji Okada, First Secretary, Economy Section, Embassy of Japan, Hanoi, 3 June 2002.
[38] Interview with Lt. Col. Frank Miller, Military Attaché, US Embassy, Hanoi, 13 March 2002.
[39] US Department of State, Office of Humanitarian Demining Programs, Fact Sheet, “The US Humanitarian Demining Program and NADR Funding,” 5 April 2002.
[40] US Department of State, Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, “To Walk the Earth in Safety: The United States Commitment to Humanitarian Demining,” November 2001, p. 21.
[41] US Department of State, “The US Humanitarian Demining Program and NADR Funding,” 5 April 2002; Interview with Lt. Col. Frank Miller, US Embassy, Hanoi, 13 March 2002.
[42] Interview with Nick Proudman, MAG, Quang Tri, 5 April 2002.
[43] Interview with Hugh Hosman, Clear Path International, Quang Tri, 19 March 2002.
[44] UNMAS, Mine Action Investment Database.
[45] Interview with Karl Heinz Werther, Project Manager, Gerbera, Quang Tri, 20 March 2002.
[46] The UNA-USA is an NGO not formally affiliated with the United Nations.
[47] Interview with Lt. Col. Frank Miller, US Embassy, Hanoi, 13 March 2002.
[48] The following information was provided by Hoang Nam, Project Coordinator, Project RENEW, 18 March 2002.
[49] For additional information, see Landmine Monitor Report 2001, p. 586.
[50] Joint interview with Chuck Meadows and Quang Le, Peace Trees Vietnam, 16 March 2002.
[51] Interview with Le Khanh, Project Assistant, Catholic Relief Services, Hanoi, 30 March 2002.
[52] Interview with Jason Rush, Assistant Communication Officer, UNICEF, Hanoi, 8 March 2002.
[53] Data on new casualties collated by Landmine Monitor from nine media reports.
[54] Interview with Quang Le, Country Director, Peace Trees Vietnam, Quang Tri, 16 March 2002.
[55] “Bomb kills Disposal Expert on Ho Chi Minh Highway,” Reuters (Hanoi), 2 October 2001.
[56] US Department of State, “To Walk the Earth in Safety,” Appendix F, November 2001, p. 65.
[57] See Landmine Monitor Report 2001, p. 589.
[58] Nhu Trang, “Explosion in Hanoi,” Nhan Dan (Hanoi newspaper), 21 March 2002, p.5.
[59] See Landmine Monitor Report 2001, p. 590.
[60] Interview with Jo Nagels, Rehabilitation Program Manager, Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation, Hanoi, 11 March 2002.
[61] Information provided by Tran Trong Hai, Director of Foreign Relations, Ministry of Health, Hanoi, 25 May 2002.
[62] Information provided by Hoang Nam, Project Coordinator, Project RENEW, Quang Tri, 18 March 2002.
[63] Interview with Hugh Hosman, Clear Path International, Quang Tri, 19 March 2002.
[64] Martha Hathaway, Project Director, Clear Path International, response to Landmine Monitor Survivor Assistance Questionnaire, 13 March 2002.
[65] Interview with Peter Poetsma, Director, ICRC Rehabilitation Program, Ho Chi Minh City, 1 June 2002.
[66] ICRC Special Fund for the Disabled, Annual Report 2001, accessed at http://www.icrc.org.
[67] Handicap International Belgium Activity Report 2001.
[68] Interview with Quang Le, Country Director, Peace Trees Vietnam, Quang Tri, 16 March 2002.
[69] Linda James, Health Volunteers Overseas, response to Landmine Monitor Survivor Assistance Questionnaire, 25 February 2002.
[70] Information provided by Hong Ha, Coordinator, Disability Forum, 31 May 2002.
[71] For more detail see Landmine Monitor Report 2001, p. 591.
[72] Information provided by Hong Ha, Coordinator, Disability Forum, 27 March 2002.
