Mine ban policy overview

Policy

The Socialist Republic of Vietnam has not acceded to the Mine Ban Treaty. Vietnam still considers antipersonnel mines as a legitimate weapon of self-defense and has cited national security concerns, especially border security, as reasons for not joining the Mine Ban Treaty.[1]

In September 2012, a military officer noted that Vietnam has been studying the treaty, but the officer said that stockpiles of mines held by countries outside the treaty are of concern to Vietnam since they could be used at any time.[2] In June 2011, a representative from Vietnam said it was unlikely that the country would join the Mine Ban Treaty at this time because they are still using mines on their borders “as a form of defense.” The representative added that Vietnam was not necessarily laying new mines, but it was actively maintaining them.[3] However, in an apparent review of policy, in 2013 a Ministry of Defence official stated to the Monitor that there is no longer any political reason to maintain minefields on its border with China, and that border minefields are being removed along with demarcation to ease economic activities with neighboring countries.[4]

Vietnam sent an observer delegation to the Twelfth Meeting of States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty in Geneva in December 2012, but did not make any statements. Vietnam did not attend the intersessional Standing Committee meetings in May 2013. Vietnam made its only statement to States Parties during an intersessional Standing Committee meeting in June 2008, where it stated, “We support the humanitarian aspects of the Ottawa Convention of Anti-personnel Landmines but we could not sign it yet as it regrettably does not duly take into account the legitimate security concerns of many countries including Vietnam.”[5] Vietnam did attend the Bangkok Symposium on Enhancing Cooperation & Assistance in June 2013 in Bangkok.

On 3 December 2012, Vietnam abstained from voting on UN General Assembly (UNGA) Resolution 67/32 calling for universalization and full implementation of the Mine Ban Treaty. It has abstained on all previous annual pro-ban treaty UNGA resolutions.

Vietnam signed, but has not ratified, the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW).

Production, stockpiling, transfer, and use

Vietnam has not made any new official statements regarding its continued need for, or capacity for, the production of antipersonnel mines and has not made any new statements regarding the types and quantities it holds in stockpile.

Vietnam produced antipersonnel mines in the past.[6] In 2008, officials said that Vietnam has not produced mines since the Mine Ban Treaty came into force, but also emphasized that it reserves the right to produce mines in the future.[7] Until Vietnam issues an official public statement that it does not currently and will not in the future produce antipersonnel mines, the Monitor will continue to list Vietnam as one of the few remaining global manufacturers.

In 2003, an official confirmed the existence of a stockpile of antipersonnel mines, saying, “Vietnam does not keep large stores of landmines, but we have enough to protect our country against invasion.”[8] In September 2012, a military officer stated that in the past two years (2011–2012), Vietnam destroyed 287 tons of stockpiled antipersonnel mines as well as destroying a limited number of antivehicle mines. While unable to provide a stockpile figure, the officer stated that “significant amount of mines stocked in Vietnam have been destroyed” and that each year Vietnam destroys around 100 tons of mines. The officer also stated Vietnam needs new technology for destruction of munitions and support from the international community.[9]

Vietnam told States Parties in June 2008, “we strictly observe our policy not to export” antipersonnel mines.[10] The Ministry of Foreign Affairs previously wrote to the Monitor, stating, “Vietnam has never exported and will never export mines.”[11]

Vietnam is not thought to have used antipersonnel mines since its occupation of Cambodia in the 1980s, but it has said it reserves the right to use antipersonnel mines in the future.[12]

Policy

The Socialist Republic of Vietnam has not acceded to the Convention on Cluster Munitions.

In April 2014, Vietnam stated that it “welcomes the humanitarian objectives” of the Convention on Cluster Munitions and “continues exploring the possibilities of acceding” to it. Vietnam said “we will accede to the Convention when all sufficient conditions appropriate to the context of Vietnam are already created.” Yet Vietnam went on to list its multiple concerns with the ban convention, including the 10-year deadline to identify and clear areas contaminated by cluster munition remnants, and said it needs “some decades, even a hundred year[s] to fully complete the clearance.” Vietnam said the convention lacks a “mechanism for international support and cooperation” as well as the participation by certain states in the convention, including “cluster munitions users, producers and exporters” that “must be responsible for assisting affected countries.”[1]

Vietnamese officials have regularly expressed the government’s support for the humanitarian aims of the Convention on Cluster Munitions while at the same time presenting these concerns as the reason for its lack of accession.[2]

In a February 2014 interview in The People’s Army Newspaper, Lt. Gen. Nguyen Chi Vinh, Deputy Minister of Defence, outlined Vietnam’s position on joining the Convention on Cluster Munitions, highlighting the need for user states to bear further responsibility in affected countries and asking why not all major cluster munition producers have joined. The minister stating that before accession is possible, it is first “necessary to research and have an overall evaluation on interests, limits, roadmap, time frame and the most important thing: the resources to implement the contents of that convention.”[3]

In April 2013, a government official informed the CMC that Vietnam is still in the “learning process” with respect to the Convention on Cluster Munitions, which they said is under review by a national steering committee led by the Prime Minister.[4]

Vietnam participated in two of the international Oslo Process diplomatic conferences to develop the convention text, but attended the formal negotiations in Dublin in May 2008 and the Oslo Signing Conference in December 2008 only as an observer.[5]

Despite not joining, Vietnam has continued to participate in the work of the Convention on Cluster Munitions. It attended a regional conference in Bali, Indonesia in 2009 and an international conference in Santiago, Chile in 2010. Vietnam has participated as an observer in every Meeting of States Parties of the Convention on Cluster Munitions, including the Fourth Meeting of States Parties in Lusaka, Zambia in September 2013. Vietnam has participated in every intersessional meeting of the convention held in Geneva, including those held in April 2014.

Vietnam is not party to the Mine Ban Treaty. Vietnam signed the Convention on Conventional Weapons in 1981, but has not ratified any of its protocols.

Use, production, transfer, and stockpiling

At the Third Meeting of States Parties in September 2012, Vietnam declared, “We do not produce, store, use or encourage to [sic] use cluster munitions.”[6]

In the past, some officials have said that Vietnam does not have a stockpile, but others have been less than certain.[7] A May 2010 position paper states that “foreign reports” show that Vietnam has never used, produced, transferred, or stockpiled cluster munitions.[8]

Jane’s Information Group cites the Vietnam Air Force as possessing KMGU submunition dispensers.[9]

 

Contamination and Impact

The Socialist Republic of Vietnam is heavily contaminated by explosive remnants of war (ERW), mainly unexploded ordnance (UXO) and mostly dating back to the war with the United States (US) in the 1960s and first half of the 1970s. This contamination is among the most extensive contamination from cluster munition remnants in the world. There is, however, no precise estimate of how much contamination remains. Vietnam says ERW affect all of its 63 provinces and cities and officials continue to assert contamination covers 66,000km², one-fifth of its total land area.[1]

Mines

Vietnam has a smaller, also undefined, problem of mines. Most were left by conflicts in the 1970s with neighboring Cambodia and China and affect areas close to its borders with those countries.[2] Some mines are also found around former US military installations.[3]

Vietnam cleared an area up to 1km deep along its northern border under an agreement with China, but areas further inland from the border are still contaminated with mines emplaced by the military of both countries. Since 2004, military engineers have reportedly cleared around 95km² of contaminated land in the northern provinces of Lang Son, Cao Bang, Ha Giang, Lai Chau, and Quang Ninh bordering China under a project known as “Program 120,” destroying mainly Type 72, K58, and PPM-2 antipersonnel mines.[4]

Cambodian border areas were affected by randomly placed mines reflecting the more irregular nature of the fighting there,[5] but the Engineering Command reported in 2013 that the problem had been eliminated.[6] Many ports and river deltas were mined extensively during the war and were not completely cleared when it ended and some sea mines have been found on the coast.[7]

Mine Action Program

Vietnam’s mine action program is undergoing a period of transition. A Prime Minister’s Decision in 2006 assigned the Ministry of National Defense to oversee mine action at the national level with clearance undertaken by the Army Engineering Corps of the People’s Army of Vietnam (PAVN),[8] and with BOMICEN, part of the Ministry of National Defense, acting as a central coordinating body for clearance and survey by national operators.[9] International NGOs are required to conclude an agreement with the People’s Aid Coordinating Committee (PACCOM) and separate agreements with authorities in each of the provinces where they work.

An inter-ministerial National Steering Committee (NSC) launched in December 2011 and chaired by the prime minister oversees mine action,[10] supported by a 21-member Standing Committee or Executive Office, chaired by the Vice Minister of Defense, Sr. Lt. Gen Nguyen Chi Vinh.[11] The Executive Office, which is supposed to meet quarterly, decides mine action priorities and makes recommendations to the NSC.[12]

In 2013, Vietnam announced plans to establish a national mine action center (VNMAC) reporting to the Prime Minister’s office to strengthen the direction and coordination of mine action. The center is to be the focal point of mine action operations, the location for a national mine action database, and in charge of mobilizing international and national resources. Fund raising for the center was due to start in 2014 and the center is expected to be operational in two years. Work is also underway drafting a new mine action law that will replace the 2006 decree putting the Ministry of National Defense in charge of mine action and establishing it as a civilian program under the prime minister.[13]

Strategic planning

The new mine action center falls within a National Mine Action Plan for 2013−2015[14] released in May 2013. The plan calls for clearance of 1,000km² a year to support socio-economic development, giving priority to provinces with the highest levels of contamination and accidents. Engineering Command estimates that, to achieve such a target, it would need to at least double the number of clearance teams.

Land Release

Clearance is undertaken mostly by the Army Engineering Corps, operating with some 250 mine/UXO clearance teams each comprising some 20 to 25 personnel in each team. As of June 2013, these included teams operated by 52 military companies.[15] Clearing residual mine contamination in northern Vietnam is the responsibility of provincial army commands.[16] Four international NGOs operated in 2013 but conducted battle area clearance and roving explosive ordnance disposal (EOD), not mine clearance.

Army engineers cleared 450km² of ERW contamination in 2012[17] but were said to have cleared 1,000km² in 2013. How the increase was achieved was not immediately apparent.[18] Army clearance reporting does not provide details of mine clearance.

Area clearance by three of the four humanitarian operators[19] totaled 3.4km² in 2013, marginally more than they cleared the previous year, but most items of ordnance were destroyed in roving EOD operations. Mines Advisory Group (MAG), the biggest of the NGO operators with 162 survey and clearance staff, cleared one 700m² mined area and one cluster munitions task but conducted close to 16,000 roving tasks accounting for most of the UXO and submunitions it destroyed. MAG planned to close operations in Quang Binh province in mid-2014 but to expand them in Quang Bing and Quang Tri provinces, subject to continued funding from the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development.[20]

Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA), which has managed Project Renew since 2012, continued to work in Quang Tri province (where it deployed three EOD teams) and in Thua Thien Hue province (with one EOD team); but NPA also conducted its cluster munition remnants survey in both provinces and was due in 2014 to provide technical advice for a joint Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation (VVAF) and BOMICEN land release project employing the Cluster Munition Remnant Survey (CMRS) methodology. NPA has worked additionally with Quang Tri authorities to establish a provincial database due to be fully operational, containing data from 2008 on, by early 2014.[21]

Solidarity Service International (SODI) teams, operating with 122 staff in 2013 in Quang Tri and Thua Thien Hue provinces, came under management of APOPO in 2014 but expected to receive less funding and to have to make major cuts in staffing.[22]

International NGO clearance in 2013

Support

Vietnam reportedly spent “$20 to 30 million” on mine clearance operations in 2013.[23]

 

Summary action points based on 2013 findings

·         Adequate data collection mechanisms for the identification of victims and assessment of their needs are needed. Lack of a comprehensive and nationwide data collection system impairs accessibility and delivery of services.

·         Increased support to the rehabilitation sector is needed; it was estimated that less than 10% of mine/explosive remnants of war (ERW) survivors were able to access rehabilitation programs.

·         More opportunities were needed for survivors and other persons with disabilities to participate in the development, implementation, and monitoring of coordination and planning.

·         Greater efforts are needed to provide psychological support to victims.

Victim assistance commitments

The Socialist Republic of Vietnam is responsible for landmine survivors, cluster munition victims, and survivors of other ERW.

Casualties

Casualties Overview

Details and trends

On the basis of incomplete data,[1] at least 50 new mine/ERW casualties were identified in Vietnam in 2013, including four from cluster submunitions. All casualties were civilians and male. Children made up 48% of recorded casualties in 2013. Just four incidents with multiple casualties accounted for more than two-thirds (36) of the total casualties.[2] Whereas in previous years recorded casualty data showed the high impact of mines/ERW on civilians in the Quang Tri province, a significant decrease was recorded in this province in 2013.[3] While the 2013 total represented a significant decrease from the 73 casualties reported in 2012, with no nationwide data collection mechanism it is impossible to say whether casualties actually increased or if the higher figures were due to an increased NGO presence and improved monitoring of Vietnamese-language media.

At least 105,023 mine/ERW casualties (38,957 killed; 66,066 injured) have been reported in Vietnam. It was reported that from 1975 to the end of 2007, the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs (MoLISA) recorded 104,701 mine/ERW casualties (38,849 killed; 65,852 injured).[4] The total number of casualties is not known due to a lack of adequate data and the absence of a nationwide casualty data collection mechanism.[5] The semi-governmental organization Project RENEW recorded 7,081 mine/ERW casualties (including 2,637 people killed) between 1975 and the end of 2011 in Quang Tri province alone.[6]

Cluster munition casualties

At least 2,121 casualties from incidents involving cluster munition remnants were reported as of the end of 2013. However, one estimate put the likely total of such casualties as high as 34,000.[7] In many cases, the type of explosive remnants causing casualties could not be determined and all these were recorded as ERW casualties, although there were likely many among them caused by unexploded submunitions.[8] In addition, numerous casualties during cluster munition strikes have been reported.[9] A 2012 study of data for the period 1975–2009 found that 1% of the population of Quang Tri province had been involved in mine/ERW incidents and that unexploded submunitions were the main cause.[10]

Victim Assistance

The total number of mine/ERW survivors is unknown but has been estimated to be between 66,000 and 100,000.[11]

Summary of victim assistance efforts since 1999[12]

Vietnam does not have a national casualty data collection system. However, a major study of survivor needs was undertaken in 2006 and updated in 2010. Clear Path International (CPI) in Vietnam transitioned to national management. CPI continued the geographic expansion of passive casualty surveillance, while providing services to new survivors. Coordination among governmental bodies responsible for the provision of victim assistance and the protection of the rights of persons with disabilities improved considerably since 2010.[13] The number of survivors that received services by both government agencies and civil society organizations or NGOs gradually increased. The NGO and local government collaboration, Project RENEW, steadily increased its services to survivors and to the capacity-building of local medical institutions. Landmine Survivors Network Vietnam (LSNV) became the first organization to include survivors in the design and provision of services and the only international NGO to successfully transition from an international to a national NGO, becoming the Association for Empowerment for Persons with Disability (AEPD) in 2010.

By 2010, survivors had more opportunities to access free healthcare programs and inclusive education programs provided by the government and relevant organizations. Physical rehabilitation also improved in both quality and in the number of services available from existing service providers. Since 1995, the ICRC Special Fund for the Disabled (SFD) has assisted the Vietnamese rehabilitation sector to both increase the quality of its services and expand their geographical coverage to virtually the entire country, while serving the country’s most vulnerable populations.

The greatest improvements seen by organizations representing mine/ERW survivors and persons with disabilities since the Monitor began reporting on Vietnam in 1999 have been in the development of laws designed to protect their rights and provide access to services. Gradual improvements were made in economic reintegration by creating more employment opportunities, increasing accessibility to available services and in social inclusion activities. Poor survivors in rural areas were especially vulnerable. Reaching survivors in remote and rural areas remained difficult for service providers and generally these populations did not receive adequate assistance.[14]

Victim assistance in 2013

In 2013, services for mine/ERW survivors continued to improve in quality, quantity, and accessibility in Vietnam. The number of survivors that received services from both government agencies and civil society organizations or NGOs rose again, in line with an overall gradual increase in recent years. However, outside major population centers, accessibility to services and activities was lacking, particularly in remote areas.

Assessing victim assistance needs

An ongoing nationwide impact survey conducted by the National Steering Committee for Mine Action (NSCMA) included information regarding casualties. The Vietnam Bomb/Mine Action Center (VBMAC), which is the secretariat for the NSCMA, also hosts the national database on casualties, which became operational in September 2011.[15] Despite these efforts, a lack of nation-wide reliable data on victims, affected communities, and their needs remained a barrier for effective victim assistance in Vietnam in 2013.[16]

MoLISA is responsible for the collection and management of information regarding persons with disabilities overall, including mine/ERW survivors.[17]

In 2013, there were ongoing NGO activities to assess the needs of the survivors through regular implementation of projects and services.[18] During the year, Project RENEW worked with local institutions including Health Service, Farmer’s Union, Women’s Union, and the Vietnamese Red Cross Society to identify mine/ERW victims and families in need of support and what their needs were.[19] CPI routinely employs a participatory process with survivors to determine the type and extent of the services to be provided.[20] Also, during 2013, CPI assessed the needs of 369 ERW-impacted families in seven communes in Quang Trach districts (Quang Binh province) and two communes in Trieu Phong district (Quang Tri province) for the implementation of a Livelihood Improvement Project.[21]

Victim assistance coordination in 2013[22]

Victim assistance is coordinated under the “National Mine Action Program for Vietnam Period 2010–2025,” as well as the “Victim Assistance Project for the Period 2012–2015” managed and implemented by MoLISA in cooperation with relevant local authorities. MoLISA’s Department of Social Protection is directly responsible for coordination[23]

 The “Victim Assistance Project for the Period 2012–2015” framework details key actions to be taken, responsible or cooperating agencies, and annual budgets. The project framework does not specify timeframes for the actions or the method of coordination. On 4 December 2013, MoLISA chaired the first national workshop on victim assistance in Hanoi, which gathered representatives of different ministries and governmental bodies, local authorities, foreign countries, national and international organizations, as well as three mine/ERW survivors. This event led to improved coordination and cooperation among different stakeholders in the project.[24]

The National Coordinating Council for Disabilities (NCCD) is responsible for the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). It also liaised with national and foreign organizations to provide protection, support, physical access, education, and employment to persons with disabilities.[25]

Non-governmental service providers also discussed national implementation of victim assistance at meetings of the Landmine Working Group. In 2013, the Landmine Working Group organized three coordination meetings.[26]

The first official national coordination body of disabled persons’ organizations, the Vietnam Federation on Disability (VFD), was established in March 2011.[27]

Inclusion and participation in victim assistance

The inclusion of mine/ERW survivors and persons with disabilities or their representative organizations in planning and provision of victim assistance again increased in 2013.[28] Survivors and other persons with disabilities or their representative organizations were consulted in the planning or monitoring of programs and activities. They also attended meetings, seminars, or workshops to contribute recommendations and share lessons learned.[29]

Survivors and other persons with disabilities did not have many opportunities to participate in the development, implementation, and monitoring of plans. MoLISA officially consults ministries and departments, however, in some cases the opinions and comments of survivors and other persons with disabilities or their representative organizations were taken into account.[30] Persons with disabilities and their representative organizations were consulted in the development or review of national programs, such as the national poverty reduction program, vocational laws, and various educational policies.[31]

Many NGOs have consulted survivors and other persons with disabilities on issues related to their needs and adjusted their services in accordance with survivors’ recommendations.[32]

Service accessibility and effectiveness

Victim assistance activities[33]

Emergency and continuing medical care

In Vietnam’s central provinces, CPI continued to cover emergency medical care, surgery, rehabilitation, and prosthetics as directed by the survivor’s physicians for survivors immediately following mine/ERW incidents and also provided transportation and per diems during the patients’ treatment period. In 2013, these services were extended to northern and southern provinces on a case-by-case basis.[34]

Physical rehabilitation including prosthetics

The Ministry of Health has estimated that less than 10% of mine/ERW survivors were able to access rehabilitation programs in Vietnam.[35] About one third of newly-registered ICRC beneficiaries continued to be war victims; many were being assisted for the first time. In 2013, the ICRC continued to provide support to seven rehabilitation centers located primarily in the south of the country where 85% of its beneficiaries are located. As part of the systematic quality monitoring system, the ICRC also conducted missions for technical support and quality assessment of services provided in six supported rehabilitation centers. Random assessments of patients receiving direct subsidies from the ICRC SFD were made and quality issues addressed with the partners concerned. The results of these missions were considered acceptable but improvements were introduced, especially in the Da Nang Rehabilitation Hospital. In March 2013, MoLISA issued a decision officially endorsing ICRC and partners’ recommendations regarding prosthetic and orthotic operational standards, which had been drawn up in December 2012.[36]

The results of an ICRC-commissioned impact assessment of its work in Vietnam were published in March 2013 by the independent Norwegian research organization, SINTEF. Among the findings were that only 10% of those receiving services would seek prostheses if required to pay for them because of the cost compared to the quality of prosthetics available from other sources, as well as travel and time restrictions. The report also highlighted that around two-thirds of the beneficiaries link income improvement directly to access to prosthetic services.[37] The assessment further found that there was relative gender parity regarding accessibility of services.[38]

In 2013, new international funding enabled Project RENEW to reactivate its mobile prosthetic and orthotic outreach program after six months of inactivity. The program conducted field examinations and delivered prostheses and assistive devices in Huong Hoa District, Quang Tri province.[39]

Economic and social inclusion and psychological support

Only 30% of persons with disabilities in Vietnam have stable employment or sufficient income to lead independent lives and support their families. A lack of decent work inhibits persons with disabilities from realizing their rights and often means they are living in poverty at much higher rates than the general population.[40]

Those who require prostheses face even greater challenges if they are not able to acquire them.[41] In 2013, the VFD launched a project to be carried out in Hanoi and the three central provinces of Quang Tri, Quang Nam, and Binh Dinh over a three-year period to improve access to socioeconomic services for persons with disabilities.[42]

In 2013, CPI maintained its micro-credit programs and increased the number of home and/or small business grants provided for livelihood projects and provided these services in new provinces on a case-by-case basis.[43] During the year, Project RENEW worked towards increasing support to extremely disadvantaged communities in the Quang Tri province by providing cattle to mine/ERW victims to build income-generating activities. Project RENEW also selected more families to participate in mushroom-growing for a sustainable income.[44]

Psychological support was not widely available[45] and, although it was integrated in rehabilitation processes, did not receive separate government resources. Social inclusion services for survivors and other persons with disabilities were provided through both government and NGO programs.[46]

Laws and Policies

The first comprehensive national law providing for the rights of persons with disabilities came into effect in January 2011. The law prohibits discrimination against or maltreatment of persons with disabilities and requires equality in healthcare, rehabilitation, accommodation, education, vocational training, employment, and local transportation.[47]

The provision of services to persons with disabilities, although limited, improved during the year. The Ministry of Transportation implemented accessibility codes for public transportation facilities, continued to train transportation agency officials and students on the use of the codes, and developed training materials for bus drivers to assist individuals on and off buses. The government also reduced the bus fares for 33,000 individuals with disabilities in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.[48]

Legislation requires that the construction or major renovation of new government buildings and large public buildings must include access for persons with disabilities. The Ministry of Construction units enforced accessibility regulations, primarily in major cities and pilot locations, as well as provided training on construction codes for inspectors and architectural companies in more than 22 provinces during the year.[49]

Vietnam signed the CRPD on 22 October 2007.

 

The Socialist Republic of Vietnam is heavily contaminated by explosive remnants of war (ERW), mainly unexploded ordnance (UXO) dating back to the war with the United States (US) in the 1960s and first half of the 1970s. Vietnam contains some of the most widespread and extensive contamination from cluster munition remnants in the world. There is, however, no precise figure measuring the extent of the remaining contamination.[1]

In 2012, eight donors contributed US$8.7 million for clearance and victim assistance.[2] Victim assistance contributions totaled $1.8 million with six donors supporting 12 projects with the ICRC, Project Renew, PeaceTrees Vietnam, the International Center/Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation, Clear Path International, Solidarity Service International, Golden West Humanitarian Foundation, the Humpty Dumpty Institute, and Catholic Relief Services, in addition to Norwegian funding to the Survivor Network through the ICBL.[3] In 2013, USAID commenced a new three-year, $2.3 million project for people with disabilities.[4]

In 2012, as in previous years, Vietnam did not report national contributions to mine action or publish any details of land released through clearance or technical survey. Nevertheless, various sources indicate national spending may be significant. In April 2010, Vietnam released its 2010–2025 National Mine Action Plan. Although the plan did not include projected costs, a media article at the time of the plan’s release reported Vietnam “annually invests hundreds of billions of dong on disposing UXO and supporting victims.”[5] In 2011, the commander of the Army Engineering Corps of the People’s Army of Vietnam reported in an interview with the Monitor that Vietnam spent $89 million in 2009 and around $100 million in 2010 on mine action.[6] No comparable figures are available for 2011 or 2012.

The lack of transparency and legislative oversight also makes tracking government expenditures for mine action difficult. There is no national mine action budget. The government of Vietnam’s budget structure involves a combination of national and provincial revenue sources from taxes, fees, bonds, and state-connected “private” firms. In Vietnam, the Ministry of Defense is a self-contained military-industrial complex in which profit-making entities (road construction, telecoms, manufacturing, etc.) subsidize the ministry’s budget. The Engineering Command and army firms receive payments as revenue for the ministry, data that the Engineering Command must collect and compile. Research conducted by the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD) has found that as many as six central provinces in 2011 spent an estimated $4 million on mine action. Additionally, based on 2009–2010 data, government and private investor funds could account for as much as an estimated 90% of mine clearance in Vietnam. Like other affected countries where large investments are being made in public infrastructure (such as Afghanistan, Angola, and Cambodia), Vietnam is also improving its infrastructure through investments in transportation and poverty reduction that require parallel investment in demining. Little information is available on these investments.[7]

The new mine action center falls within a National Mine Action Plan for 2013−2015 released in May 2013. The plan calls for clearance of 1,000km² a year to support socio-economic development, giving priority to provinces with the highest levels of contamination and accidents. The Army Engineering Command estimates it would need at least double the current number of clearance teams to achieve such a target. In addition, Vietnam proposes to set up a new training center and a national database, which is understood to mean that the new Vietnam Mine Action Center will take responsibility for the database currently located at the Technology Centre for Bomb and Mine Disposal (BOMICEN). The proposed cost of the plan is VND14 trillion (approximately $677 million). The government hopes to raise a little over half of this figure from foreign sources.[8]

International contributions: 2012[9]

Thematic contributions: 2012

Summary of contributions: 2008–2012[10]