About Us
Our Research Products
Vietnam
Mine Ban Policy
Mine ban policy overview
|
Mine Ban Treaty status |
Not a State Party |
|
Pro-mine ban UNGA voting record |
Abstained on Resolution 65/48 in December 2010, as in previous years |
|
Participation in Mine Ban Treaty meetings |
Did not attend any meetings in 2010 or the first half of 2011 |
Policy
The Socialist Republic of Vietnam has not acceded to the Mine Ban Treaty. Vietnam still considers antipersonnel mines as legitimate weapons of self-defense and has cited national security concerns, especially border security, as reasons for not joining the Mine Ban Treaty.[1] In June 2011, a representative from Vietnam said it was unlikely that the country would join the Mine Ban Treaty at this time as 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 was actively maintaining them.[2]
On 8 December 2010, Vietnam abstained from voting on UN General Assembly (UNGA) Resolution 65/48 calling for universalization and full implementation of the Mine Ban Treaty. It has abstained on all previous annual pro-ban treaty UNGA resolutions.
Vietnam did not attend any meetings on the mine ban in 2010 or the first half of 2011.
Previously, Vietnam attended meetings of the Mine Ban Treaty more frequently. Vietnam made its only statement 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.”[3]
Production, stockpiling, transfer, and use
Vietnam has not revealed any new information in the past year regarding its production or stockpiling of antipersonnel mines.
Vietnam has produced antipersonnel mines in the past.[4] 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.[5] 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.”[6] The Ministry of National Defense told the ICBL in 2006 that the stockpile consists only of mines recovered from cleared minefields.[7] In May 2008, an army official informed a Canadian government delegation that Vietnam’s stockpile of antipersonnel mines will expire in a few years. He stated that Vietnam has gradually started to destroy the mines “lot by lot.”[8]
Vietnam told States Parties in June 2008 that, “we strictly observe our policy not to export” antipersonnel mines.[9] The Ministry of Foreign Affairs previously wrote to the Monitor stating, “Vietnam has never exported and will never export mines.”[10]
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.[11]
[1] See Landmine Monitor Report 2008, p. 1,050.
[2] CMC meeting with Phan Hai Anh, Assistant Director General, Department of International Organizations, in Geneva, 27 June 2011.
[3] Statement of Vietnam, Standing Committee on the General Status and Operation of the Convention, Mine Ban Treaty, Geneva, 2 June 2008; and see Landmine Monitor Report 2008, pp. 1,050–1,051.
[4] In the past, Vietnam produced copies of Chinese, Soviet, and United States (US) mines. The only mine Vietnam has reportedly produced since the 1990s is the “apple mine,” which is a recycled version of the BLU-24 (cluster) submunition dropped by the US during the Vietnam War. See Landmine Monitor Report 2006, p. 1,115; and Landmine Monitor Report 1999, p. 513.
[5] See Landmine Monitor Report 2008, p. 1,051. In 2005 and 2006, officials from the Ministry of National Defense and Ministry of Foreign Affairs told visiting delegations that Vietnam no longer produces antipersonnel mines. See Landmine Monitor Report 2007, p. 1,023.
[6] Interview with Lt.-Gen. Vu Tan, Ministry of National Defense, Hanoi, 13 May 2003. In 2000, an official from the Technology Center for Bomb and Mine Disposal indicated that the Ministry of National Defense was in the process of destroying “tens of thousands” of unsafe pre-1975 mines. See Landmine Monitor Report 2000, p. 542.
[7] See Landmine Monitor Report 2007, p. 1,024.
[8] See Landmine Monitor Report 2008, p. 1,051.
[9] Statement of Vietnam, Standing Committee on the General Status and Operation of the Convention, Mine Ban Treaty, Geneva, 2 June 2008.
[10] Letter from Nguyen Manh Hung, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 8 March 2001. An internal policy document provided to the Monitor by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, “The Question of Antipersonnel Mines,” 2 March 2000, also stated that Vietnam has not and will never export antipersonnel mines. Despite the denial of past export, it appears Vietnam provided antipersonnel mines to Cambodia, perhaps until the early 1990s.
[11] See Landmine Monitor Report 2008, p. 1,051.
Send us your feedback on this profile
Send the Monitor your feedback by filling out this form. Responses will be channeled to editors, but will not be available online. Click if you would like to send an attachment. If you are using webmail, send attachments to .