+   *    +     +     
About Us 
The Issues 
Our Research Products 
Order Publications 
Multimedia 
Press Room 
Resources for Monitor Researchers 
ARCHIVES HOME PAGE 
    >
 
Table of Contents
Country Reports
VIETNAM, Landmine Monitor Report 2005

Vietnam

Key developments since May 2004: Phase I of the UXO and Landmine Impact Survey was completed in March 2005; as of September, it was still awaiting government approval. International organizations cleared some 3.9 square kilometers of land in 2004, destroying over 25,000 mines and UXO. The Army and other military units cleared 570,000 square meters in A Luoi district, Thua Thien-Hue province from September 2004 to April 2005. More than 127,000 people received mine risk education during 2004, mainly in the central provinces of Quang Binh, Quang Tri and Thua Thien-Hue and, increasingly, the Ho Chi Minh Highway corridor. In 2004, more mine/UXO casualties were reported than in 2003.

Mine Ban Policy

The Socialist Republic of Vietnam has not acceded to the Mine Ban Treaty. The Ministry of Defense has insisted that antipersonnel landmines are necessary for defensive purposes. Vietnam has abstained from voting on every annual pro-ban UN General Assembly resolution since 1996, including UNGA Resolution 59/84 on 3 December 2004. Nevertheless, Vietnam has expressed its opposition to the indiscriminate use of landmines and its support for the humanitarian objectives of the Mine Ban Treaty.[1]

In April 2005, the Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nguyen Duc Hung, told Landmine Monitor, ”On the Mine Ban Treaty, the legal authorities are working hard on that.... We see the importance of this treaty, and we are considering it.”[2] In July 2005, a representative of the Technology Center for Bomb and Mine Disposal (BOMICEN) of the Ministry of Defense told Landmine Monitor, “Vietnam is already implementing many of the objectives and activities of the Ottawa Treaty, even though we have not signed. Vietnam is on the road to clearance, education, and helping victims, and these are the humanitarian objectives of the treaty.”[3]

Vietnam participated in a regional landmine seminar hosted by Thailand on 30-31 August 2004, but did not make a statement. Vietnam did not attend the First Review Conference of the Mine Ban Treaty in Nairobi in November–December 2004, or the intersessional meetings of the treaty in Geneva in June 2005.

On 14 June 2005, the National Assembly of Vietnam passed the Law on Signing, Accession and Implementation of International Treaties, which sets out detailed procedures for consideration and participation in all forms of international treaties. Among the principles the law establishes are that Vietnam should participate in international treaties that “respect freedom, independence, territorial integrity, and prohibit the use or threat of force.” In the case of a multilateral treaty involving issues of borders and security, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs bears primary responsibility for the accession process. However, the Ministry of Justice must also consider the legal questions involved, and “other concerned agencies and organizations” must also submit their opinions before the treaty is presented to the Prime Minister for signing.[4]

Vietnam has signed but not ratified the Convention on Conventional Weapons.

Production, Transfer, Stockpiling and Use

Vietnam last confirmed that it continued to produce antipersonnel mines in March 2000. Without any subsequent statement to the contrary, Landmine Monitor continues to list the country as a producer.[5] In the past, Vietnam produced copies of US, Chinese and Soviet mines.[6] The only mine Vietnam is known to have produced since the 1990s is the “apple mine,” which is a recycled version of the BLU-24 bomblet dropped by the US during the war.[7]

Vietnam apparently maintains a policy against export of antipersonnel mines. In 2001, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs wrote to Landmine Monitor that “Vietnam has never exported and will never export mines.”[8] Despite the denial of past export, it appears Vietnam provided antipersonnel mines to Cambodia, perhaps until the early 1990s.[9]

A Ministry of Defense official confirmed the existence of a stockpile of antipersonnel mines in a May 2003 interview, but gave no details about size or composition other than to state, “Vietnam does not keep large stores of landmines, but we have enough to protect our country against invasion.”[10] In 2000, a BOMICEN official indicated that the Ministry of Defense was in the process of destroying “tens of thousands” of unsafe pre-1975 mines.[11]

There have been no reports of recent use of antipersonnel mines by Vietnamese government forces. The Army last laid mines in significant numbers during border conflicts with Cambodia and China in the late 1970s and during Vietnam’s occupation of Cambodia from 1979 to 1990.

Landmine and UXO Problem

Vietnam is heavily contaminated with unexploded ordnance (UXO) from the conflict in the 1960s and early 1970s, as well as smaller quantities of bombs and mines from other conflicts. All provinces are affected, particularly in the center and south of the country.[12] As much as 20 percent of Vietnam’s land surface (or 66,578 square kilometers) is affected by UXO and landmines, according to BOMICEN.[13] In August 2004, a Vietnamese military representative at a regional landmine conference stated that 5.53 percent of arable land (4,359,000 square meters) is contaminated and remains fallow.[14]

Ministry of Defense sources have been quoted as stating that “three million landmines remain in Vietnam’s soil,” not including UXO. Minefields exist from as long ago as the Dien Bien Phu campaign in 1954, extending through border conflicts with China and the Khmer Rouge in the 1970s. Despite significant clearance in the 1990s, landmines remain a serious problem on the Chinese and Cambodian borders.[15]

The hazard to Vietnamese citizens is, however, primarily UXO not landmines. Official sources cite figures ranging widely from 350,000-800,000 tons of war-era ordnance in the ground, an average density of 46 tons per square kilometer, or 280 kilograms per capita.[16] The most common types of UXO are BLU 26/36 cluster bomblets and M79 rifle grenades, which are together responsible for 65 percent of injuries since 1975. Few mines, but many UXO, are found on the Lao border.[17]

Workers on the Ho Chi Minh Highway running through affected areas near Vietnam’s western border have found tens of thousands of UXO since 2001. New sections of the highway in the central provinces attract migrants from lowland areas, and there is also planned development underway along the highway. As migrants clear and explore previously unused land, they are likely to encounter UXO and landmines.[18]

A local media report in June 2005 quoted Pham Van Chung, from the Department of Justice in Kon Tum province, as saying, “The war has been over for 30 years, but the consequences it left behind are still serious...the consequences of bombs, mines, and explosives remaining from the war are also acute and miserable. However, the tasks of clearing and collecting mines and UXO in many localities has not yet been done well and has not been paid enough attention to, even though the central government and all localities all have regulations on mine clearance and management.”[19]

Sea mines also form part of the mine/UXO problem in Vietnam. Substantial contamination resulted from both ship-laid mines and air-dropped UXO, including payloads jettisoned by planes before returning to base, as well as significant contamination in rivers resulting from bridges being bombed. UXO has been discovered during the increasing development of sea and river areas; for example, for oil exploration and bridge construction.[20]

Few UXO/mine-affected areas in Vietnam are marked, even with local materials such as bamboo sticks.[21] Survey results in Quang Tri province in 2003 indicate that only 33 percent of sub-districts contain marking signs, and 92 percent of incidents were in areas not marked as dangerous.[22] In some cases, maps of minefields are not available, or mines have shifted due to floods, landslides and erosion.[23]

Mine Action Coordination and Planning

Vietnam has not developed a national strategy on mine action. Mine action is not mentioned in the UN Development Assistance Framework or the government’s Comprehensive Poverty Reduction and Growth Strategy, but some UXO/mine-related concerns are addressed through the priorities set in those documents for social protection.[24] A Vietnamese officer stated at a regional workshop on mine action in August 2004 that the first step in establishing an integrated strategic plan for mine action in Vietnam is “to promptly complete the Vietnam landmine/UXO impact assessment and technological survey project which is expected to be the basis to set mine action priorities for each region that is subordinate to the integrated socio-development strategy of the country as a whole.”[25]

The Ministry of Defense is in charge of military security aspects of the mine issue and shares responsibility for policy matters with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.[26] BOMICEN acts as a central coordinating body for clearance activities. However, NGOs working across several humanitarian aid sectors, such as Project RENEW, are registered under the Ministry of Planning and Investment; in effect, each project may have its own coordinating agency for its activities without belonging directly to the national coordination system in the mine action sector.[27]

The Landmine Working Group acts as a de facto coordinating body for international NGOs and donors, and meets quarterly. International organizations coordinate their efforts with the Vietnamese Army. All clearance activity is conducted with either military observers or military personnel and explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) technicians leading the teams; ordnance disposal, whether site-based or roving, must be approved by the provincial military units that have sole access to explosives.[28]

Mine action priorities are set by the provincial government, which are then communicated to international organizations. District People’s Committees decide which sub-districts or other areas should be targeted. According to an official of the Department of Foreign Affairs in Quang Tri province, the task of overlaying district-level priorities with provincial aims, using impact survey and casualty survey data, remains to be accomplished.[29]

Survey and Assessment

The National UXO/Landmine Impact Survey, funded by the US Department of State, began in March 2004. Phase I was completed in March 2005, and survey data was entered into the IMSMA database located with BOMICEN in Hanoi. The survey was still being finalized with the government as of September 2005.[30] In the three central provinces of Ha Tinh, Quang Binh and Quang Tri, 343 sub-districts were surveyed and three percent of surveyed land was cleared with a budget of US$1,158,000.[31] The implementing agency is BOMICEN, with the Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation (VVAF) providing technical support, training and monitoring. The aim, according to VVAF, is “to provide Vietnam and international donors with quantifiable, standardized data... [to] better define the problems caused by UXO and provide authorities with an improved capacity to plan and prioritize mine action resources.”[32]

Following release of the Phase I report, negotiation of Phase II was expected to start.[33] In an interview with Landmine Monitor, the Director of BOMICEN emphasized that clearance of affected areas in Quang Tri, Quang Binh, and Ha Tinh should proceed as soon as possible in order to stop or at least limit the impact of UXO, instead of waiting for the full national survey to be finished.[34] One military expert stated, “if there is a map of all the landmines, UXO, and bombs in our province, especially in A Luoi and Nam Dong districts, it would be very helpful to [Thua Thien-Hue] province in general, and for the military headquarters in particular, in terms of implementing the clearance projects.”[35]

Organizations involved in mine and UXO clearance in Vietnam conduct their own pre- and post-clearance surveys. In previous years, surveys and assessments have been carried out in some provinces by local and international organizations.[36]

Landmine and UXO Clearance

The People’s Army of Vietnam is the primary agency involved in mine/UXO clearance; comprehensive national data on current military clearance is not available.[37] Although all provinces of Vietnam are mine/UXO-affected to some degree, it is reported that there are significant mine action programs in only three of the most affected provinces (Quang Tri, Quang Binh and Thua Thien-Hue), with clearance projects being identified also in Phu Tho province in the north.[38]

In September 2004, combined Engineering Department elements of the Ministry of Defense and Thua Thien-Hue Provincial Military Commands began clearing two square kilometers in A Luoi district, Thua Thien-Hue province; this was said to represent only a fraction of the military clearance effort in the province, and a small percentage of the national effort.[39] This clearance operation prioritized agricultural development and resettlement sites in four sub-districts of A Luoi district, with a planned expansion to eight other sub-districts and the township of A Luoi in 2005. By April 2005, 570,000 square meters had been cleared of 14,435 UXO. Five teams of 20-25 members each worked on the project. The Provincial Military Command coordinates activities on large aerial bomb disposal with Potsdam Kommunikation. The operation was funded by the central and provincial governments, with a total budget of 60 billion dong (approximately $4 million).[40]

International Organizations

In 2004 international mine action organizations cleared some 3.9 square kilometers of land of at least 18,131 UXO and 105 mines in the three central provinces of Quang Binh, Quang Tri and Thua Thien-Hue. The following NGOs carried out site clearance and EOD: Mines Advisory Group, Solidarity Service International, Potsdam Kommunikation, Australian Volunteers International (AVI), VVMF-Project RENEW,[41] and Peace Trees Viet Nam (PTVN).[42]

Mines Advisory Group (MAG) remains the largest of the international clearance organizations, with 194 staff carrying out site clearance and EOD in Quang Tri and Quang Binh, where they field nine teams and also provide technical training and assistance to AVI in Thua Thien-Hue. MAG states that it is the only clearance NGO in Vietnam to train and employ civilian technicians.[43] In 2004, MAG teams cleared six landmines and 7,191 UXO from 1,289,944 square meters in Quang Tri, and 3,565 pieces of UXO (mostly cluster bomblets) from 568,132 square meters in Quang Binh. From January to March 2005, an additional 381,629 square meters were cleared of 7,955 UXO and 47 mines. From 1999 to March 2005, MAG cleared a total of 6,089,705 square meters of land, destroying 58,169 UXO and 2,356 landmines; mobile teams visited 61,921 households in 384 villages to dispose of 25,898 UXO and 270 landmines.[44]

Site clearance projects are integrated with resettlement for poor families: 176 families have settled on three sites in Quang Tri, with 212 to be added when the project is complete. The resettlement site in Quang Binh was to house 453 families; it was reported cleared as of April 2005.[45] In May 2005, clearance began on a 230,000 square meter site for the An Ma Youth Village resettlement in Quang Binh, in the Ho Chi Minh Highway corridor in Le Thuy district. MAG’s annual budget of $2.5 million is primarily funded by the US State Department, Adopt-a-Minefield and the US-based Freeman Foundation.[46]

Solidarity Service International (SODI), the first international clearance organization to work in Vietnam, cleared 40 schoolyards, kindergartens and other public places in 2004. Some 786,380 square meters were cleared, in which they found 9,155 UXO. In 2005 through 1 July, SODI cleared 307,000 square meters of land in which 2,701 UXO were found. SODI’s staff comprises 52 Vietnamese and three German EOD experts.[47] The SODI budget for Quang Tri operations in 2004 was €568,267 (some $706,800). Vietnamese partners contributed €1,215 (some $1,500) toward a community development project in 2004.

SODI carries out integrated projects, which include area clearance, EOD, mine risk education and community development, in concert with local development plans. The projects are primarily for resettlement, comprising village infrastructure such as roads, water and electrical supply, construction of schools and kindergartens, family houses with sanitation systems, as well as income generation (primarily implemented through women). SODI focuses capacity-development for local partners on the training of villagers for implementation of micro-credit programs and training of military EOD supervisors. The program was initiated in 2004 and is scheduled to conclude in 2006. The SODI resettlement project in Con Trung provided 65 families with €680 ($850) toward construction of homes, €150 ($185) of micro-credit for each family for animal husbandry or a small business, and a grant of €275 ($340) per family for the establishment of a pepper plantation to boost income generation in the area. Infrastructure development included village roads, electric supply, wells, kindergartens and a village meeting hall.[48]

Potsdam Kommunikation (PK) cleared 48 schoolyards, kindergartens and public places totaling 975,500 square meters (5,080 UXO were found) in 2004, and an additional 561,000 square meters (over 3,000 UXO) through 1 July 2005, in the three districts of Thua Thien-Hue province, with a clearance and EOD staff of three German experts and 50 Vietnamese. The PK integrated project works in concert with local development plans, primarily for the construction and/or renovation of schools, water and sanitation systems. In 2004, Vietnamese partners undertook settlement of over 200 families in the cleared areas, and some 154 children from the poorest families received school supplies, including clothing, school satchels, pencils and exercise books in five schools built or renovated by PK. A mobile team began operations in July 2003 and has since cleared over 87,000 square meters of more than 8,000 UXO and mines.[49] PK cooperated with World Vision and other international NGOs in housing construction on cleared land.[50]

By the end of 2005, SODI and PK planned to clear an additional 1.5 square kilometers of land in Quang Tri and Thua Thien-Hue provinces, and resettle 180 families in two villages. The projects include mine risk education, marking of affected areas, and training for Vietnamese engineers.[51] SODI and PK are funded by the German Foreign Ministry. A commercial clearance company, Gerbera, provides technical expertise to both organizations.[52]

Australian Volunteers International (AVI) conducted EOD and site clearance in Phong Dien district, Thua Thien-Hue, and completed removal of all reported UXO in 12 of 16 sub-districts by April 2005, followed by community development activities. In 2004, 288,554 square meters were cleared for agriculture and infrastructure purposes, with 3,826 UXO destroyed. In 2005 to 31 August, 101,298 square meters were cleared, with 3,034 UXO found and destroyed.[53] Between 2003 and 15 April 2005, AVI teams cleared 320,634 square meters of 5,400 UXO and mines. AVI has 26 seconded military personnel and receives technical assistance from MAG.[54]

The mobile EOD team, managed jointly by the NGOs Peace Trees Viet Nam and Project RENEW, was transferred in May 2004 to the Quang Tri Department of Foreign Affairs, and continued operations with NGO funding. Although the team operates province-wide, activities since the second quarter of 2004 focused on Trieu Phong and Hai Lang districts and Dong Ha township. From April 2004 to September 2005, the team cleared 22,796 square meters of 5,201 explosive items at 506 locations.[55]

On 18 May 2005, a clearance technician from one SODI/Vietnamese military team was killed in Linh Hai commune, Gio Linh District, Quang Tri Province, while excavating what was believed to be a BLU-63.[56]

Mine/UXO Risk Education

Eight international organizations, working with Vietnamese counterparts at the national, provincial and local levels, carried out mine/UXO risk education (MRE) activities in 2004. The organizations were UNICEF, Project RENEW, Catholic Relief Services, Peace Trees Viet Nam, SODI, PK, AVI and Vietnam Assistance for the Handicapped. In addition, Handicap International and Norwegian People’s Aid carried out needs assessments to evaluate possible future projects.

More than 127,000[57] people received some form of MRE during 2004. Most MRE efforts continued to focus on the three central provinces of Quang Binh, Quang Tri and Thua Thien-Hue, with a growing focus on the Ho Chi Minh Highway corridor. New projects will also target four provinces of the Central Highlands.[58] Coordination is focused at the provincial level with international organizations working in partnership with regional government or para-state bodies. UNICEF is one of the few nationally focused organizations working on MRE. The International Mine Action Standards (IMAS) for MRE are not used in Vietnam, and there are currently no plans to undertake the development of national standards.[59]

MRE coverage in Vietnam is reported to be uneven.[60] MRE providers believe that personal contact, ranging from child-to-child efforts, to interactions between survivors and the community, is critical to increasing the efficacy of programs.[61]

UNICEF assumed a major role in 2004, with mine/UXO risk education included in an ongoing injury prevention campaign in 15 provinces, through the Ministry of Education and Training and the Committee on Population, Family and Children. Strategies included mass media and development of a manual on safety and injury prevention for child-safe homes, communities, and schools.[62] Activities in Quang Binh, Quang Tri and Thua Thien-Hue provinces also included teacher training and community MRE along the Ho Chi Minh Highway. In 10 sub-districts of Quang Ninh and Le Thuy districts along the highway in Quang Binh, UNICEF-funded MRE was conducted by the Youth Union, in cooperation with Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs, from February 2004 to a projected completion date of December 2005.[63] UNICEF planned to expand its role through partnership with a youth magazine (Tap Chi Thanh Nhien) into the Central Highland provinces of Gia Lai, Dac Nong, Dac Lak and Kon Tum, with a child-to-child and community-based focus, in part through “pioneer communication teams” and weekend playgrounds that have MRE integrated into social activities at local youth centers.[64]

UNICEF would like all the MRE projects it funds to provide impact data, such as demonstrated effects of MRE interventions on attitudes, awareness and behavior, in addition to existing output data such as participant attendance and locations.[65]

Project RENEW, after completing in 2003 an 18-month mine action pilot project which included MRE activities in all 19 sub-districts of Trieu Phong district, Quang Tri, implemented Phase II of the project in 2004. This involved passing the project to local counterparts in Quang Tri, and expanding into the entirety of Hai Lang district in continuing partnership with the provincial television station and Youth Union. Changes made to enhance the delivery of MRE include: child-to-child mobile teams targeting pre-teens at weekend playground events; messages broadcast on community loudspeaker systems; programs for scrap metal collectors that include income generation, micro-credit and home economic management practices, under the direction of the Women’s Union. Since starting its landmine/UXO clearance component in April 2004, Project RENEW has sought to improve the linkage between MRE and mobile EOD clearance activities.[66]

Catholic Relief Services (CRS) provided MRE courses for teachers in Trieu Phong. In 2004, the project reached seven primary schools in five sub-districts, and more than 4,000 children and 200 teachers used the UXO safety curriculum, now in its third revision. In addition, a further 3,500 parents attending school/community meetings were targeted with MRE messages. Since the project started in 2002, there have been no incidents in the seven schools receiving MRE. The CRS and RENEW MRE activities are viewed as being complementary, reinforcing one another through different methodologies.[67]

CRS planned to continue in Quang Tri and expand to six more sub-districts in 2005, after a baseline survey to determine the number of accidents, how they happened, awareness of UXO safety and disability sensitivity in the target communities. One feature of the revised program is the “exchange event,” in which mine/UXO survivors are invited by local officials to share how they were injured, what difficulties are faced, their feelings, and how they have been assisted to recover and reintegrate into their communities by local and international providers. CRS will seek to mainstream MRE into schools in Thua Thien-Hue and Quang Binh provinces.[68]

Peace Trees Viet Nam (PTVN) established the Danaan Parry Landmine Education Center in September 1998 for MRE and landmine survivor rehabilitation. In 2004, PTVN placed MRE materials in libraries the organization constructed in five sub-districts. In 2005, 200 children were due to attend an MRE camp.[69]

SODI, PK and AVI all include MRE components in their clearance projects. In Phong Dien district, Thua Thien-Hue, 276 people took part in two AVI-sponsored focus group meetings in June and December 2004. These activities generated five clearance requests, four of which resulted in clearance of 143 explosive items. AVI teams visited 17,168 homes in 120 villages of the district during house-to-house mobile EOD tasks and agricultural training courses, which also involve the distribution of UXO awareness leaflets.[70]

Vietnam Assistance for the Handicapped (VNAH) began an MRE project in Quang Binh in 2003, completing the project in mid-2004 after training 90 secondary school teachers in Bo Trach district, adapting some of CRS and RENEW’s material from Quang Tri. A total of 3,400 pupils in six elementary and junior high schools participated.[71] Citing a lack of funding for evaluation and expansion, VNAH ceased MRE activity in Quang Binh.[72] Television spots were aired province-wide three times a week for 18 months, targeted at children and people involved in agriculture and in scrap metal and UXO collection.[73] MRE in Dong Hoi, the provincial capital, was not completed due to a lack of funds,[74] but 15 communes in Bo Trach district received MRE.

Incidents in the target communes dropped from between one and three casualties per year, to zero over the 18 months of implementation.[75]

Quang Binh Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs sought other funding sources to expand MRE province-wide.[76] UNICEF will fund Youth Union MRE activities focused on the sub-districts along Ho Chi Minh Highway.[77]

Twelve national and provincial government staff attended the Regional Workshop on Landmine/UXO Risk Education in the Mekong sub-region, organized on 15-16 November 2004 in Siem Reap, Cambodia. The workshop formulated a statement of best practices and recommendations for MRE in the region, with particular attention to common problems such as UXO contamination, scrap metal collection and village demining. Vietnamese government participants, including two from the Ministry of Defense, were sponsored to attend by CRS and UNICEF.[78]

Funding and Assistance

Vietnam has no published national budget for mine action, but official sources state that the government invests “hundreds of billions of dong (tens of millions of US dollars) for mine detection and clearance” each year.[79] The Ministry of Defense estimates that complete clearance within ten years would cost $4 billion, plus $1 billion more for survivor assistance needs over the same period.[80] BOMICEN recently indicated that without exact statistics, an accurate estimate of general funds required for clearance and victim assistance is not possible.[81]

In 2004, four countries reported providing approximately $4,924,451 for mine action in Vietnam, an increase from $4.3 million in 2003.[82] Donors in 2004 were:

  • Australia: A$1,198,793 ($882,911) to the AVI project in Thua Thien-Hue in 2004-2005;[83]
  • Canada: $150,000 ($115,234) to UNICEF for MRE with children;[84]
  • Germany: €974,679 ($1,212,306) consisting of €489,514 ($608,858) to SODI mine clearance and €485,165 ($603,448) to PK for mine clearance;[85]
  • US: $2,714,000 consisting of $2,714,000 from the Department of State ($1,154,437 for equipment for BOMICEN; $1,137,158 to MAG for clearance; $272,405 to VVAF for UXO/Landmine Impact Survey; $150,000 to VVAF for MRE).[86]

Japan completed its donation of $12 million in demining equipment to clear the Ho Chi Minh Highway in 2002. A Japanese embassy official told Landmine Monitor in 2004 that the equipment would remain in use until construction of the highway was completed, and that the Japanese government had no plans for further assistance.[87]

International mine action NGOs working in Vietnam received funds from a variety of additional bilateral, multilateral and private sources in 2004.

Landmine and UXO Casualties

In 2004, there were at least 238 new mine/UXO casualties, including 89 people killed and 149 injured in 130 incidents. Incidents were reported in 11 provinces, including 53 in Quang Tri province.[88] However, there is no comprehensive nationwide mechanism for collecting and recording data on mine/UXO incidents, and casualties are believed to be significantly under-reported. Estimates of new casualties range from between 1,200 and about 3,000 each year. The reported casualties in 2004 represent an increase over the 220 new mine/UXO casualties reported in 2003.[89]

The majority of casualties in Vietnam are caused by cluster munitions and other UXO, rather than antipersonnel mines; therefore, survivors suffer greater incidences of upper body trauma, upper limb loss and blindness. Scrap metal collection, “bomb hunting” and tampering with ordnance were the leading activities at the time of recent incidents, representing between 25-50 percent of all reported casualties in the last five years. Other activities of recent casualties included farming, tending livestock, collecting firewood and fetching water.[90]

No accidents during clearance operations were reported in 2004.[91] On 18 May 2005, a deminer was killed in Linh Hai commune during clearance operations.[92]

Casualties continued to be reported in 2005 with 81 new mine/UXO casualties, including 24 people killed and 57 injured to 25 August; 38 were children.[93]

The total number of mine/UXO casualties is not known. The latest available nationwide statistics released by the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs in December 2000, report 38,849 people killed and 65,852 injured since 1975.[94]

Survivor Assistance

In Vietnam, medical and healthcare services are provided by the national Ministry of Health (MoH) at the province, district and sub-district levels; rehabilitation services are provided by the MoH and the Ministry of Labor, Invalids, and Social Affairs (MOLISA). The government-sponsored Community Based Rehabilitation (CBR) program operates in 46 of the 64 provinces. The CBR program provides basic medical rehabilitation services, and vocational training and social reintegration programs for persons with disabilities.[95]

Adequate healthcare and rehabilitative services exist in Vietnam for mine/UXO survivors. However, survivors face obstacles accessing services because of cost and distance of medical facilities from the affected areas. A health insurance program for people with disabilities covers only one percent of the total estimated disabled population.[96]

Clear Path International (CPI) provides emergency assistance to mine/UXO casualties in 14 provinces in central and south-central Vietnam, extending from Nghe An south to Gia Lai and Dac Lak in the Central Highlands, to Binh Phuoc and Khanh Hoa in the south. In 2004, CPI responded to 120 mine/UXO incidents, assisting 158 casualties; 55 people died as a result of their injuries. The Emergency Outreach Services program provides transportation and financial support for emergency medical needs, and offers financial assistance to families, if necessary. CPI also provides educational scholarships to children who have been injured by mines and UXO, or to children of parents that have been killed or injured, so that the children can continue their studies. In 2004, CPI provided direct assistance to 602 mine/UXO survivors and their families. In the focus districts of Vinh Linh in Quang Tri and Le Thuy in Quang Binh, 249 families were assisted with socioeconomic services, and CPI and its Outreach Team, comprising survivors and local partners, made direct assessment of 838 households, in 2004. In addition to the matching grants provided to families in the past, a pilot “pig bank” revolving fund began in June 2004, with 20 families from Vinh Linh district participating.[97]

The Special Fund for the Disabled (SFD) of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) supports the Ho Chi Minh City Rehabilitation Center, which is run by MOLISA. The ICRC/SFD also supports eight prosthetic centers in Hanoi and Thai Nguyen (since 2004), Da Nang, Vinh, Quy Nhon, Can Tho, Thanh Hoa and Kon Tum.[98] The program covers the cost of the first prosthetic fitting of amputees considered “destitute” (those without state support). The Vietnam Red Cross (VNRC) is responsible for identifying amputees in need of services and providing follow-up. In 2004, the VNRC component of the project was expanded to seven more provinces, with coverage now in 44 out of 64 provinces. In 2004, ICRC/SFD-supported centers produced 4,646 prostheses, including 3,252 for UXO/landmine survivors, and distributed 14,604 crutches and 32 wheelchairs through the VNRC network. A Tripartite Co-operation Agreement with MOLISA and the VNRC extended ICRC/SFD support to the Institute of Orthopedics and Rehabilitation Science in Hanoi in 2004. The ICRC/SFD also provides ongoing training for prosthetic/orthotic technicians and physiotherapists, including formal three-year training programs at the MOLISA Vietnamese Training Center for Orthopedic Technologists (VIETCOT) in Hanoi. In 2004, 17 physiotherapists from 11 MOLISA and six MoH facilities attended a two-week refresher course on gait training for lower limb amputees, and one technician graduated from VIETCOT. [99]

The US-based Prosthetics Outreach Foundation (POF) supports the Prosthetics Outreach Center in Hanoi, the Ba Vi Orthopedic Technology Center in Ha Tay province, and rehabilitation centers and prosthetic clinics in Nghe An, Quang Binh, Quang Ninh, and Thai Binh. The majority of amputees are reached through a mobile clinical outreach program. For example, in September 2004, 64 amputees in Ha Giang province in the northern mountains were fitted with prostheses, and in December over 25 people in the remote mountains of Lao Cai province in the northwest of Vietnam received prosthetic limbs made from plaster casts made during earlier outreach trips.[100]

Vietnam Assistance to the Handicapped provides assistance to five rehabilitation centers in Can Tho, Ho Chi Minh City, Binh Dinh, Da Nang and Ha Tay provinces/cities. In Quang Binh and Quang Tri, VNAH donated 130 prosthetic devices and 130 wheelchairs in 2004.[101] VNAH also operates a grassroots project aimed at addressing skills training and employment for war survivors and other people with disabilities. The program, which includes vocational training, apprenticeships and job placement, was due to end in March 2005.[102]

The Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation funds rehabilitation centers in Hanoi, Ha Giang and Nam Dinh provinces. In 2004, the Mobile Outreach Program visited eight provinces, assessing 2,453 people with disability, and fitted nearly 500 people with orthotic devices. VVAF, with funding from Adopt-A-Minefield, is currently collecting data in Ha Giang related to the incidence of mine/UXO casualties in the province.[103]

VVAF also planned a survey of the incidence of mine/UXO casualties in Ha Giang province, on the Chinese border, in 2005.[104]

The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund (VVMF) and Project RENEW operate a survivor assistance program in Trieu Phong district, Quang Tri, and since 2004 in Hai Lang district. In 2004 and early 2005, Project RENEW upgraded the facilities of 21 nurse stations in Hai Lang, providing medical equipment and first aid training specific to mine/UXO casualties. To date, 459 local healthcare workers have been trained in both districts. The project also works with mine/UXO survivors to design creative programs to reintegrate survivors back into the workforce. Activities include training mine/UXO survivors to grow edible mushrooms in their homes for the wholesale markets. With the expansion into Hai Lang district, a total of 150 families have participated, while another 110 families in the two districts received micro-credit loans, in cooperation with the Vietnam Women’s Union. Project RENEW recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Farmer’s Union, with a budget of approximately $38,000, which will provide 160 survivor households with training on modern cattle-rearing techniques and development of local grazing land with new grass varieties.[105]

Landmine Survivors Network Vietnam (LSN) continues to use peer support to assist mine/UXO survivors and other amputees in improving their health, living conditions, and socioeconomic integration by providing links or referrals to emergency or continuing medical care, regional rehabilitation centers, and institutions providing loans or grants and job training, in Quang Binh province. In April 2005, LSN extended its initial two-year agreement with the People’s Committee of Bo Trach district in Quang Binh province, with an expansion into 15 communes of the district. To April 2005, 1,511 survivors and amputees (120 mine/UXO survivors and other amputees in the original six communes in 2003-2004, and 1,391 survivors and amputees in 2005) have been identified by this NGO in a survey of 13 of the 15 sub-districts. By January 2005, 1,900 people, including 100 mine/UXO survivors and nearly 400 family members, benefited directly or indirectly from LSN activities, such as referrals to health services, economic opportunities, as well as training, institutional support and events on social integration. Over 1,000 people participated in awareness raising events on the occasions of national and international days of disabled persons, and 50 district staff received training on policy related to amputees. From May 2003 to March 2005, LSN supported the district hospital of Bo Trach and six commune clinics with medical supplies; 1,013 people benefited from this support.[106]

The American NGO, Kids First Vietnam, provides assistance to survivors in Quang Tri through a scholarship program for disadvantaged youth, including 100 students with war-related disabilities. Construction continues on the Kids First Rehabilitation Village in Dong Ha, Quang Tri, which will offer medical care, rehabilitation services and treatments, vocational training programs and recreation activities for youth, aged 16 to 24 years, with physical disabilities and economic disadvantages.[107]

Other organizations assisting mine/UXO survivors in Vietnam include the Support Association for People with Disabilities (in each sub-district), American Red Cross, Peace Trees Viet Nam, Handicap International, Health Volunteers Overseas and Ho Chi Minh City Sponsoring Association for Poor Patients. Other charitable groups are based in Buddhist temples and Catholic churches.[108]

Disability Policy and Practice

Vietnam has legislation to protect the rights of people with disabilities to health care, education, employment and social participation. However, implementation remains weak, lacking mechanisms for monitoring and enforcement.[109]

Decree 88, adopted by the Prime Minister in July 2003, provided a legal basis for independent associations to register with the Ministry of Home Affairs. Associations of people with disabilities were among the first groups to take advantage of this new status. The decree allows local associations to recruit members, conduct advocacy, and raise their own funds domestically and internationally.[110]

The Vietnam Business Association for Disabled Employees, set up in April 2003, is the first commercial organization for people with disabilities working in the private sector. People with disabilities own more than 400 businesses in Vietnam, employing 20,000 other people with disabilities.[111]

The Disability Forum, a coalition of local organizations, works to raise awareness on the rights and needs of persons with disabilities. Members of the Disability Forum are actively participating in discussions and preparations for the proposed “International Convention on Protection and Promotion of the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities,” which is supported by Vietnam.[112]


[1] For developments in Vietnam’s policy from 1997-2004, see Landmine Monitor Report 2004, pp. 1159-1160.

[2] Meeting with Nguyen Duc Hung, Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs and Director General, Americas Department, Hanoi, 20 April 2005.

[3] Interview with Nguyen Trong Canh, Director, BOMICEN, Ministry of Defense, Department of International Cooperation, Hanoi, 27 June 2005. He went on to note that decisions on acceding to international conventions are made at the whole government level and do not come under the purview of BOMICEN, which is a technical implementation agency only. BOMICEN was formerly known as BOMICO.

[4] National Assembly of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, Luat Ky ket, Gia nhap va Thuc hien cac Dieu uoc Quoc te (Law on Signing, Accession and Implementation of International Treaties), Law # 41/2005/QH11, passed 14 June 2005; see articles 3, 5, 9 and 49.

[5] Interview with Bui Minh Tam, Ministry of Defense, Hanoi, 15 March 2000.

[6] See Landmine Monitor Report 1999, p. 513.

[7] Stephen D. Biddle, “Landmines in Asia,” paper presented at the Phnom Penh Landmines Conference, 1995.

[8] Correspondence from Nguyen Manh Hung, Americas Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 8 March 2001. An internal policy document provided to Landmine 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.

[9] Human Rights Watch, Landmines: A Deadly Legacy, 1993, pp. 103-104; Paul Davies, War of the Mines, 1994, pp. 13-19, 44.

[10] Interview with Lt. Gen. Vu Tan, Ministry of Defense, Hanoi, 13 May 2003.

[11] See Landmine Monitor Report 2000, p. 542.

[12] Interview with Stephen Bradley, Senior Technical Advisor, MAG, Dong Ha, 15 April 2005. This figure differs slightly from that in the 2004 report (61 provinces) owing to the establishment of new provinces in 2004–2005.

[13] See Landmine Monitor Report 2004, p. 1161.

[14] Text of remarks made by Sr. Col. Phan Duc Tan, Ministry of Defense, Regional Workshop on Development Challenges of Mine Clearance and Victim Assistance, Bangkok, 30-31 August 2004, p. 1.

[15] See Landmine Monitor Report 2004, pp. 1161-1162.

[16] Col. Bui Minh Tam, “Cuoc chien dau sau chien tranh” (The Struggle After the War), Su kien & Nhan chung (monthly military magazine), date unknown, pp. 17, 31; “Vietnam Demining Activities and Challenges” unpublished paper, February 2002; Sr. Col. Phan Duc Tan, Regional Workshop on Development Challenges of Mine Clearance and Victim Assistance, Bangkok, 30-31 August 2004.

[17] See Landmine Monitor Report 2004, pp. 1161-1162.

[18] Interview with Stephen Bradley, MAG, Dong Ha, 15 April 2005; interview with Rob White, Head of Operations, MAG, in Geneva, 19 September 2005.

[19] “The task of clearing and collecting mines and UXO is not yet complete,” Nguoi Lao Dong (daily newspaper), 20 June 2005.

[20] Interview with Nguyen Trong Canh, , BOMICEN, Hanoi, 27 June 2005.

[21] Interview with Tran Khanh Phoi, Program Coordinator, MAG, Quang Tri, 30 March 2004.

[22] Project RENEW and Quang Tri, “A Study of Knowledge-Awareness-Practices to the Danger of Postwar Landmines/Unexploded Ordnance and Accidents in Quang Tri Province, Vietnam,” November 2003, pp. 10, 32; email from Phan Hung, Project RENEW, 27 September 2005.

[23] Interview with Nguyen Quang Vinh and Amb. Nguyen Quy Binh, Vice-Director of the Boundaries Committee, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 16 May 2003.

[24] See Landmine Monitor Report 2004, p. 1164.

[25] Sr. Col. Phan Duc Tan, Regional Workshop on Development Challenges of Mine Clearance and Victim Assistance, p. 3, Bangkok, 30-31 August 2004. Sr. Col. Phan Duc Tan, from Quang Tri Provincial Military Engineering Command, led a three-man military delegation to the workshop.

[26] See Landmine Monitor Report 2004, p. 1164.

[27] Interview with Nguyen Trong Canh, BOMICEN, Hanoi, 27 June 2005.

[28] Interview with Nguyen Trong Canh, , BOMICEN, Hanoi, 27 June 2005; see Landmine Monitor Report 2004, p. 1165.

[29] Interview with Nguyen Duc Quang, Director, Foreign Relations, Department of Foreign Affairs, Dong Ha, Quang Tri, 14 April 2005; see also Landmine Monitor Report 2004, pp. 1164-1165.

[30] Email from H. Murphey McCloy Jr., Senior Demining Advisor, Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement, US Department of State, 27 September 2005

[31] Interview with Nguyen Thu Ha and Nguyen Bui Thi Hien, project officers, VVAF, Hanoi, 19 April 2005.

[32] VVAF, “Vietnam UXO/Landmine Impact Assessment and Survey,” information sheet; Nguyen Vinh, “Cooperation to Resolve Postwar Mine Legacy,” Lao Dong, 26 February 2004. The survey had been under negotiation since December 2000. See Landmine Monitor Report 2002, p. 782; Landmine Monitor Report 2003, p. 720.

[33] Email from Alexander Reitveld, Representative, VVAF, 14 September 2005.

[34] Interview with Nguyen Trong Canh, BOMICEN, Hanoi, 27 June 2005.

[35] Interview with Lt. Tran Duc Thanh, Clearance Monitor, Engineering Department, Thua Thien-Hue Provincial Military Command, Office of Department of Foreign Affairs, Hue City, Thua Thien-Hue, 22 April 2005.

[36] See Landmine Monitor Report 2004, pp. 1163-1164.

[37] Interview with Tran Khanh Phoi, Program Coordinator, MAG, 30 March 2004.

[38] Interview with Stephen Bradley, MAG, Dong Ha, 15 April 2005; interview with Rob White, Operations Director, MAG, in Geneva, 19 September 2005.

[39] Interview with Lt. Tran Duc Thanh, Thua Thien-Hue Provincial Military Command, Office of Department of Foreign Affairs, Hue City, Thua Thien-Hue, 22 April 2005.

[40] Interview with Lt. Tran Duc Thanh, Office of Department of Foreign Affairs, Hue City, Thua Thien-Hue, 22 April 2005.

[41] Project RENEW is a joint effort of the Quang Tri People’s Committee and Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund (US).

[42] PTVN has not responded to Landmine Monitor requests for information on its 2004 clearance.

[43] Email from Rudi Kohnert, Program Manager, MAG, 26 September 2005.

[44] Interview with Stephen Bradley, MAG, Dong Ha, 15 April 2005.

[45] Email from Tim Carstairs, Director of Policy, MAG, 26 September 2005.

[46] Interview with Stephen Bradley, MAG, Dong Ha, 15 April 2005; interview with Nguyen Duc Quy, Foreign Relations Department, Dong Hoi, Quang Binh, 14 April 2005.

[47] Information provided by Ilona Schleicher, Project Manager, SODI, 14-15 September 2005.

[48] Presentation by Ilona Schleicher, SODI, Assessment of 10 Year International Cooperation on Reversing Legacy of War-Development Orientation Workshop, Dong Ha, Quang Tri, 22-23 August 2005; information provided by Ilona Schleicher, SODI, 14-15 September 2005.

[49] Information provided by Ilona Schleicher, SODI, 14-15 September 2005.

[50] Email from Wolfram Schwope, Vice-Chairman, PK, 15 August 2005.

[51] Email from Wolfram Schwope, PK, 15 August 2005.

[52] Communication from Lutz Vogt, Chairman, PK, 13 July 2004.

[53] Telephone interview with Colin White, Project Coordinator, AVI, 16 September 2005.

[54] Interview with Colin White, AVI, Phong Dien, Thua Thien-Hue, 15 April 2005.

[55] Email from Phan Hung, Project RENEW, 27 September 2005.

[56] Information provided by Karl Werther, Project Manager, SODI, 13 September 2005.

[57] The total attendance for MRE activities breaks down as follows: AVI, 17,168; CRS, 4,700; VNAH, 3,400; REWEW, 89,996; PK, 12,432. No data was received from PTVN or SODI.

[58] Telephone interview with Nguyen Thi Thanh An, UNICEF, 20 April 2005.

[59] Notes taken by Hugh Hosman, War Legacies Program Consultant, Fund for Reconciliation & Development, during MRE discussion at the Assessment of 10-Year International Cooperation on Reversing Legacy of War-Development Orientation Workshop, Dong Ha, Quang Tri, 22-23 August 2005.

[60] Interview with Nguyen Thi Thanh An, UNICEF , 20 April 2005; Project RENEW and Quang Tri Provincial Health Service, “A Study of Knowledge-Awareness-Practices to the Danger of Postwar Landmines/Unexploded Ordnance and Accidents in Quang Tri Province, Vietnam,” November 2003, pp. 30-1, 42-44. See Landmine Monitor Report 2004, p. 1168. Initial results from the Catholic Relief Services school-based project suggest that personal contact through the community may be more effective at achieving behavior change than using mass media. Interview with Dang Huong Giang, leader of CRS evaluation team, Quang Tri, 1 April 2004.

[61] Each humanitarian organization or local partner at some point in their interviews made mention of the need to increase personal contact in implementing MRE. The strongest of these statements was by Tran Van Tuan, Quang Binh Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs, who believed that child-to-adult contact, especially in homes where scrap metal collection was practiced, had been a major factor in the apparent elimination of mine/UXO casualties in the 15 sub-districts of Bo Trach receiving MRE under the Vietnam Assistance for the Handicapped project. However the VNAH project had not been evaluated when this statement was made on 14 April 2005.

[62] Information provided by Nguyen Thi Thanh An, UNICEF, 21 April 2005.

[63] Interview with Tran Van Tuan, Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs, Dong Hoi, Quang Binh, 14 April 2005.

[64] Interview with Nguyen Thi Thanh An, UNICEF, 20 April 2005.

[65] Interview with Nguyen Thi Thanh An, UNICEF, 20 April 2005.

[66] Email from Phan Hung, Project RENEW, 27 September 2005; interview with Hoang Nam, Project RENEW, Dong Ha, 15 April 2005; see Landmine Monitor Report 2004, p. 1168.

[67] Presentation by Thai Thi Hanh Nhan, Project Assistant, CRS, Landmine Working Group, Hanoi, 20 February 2004.

[68] Interview with Thai Thi Hanh Nhan, CRS, Hanoi, 19 April 2005; interview with Nguyen Thi Thanh An, UNICEF, 20 April 2005; additional information provided by Nguyen Thi Thanh An, 21 April 2005.

[69] Presentation by Pham Hoang Ha, PTVN, Landmine Working Group, Quang Binh, 8 April 2005; see Landmine Monitor Report 2004, p. 1169.

[70] Interview with Colin White, AVI, Phong Dien, 15 April 2005.

[71] Email from Bui Van Toan, Vietnam Assistance for the Handicapped, 21 May 2004.

[72] Interview with Bui Van Toan, VNAH, Hanoi, 19 April 2005.

[73] See Landmine Monitor Report 2004, p. 1169; Interview with Tran Van Tuan, Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs, Dong Hoi, Quang Binh, 14 April 2005.

[74] Interview with Tran Van Tuan, Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs, Dong Hoi, Quang Binh, 14 April 2005; interview with Bui Van Toan, VNAH, Hanoi, 19 April 2005.

[75] Interview with Tran Van Tuan, Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs, Dong Hoi, Quang Binh, 14 April 2005.

[76] Interview with Tran Van Tuan, Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs, Dong Hoi, Quang Binh, 14 April 2005.

[77] Interview with Nguyen Thi Thanh An, UNICEF, 20 April 2005.

[78] Information provided by Andrew Wells-Dang, Fund for Reconciliation & Development, 29 April 2005.

[79] Col. Bui Minh Tam, BOMICEN, “Vietnam Demining Activities and Challenges,” briefing paper, revised February 2002.

[80] Col. Bui Minh Tam, BOMICEN, “Vietnam Demining Activities and Challenges,” briefing paper, revised February 2002. This calculation is based on eight percent of the country contaminated (=26,500 sq. km.) and the cost of clearance per hectare at military rates ($2,300 per hectare).

[81] Interview with Nguyen Trong Canh, BOMICEN, Hanoi, 27 June 2005.

[82] Landmine Monitor Report 2004, p. 1170.

[83] Article 7 Report, Form J, 27 April 2005; email from Norbert Hack, Minister, Department of Disarmament, Arms Control and Non-Proliferation, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 1 August 2005. Average exchange rate for 2004: $1 = A$0.7365. US Federal Reserve, “List of Exchange Rates (Annual),” 3 January 2005. The Australian fiscal year is July 2004 to June 2005.

[84] Mine Action Investments database; emails from Elvan Isikozlu, Mine Action Team, Foreign Affairs Canada, June-August 2005. Average exchange rate for 2004: US$1 = C$1.3017. US Federal Reserve, “List of Exchange Rates (Annual),” 3 January 2005.

[85] Article 7 Report, Form J, 15 April 2005; email from Dirk Roland Haupt, Federal Foreign Office, Division 241, 25 July 2005. Average exchange rate for 2004: €1 = $1.2438, used throughout this report. US Federal Reserve, “List of Exchange Rates (Annual),” 3 January 2005.

[86] USG Historical Chart containing data for FY 2004, email from Angela L. Jeffries, Financial Management Specialist, Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, US Department of State, 20 July 2005; email from H. Murphey McCloy Jr., Senior Demining Advisor, Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement, US Department of State, 27 September 2005.

[87] See Landmine Monitor Report 2004, p. 1171.

[88] Data provided by Le Thi Yen Nhi, Clear Path International, 27 and 30 April 2005, for the period January-December 2004; data provided by Andrew Wells-Dang, Fund for Reconciliation and Development, covering the period January to April 2004.

[89] For more information, see Landmine Monitor Report 2004, pp. 1171-1172.

[90] See Landmine Monitor Report 2004, p. 1172; Clear Path International presentation, Scrap Metal Collection, December 2004.

[91] Interview with Stephen Bradley, Senior Technical Advisor, MAG, 15 April 2005; Interview with Nguyen Duc Quang, Foreign Relations Department, Department of Foreign Affairs, Quang Tri, Dong Ha, 14 April 2005; interview with Colin White, AVI, Phong Dien, Thua Thien-Hue, 15 April 2005.

[92] Information provided by Karl Werther, SODI, 13 September 2005

[93] Data provided by Le Thi Yen Nhi, Project Officer, CPI, 30 August 2005; Landmine Monitor analysis of media reports, January to August 2005.

[94] Information provided by Karl Werther, Project Manager, SODI, 13 September 2005.

[95] For more information, see Landmine Monitor Report 2004, pp. 1173-1174.

[96] For more information, see Landmine Monitor Report 2004, p. 1173.

[97] Information provided by Tran Thi Thanh Toan, and Tran Hong Chi, CPI, Dong Ha, 12 April 2005; emails from Le Thi Yen Nhi, CPI, 16-18 March 2005; for more information, see Landmine Monitor Report 2004, pp. 1173-1174.

[98] Email from Peter Poetsma, ICRC, 27 September 2005.

[99] ICRC Special Fund for the Disabled, “Annual Report 2004,” Geneva, February 2005, pp. 31-40; ICRC “Annual Report 2004,” Geneva, June 2005, p. 172; see also Landmine Monitor Report 2004, pp. 1174-1175. VIETCOT is funded by GTZ (Germany).

[100] POF, “Newsletter,” Fall/Winter 2004; POC, “Project Update from Vietnam,” December 2004, available at www.pofsea.org; see also Landmine Monitor Report 2004, 1175.

[101] Information provided in email from Bui Van Toan, VNAH, 21 May 2005.

[102] Standing Tall Australia and Mines Action Canada, “101 Great Ideas for the Socio-Economic Reintegration of Mine Survivors,” June 2005, p. 87.

[103] Response to Landmine Monitor Survivor Assistance Questionnaire by Kerry Fisher, Advisor, Rehabilitation Program, VVAF, Hanoi, 18 April 2005; see also Landmine Monitor Report 2004, p. 1175.

[104] Response to Landmine Monitor Questionnaire by Kerry Fisher, Rehabilitation Program, VVAF, Hanoi, 18 April 2005.

[105] Email from Phan Hung, Project RENEW, 27 September 2005; interview with Hoang Nam, Project RENEW, 15 April 2005; see also Landmine Monitor Report 2004, p. 1176; Standing Tall Australia and Mines Action Canada, “101 Great Ideas for the Socio-Economic Reintegration of Mine Survivors,” June 2005, p. 86.

[106] Presentation by Lieve Sabbe, Advisor, LSN, at Landmine Working Group meeting, Quang Binh, 8 April 2005; interview with Lieve Sabbe and Nguyen Hoa Hoc, Coordinator, LSN, 13 April 2005; information provided in emails from Lieve Sabbe, LSN, 28 April and 26 September 2005; see also Landmine Monitor Report 2004, p. 1176.

[107] Standing Tall Australia and Mines Action Canada, “101 Great Ideas for the Socio-Economic Reintegration of Mine Survivors,” June 2005, p. 85; for more information, see also Landmine Monitor Report 2004, p. 1176.

[108] For more information, see Landmine Monitor Report 2004, p. 1174-1176.

[109] For more information, see Landmine Monitor Report 2004, p. 1177; Landmine Monitor Report 2003, p. 731; see also US Department of State, “Country Reports on Human Rights Practices-2004: Vietnam,” Washington, DC, 28 February 2005.

[110] Decree No. 88/2003/ND-CP (July 30, 2003) Providing For The Organization, Operation And Management Of Associations; Presentation by Bui Van Toan (Viet Nam Assistance for the Handicapped) at the People’s Participation Working Group, Hanoi, 12 September 2003.

[111] Research by Andrew Wells-Dang, Fund for Reconciliation and Development: “Government Agrees to Business Association for the Disabled,” Phap Luat [The Law] daily newspaper, 15 April 2003, p. 2; “Disabled must gain job access,” Viet Nam News, 15 April 2004.

[112] See Landmine Monitor Report 2004, p. 1177; see also “Minutes of the Ninth Session of the Thematic Working Group on Disability-Related Concerns, Bangkok, 1-2 December 2004,”

www.dinf.ne.jp/doc/japanese/twg/eng/pagnd9sc_e.html.