(VOVworld) – 2015 marks the 20th anniversary of normalized Vietnam-US diplomatic relations and 40 years since the finish of the Vietnam war. The focus of Vietnam-US cooperation in 2015 is to accelerate the overcoming of the war’s aftermaths, particularly the consequences of unexploded bombs and mines left over from the war. Anh Huyen reports:
Vietnam and the US have developed a number of effective models to handle the consequences of bombs and mines. However, the work requires huge manpower and financial resources and long-term cooperation.
Accelerating bomb and mine clearance
During a visit to Vietnam in March US Undersecretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Rose Gottemoeller visited the central province of Quang Tri, which has suffered the most from the consequences of unexploded bombs and mines. Witnessing the losses of Vietnamese people, she said: “The first thing I got to do today which is completely different from blowing something up was that I got to plan my very own tree and I hope that would be a tree that will be here for decades and will help other visitors to come to remember how important it is to really get rid of the result of war as fast as we can, and then something that is really a benefit for the people in the future.”
Rose said that this year the US government would provide Vietnam 10 million USD, 8 million of which would go to Quang Tri, for a new project to establish a central database of priority places that need to be cleared of bombs and mines.
Mobilizing all available resources for bomb and mine clearance
Vietnam began to clear explosives after the war ended. Thanks to government efforts and the support provided by foreign NGOs, particularly those from the US, the number of bomb and mine accidents has been reduced considerably from 5,000 in the 1975-2000 period to just 5 a year in the last 5 years. Over the last 20 years, the US government has provided approximately 80 million USD to settle the consequences of these bombs and mines. The money has also helped to improve the lives of the people.
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Bob Stokes, Director of Peace Trees Vietnam, the first US NGO to operate on explosives clearance in Vietnam since 1995, said: “We also found that there were a lot of problems from the war. They had nothing to do with the explosives remained from the war. The Social Structure which is very damaged, particularly in the ethnic minority people, they had no written language, the villages were destroyed, and when they were able to come back from the jungle, they had no economy and no way to eat. So even today we are working with the ethnic people minority people in Quang Tri to help their children and schools to make sure that their children have at least one good news a day and we do other things to help other poor people in Quang Tri.”
Long-term cooperation needed
With the pace of the last 5 years, it is predicted that it would take 300 years to clear all the bombs and mines. 5 years ago, the Vietnamese government established a National Steering Committee for a National Action Plan on Overcoming Bomb and Mine Aftermaths. As a developing nation Vietnam still needs international cooperation in this matter, particularly long-term commitments from the US government. During a visit to the US in March, a Vietnamese delegation proposed a number of specific cooperative projects to accelerate the clearance of bombs and mines, which received positive feedback from the US government. Head of the delegation, Deputy Defense Minister Nguyen Chi Vinh, said: “Vietnam proposed 3 projects. The first is to clear bombs and mines in the most contaminated localities. The second is for US support to develop a central database of ordnance and victims. The last project is to establish a workshop to produce artificial limbs in each province to help victims recover their ability to work and reintegrate into society. We hope that Vietnam and the US will soon commence these projects.”
The war’s aftermath was severe. Cooperation to overcome its lingering effects has opened a path of cooperation between Vietnam and the US.