Environmental Consequences of War: Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam

 

“The past, far from disappearing or lying down and being quiet, has an embarrassing and

 persistent way of returning and haunting us unless it has in fact been dealt with adequately.”

--Desmond Tutu, Nobel Peace Prize Winner

 

 

Wars do not end when bombs stop falling and fighting comes to a close.  The devastation continues long after, in the land, and in the minds and bodies of the people.  Years have passed since the conclusion of the wars that tormented Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam for decades; but throughout the region innocent people are still victims.

 

People continue to be maimed and killed by millions of explosives left behind from the war.  The victim is often a child who chances upon a landmine or unexploded bomb while playing with friends or walking to school; or it may be a farmer whose plow strikes a shell hidden in the earth.  These human tragedies affect entire families and communities.  During peacetime there have been at least 50,000 deaths in Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam, plus uncounted injuries.  These numbers grow from month to month.

 

Intense and widespread US bombing of rural areas, tractor clearing, spraying of defoliants and other war-related devastation laid waste to vast tracts of valuable forests and fields.  Ecosystems were destroyed, leaving wastelands consisting primarily of worthless grasses and weeds.  Large areas can not be farmed due to the persistent danger of landmines and unexploded ordnance (UXO).

 

Other remnants of the war work their damage less visibly, but no less destructively.  Over 72 million liters of defoliating chemicals were sprayed on the forests and fields of Vietnam, and an unknown amount on the countryside of Cambodia and Laos.  The toxic by-products of their manufacture still remain in highly contaminated hazardous sites or “hot spots” that were locations of accidents, spills, and military bases, causing serious risk to health in nearby populous areas.

 

The most toxic and persistent of these unintended by-products is dioxin, which has been linked to a growing list of infirmities, including several forms of cancer, disorders of the nervous, immune and endocrine systems, the birth defect spina bifida, and Type II Diabetes.  Internationally recognized research also suggests possible links to several other birth defects and reproductive disorders. 

 

Many children of Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam, afflicted by these consequences of war, require life-long care from families already burdened with poverty, and often with their own war-related injuries and illnesses.  Additional scientific research on the health effects of dioxin must go forward, particularly research that has direct humanitarian impact such as the locations of hot spots recognized as hazardous under international standards and guidelines.  Humanitarian assistance to victims identified on the basis of criteria established by responsible national authorities should be immediate and ongoing and cannot await definitive scientific conclusions.

 

Much has been done by the peoples of Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam to assist victims as well as to reclaim the land and rebuild villages, towns and infrastructure.  In this they have been aided by numerous individuals and organizations from around the world.  This aid must not be diminished as new problems challenge the conscience of the world.  Moreover, the resources so far available locally and internationally are far from matching the needs. 

 

A full accounting based on information available to the US government from in-country surveys and from overt and covert military operations must be provided to determine the scope and impact of use of chemicals for military purposes.   

 

The 27^th International Conference of Red Cross and Red Crescent -- responsible for maintaining and updating the Geneva Agreements on the Rules of War -- concluded in 1999 that belligerent parties “should endeavor, wherever appropriate, to engage in post conflict discussion with respect to aiding the victims of war”.  It is long past time to apply this principle to the costly legacy of war in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam.

 

The peoples and governments of these countries have demonstrated a generous spirit towards former enemies and do not seek to perpetuate the hostility of war, but they do seek assistance.  The world community, especially the US government and those countries and corporations that were directly or indirectly involved in production and use of these weapons, must meet that appeal by addressing today, in a spirit of restorative justice, the enduring consequences of the past.

 

In the name of humanity and simple decency, we call on the United Nations and all people of conscience and good will to support personally, and through the actions of their governments, a new large-scale effort to address the present and continuing impact of the war on the lives, livelihoods and environment of the peoples of Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam.

 

 

Recommendations for Action

 

Ecosystems

1)       Research:  Undertake comprehensive surveys of areas seriously affected by the war in order to facilitate documentation for land use planning and reforestation in wetland and inland ecosystems.

2)       Rehabilitation:  Improve the means of livelihood for local peoples in these areas to encourage development of sustainable ecosystems.

3)       Capacity Building:  Provide multidisciplinary training of technical specialists in habitat restoration and conservation of inland and coastal ecosystems.

 

Public Health

1)       Assistance:  Provide concrete help to victims to include medical care, surgery, rehabilitation, prosthetics, wheelchairs and other assistive devices, as well as social support to their families.

2)       Education:  Disseminate information regarding risks and means of mitigation.

3)       Containment and clearance:  Identify toxic waste hot spots and landmines/UXO sites.  Assist residents to overcome the psychological and economic difficulties of relocation.  Contain hot spots and contain or clear land mine/UXO sites.

4)       Research:  Investigate the effects of dioxin on public health in the context of Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam, including the character of disease, its prevention, and methods of therapy.

 

Economic and Social Development

1)       Reconstruction:  Create a large-scale post-conflict environmental and social reconstruction program, integrated into ongoing national development strategies.

2)       Integration:  Bring the wider environmental consequences of war into international planning for economic and social development.

 

Law, Ethics, Policy

1)       International standards:  Apply established environmental standards contained in national laws and international treaties, including the Agreement on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs), that mandate immediate action.   Many aspects of Agent Orange problems and landmine/UXO sites can be contained or cleaned up now with adequate commitment and resources.  Identify precedents in funds established in many countries to deal with toxic waste sites, for example US legislation to clean up Formerly Used Defense Sites (FUDS).

2)       Lessons: Prohibit use of herbicides as offensive or defensive weapons of war. 

 

 

 

 

[Final draft, July 29, 2002, Boson Conference Center, Lidingo, Sweden]