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Khamvongsa - Unexploded Bombs

Channapha Khamvongsa, executive director of Legacies of War, testified before the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Asia, the Pacific, and the Global Environment about the ongoing issue of unexploded ordnance in Laos from bombing during the Vietnam War. She noted that over 300 Lao people continue to be killed or injured by unexploded bombs each year, including a recent incident where 5 children were killed. She called on Congress to continue funding removal efforts, saying that with consistent support the casualty rate could be reduced from hundreds to dozens per year and the highest priority clearance projects could be completed.

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Kyle Connor
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25 views3 pages

Khamvongsa - Unexploded Bombs

Channapha Khamvongsa, executive director of Legacies of War, testified before the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Asia, the Pacific, and the Global Environment about the ongoing issue of unexploded ordnance in Laos from bombing during the Vietnam War. She noted that over 300 Lao people continue to be killed or injured by unexploded bombs each year, including a recent incident where 5 children were killed. She called on Congress to continue funding removal efforts, saying that with consistent support the casualty rate could be reduced from hundreds to dozens per year and the highest priority clearance projects could be completed.

Uploaded by

Kyle Connor
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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REFUGEES AND SOUTHEAST ASIAN COMMUNIT!

ES 423
422 CHAPTER 13

6. Channapha Khamvongsa Calls on Congress to Fund


the Removal of Unexploded Bombs in Laos, 2010
Statement of Channapha Khamvongsa
Executive Director
Legacies of War
Committee on House Forei gn Affairs
Subcommittee on Asia, The Pacific, and The Global Environment
April 22, 2010
From: Lon Kurashige and Alice Yang, Major Thank you Chainnan [Eni] Faleo1navaega, Subcommittee Members, ladies and
Problems in Asian American History, 2nd ed gentlemen. First of all, I would like to extend my sincere thanks to Chairman
(Wadsworth, 2017). Faleomavaega, the Subcommittee and its wonderful staff for organizing this his­
toric hearing entitled "Legacies of War: Unexploded Ordnances in Laos."
From what I understand, this is the first U.S. House of Representatives hear­
ing on the scourge of unexploded ordnance (UXO) in Laos, a legacy of the U.S.
bombing of Laos during the Vietnam War. Tragically, more than four decades
after the end of the bombing, more than 300 Lao people, one third of them
children, continue to be killed or injured by UXO every year.
Just this year, on February 19, 2010, eight children from Champassak Prov­
ince came upon a cluster bomb in the rice paddies near their home. Like many
bombs this deadly weapon resen1bled a toy, and the children tossed it around in
play. The bomb exploded; two children survived, one was severely injured, and
five were killed. They lived in an area not identified as having been bombed; there
had been no UXO risk education in their village and the children suffered for it.
Beyond this terrible human toll, UXO continues to hamper economic develop­
n1ent in one of the poorest countries in the world.
Today is also significant because exactly 39 years ago this week the U.S.
Senate held an historic hearing on the status of refugees in Laos. This hearing,
chaired by the late Senator Edward M. Kennedy on April 21 and 22, 1971,
helped expose the U.S. secret bombing of Laos. The bombing had begun in
1964 and had displaced hundreds of thousands of civilians within Laos but had
never been disclosed to Congress or the American public. ...
The 1971 hearing and a peace treaty between the U.S. and North Vietnam
finally brought a halt to the bombings in Laos in 1973. This was the same year I
was born in Vientiane, the capital of Laos. When I was six years old, n1y family
left Laos due to the country's political instability. We spent a year in a Thai ref­
ugee camp and eventually resettled in Virginia. Many of the 400,000 Lao refu­
gees who now reside in the U.S. have similar stories. We were fortunate to
resettle in Arn.erica, but were sad to leave behind family n1embers and friends
who we feared we might never see again.

Statement of Channapha Khamvongsa, "Unexploded Ordnances in Lao," Ap1il 22, 2010, Committee on
House Foreign Affairs, Subcommittee on Asia, The Pacific, and The Global Environment, Committee on
Foreign Aff.,irs Setial No. 111-117, http://congressional.proquest.com:80/congressional/docview/t0S.
d06.2011-h381-28?accountid=14523
consistent support, the casualty rate would fall from hundreds a year to dozens or
less, and the highest priority clearance projects would all be accomplished.

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