Fifty years after the end of the Vietnam war, the long-term consequences of that conflict continue to affect many Vietnamese people’s daily lives. There are still thousands of unexploded mines and bombs strewn across the region in forests, rice fields and around villages.
The war (1955-75) pitted communist North Vietnam and its allies against South Vietnam and its ally, the US, and spilled into Laos and Cambodia. It was seen partly as a symbol of the cold war and a conflict between communist values and the west.
In 2019, the US Congress estimated that more than 20% of land in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia remained “contaminated” by unexploded ordnance (UXO). In 2023, in Vietnam alone, this was estimated to mean around 800,000 tonnes of bombs and mines remained. Since 1975, UXO accidents have caused more than 105,000 casualties, including more than 38,000 deaths of Vietnamese civilians.
