New Zealand's efforts clearing UXO in Laos

I sat in the make-shift movie theatre, chairs haphazardly organised across the floor. The French, Mandarin, English, and German chatter of the other tourists around me quietened down as the documentary began. 

We met young students on screen, warned to stay away from the baseball-sized and cylinder-shaped objects peeking out from the dusty land they ran across. The children were told that the metal objects were not toys to play with; they were unexploded bombs. 

The demolition of a 750lb bomb in Laos. Image: Supplied

Landlocked Laos is the most heavily bombed country per capita. While the eyes of the world were locked on Vietnam during its civil war in the 1970s, just across the border, the United States of America was conducting a secretive bombing campaign in Laos. 

Their targets were the communist guerrilla’s military transport lines, but the bombs were dropped indiscriminately across the entire country. 

Although the Vietnam War ended 50 years ago, 80 million unexploded bombs (UXO) lie throughout Laos waiting to detonate. At least 20,000 people have already been killed by these war remnants. About 40 percent of those fatalities are children. 

As the end credits rolled, the familiar logo of MFAT, New Zealand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, with the symbolic silver fern, popped up. I was surprised. I’d never heard of any formal relationship between the two countries. 

But New Zealand hadn’t just supported the documentary’s making. Our country has spent the last two decades clearing thousands of hectares of Lao land from UXO, supplying funds and people to assist in the monumental task. 

A rusting cylinder-shaped mortar found on Saikam Saivongsa's farm in Nafa Village, Xiengkhouang Province. Image: Supplied

Hemi Morete is one such Kiwi. Originally an army officer in the New Zealand Defence Force, he gained experience in landmine clearing while deployed on peacekeeping missions to Cambodia and Angola in the 90s. 

“Seeing what a difference clearing just a couple of hectares of rice paddy can make to people’s lives is so rewarding; you’re making an absolute difference to people’s lives,” he said. 

In 2004, he set up Quality Solutions International (QSI), a company focused on the quality management of landmines and UXO clearance. 

He told me it made sense that I hadn’t heard anything previously about Aotearoa’s work in Laos. We didn’t erect ‘big signs’ on cleared land like other donors. We just quietly get on with the mahi, he shared. 

The New Zealand Defence Force was first sent to Laos in 1997 to help aid the country’s recovery, clearing UXO in the megalithic archaeological landscape known as the Plain of Jars. 

Large loop training conducted by Quality Solutions International (QSI). Image: Supplied

“We needed to start with UXO clearance to enable tourists to visit the Plain of Jars sites safely…It was integral to the country’s economic and social development,” NZ Ambassador to Thailand Jonathan Kings said. 

The UNDP contracted QSL twice through New Zealand’s funding in Xiengkhouang to provide training to the Lao UXO organisation. 

“At one point, we noticed they weren’t using the right type of detector for the task at hand. After we adjusted this, their efficiency in clearing went right up,” Morete said. 

“There was a need for independent quality management as there’s too much at stake for any compromise to be made.” 

With a lack of humanitarian expertise in demining and UXO clearance, the NZDF had put its hand up for the task. In Laos, the NZDF also ran training sessions for local technicians, passing over their expert mine-clearing knowledge. 

Copy of A UXO Laos technician and Colonel Anthony Blythen inspecting the crater after conducting a controlled demolition of an aircraft bomb in Laos. Image: Supplied

“We had a reputation for working well with local populations, and New Zealand just decided it was something we could assist with, the zeitgeist at the time,” Colonel Anthony Blythen said. 

Blythen was deployed to Laos to work in the UXO Lao headquarters as a technical advisor for operations. 

“This knowledge of clearing UXO or landmines, predominantly held by the military, is being passed on. Now there’s a lot of expertise in the humanitarian sector around UXO clearance,” he said. 

Almost 5000 hectares of land have been cleared in Xiengkhouang province, one of the most heavily bombed areas of Laos. This has benefited more than 420,000 people, just from New Zealand’s support. 

“There’s something inherently disturbing about explosive remnants of war from a past conflict hurting innocent people today,” Morete said. 

“Being able to use what is a NZ strength to do some good, there's a huge bang for your buck; the amount of effort required to release land back to productive use versus what the land gives the people is quite significant.” 

UXO Lao National Programme Director Anousak Phongsa said there has been clear evidence of a reduction in UXO-related incidents after NZ’s support in Xiengkhouang. 

Clearance at Plain of Jars. Image: Supplied

In 2008, there were 48 UXO accidents with 69 casualties. By 2024, this number drastically dropped to two accidents and five casualties. 

Saikam Saivongsa’s farm in Nafa Village of Xiengkhouang province was cleared with New Zealand’s help. With 40 UXO found, she now tends to her land without worry or fear. 

“Support from countries like NZ is essential,” Saivongsa said. 

“Without this kind of international support, it would be extremely difficult for Lao PDR to address the UXO problem on its own.” 

The New Zealand government renewed its funding commitment to the UNDP’s work in Laos in December. 

“Laos is one of the least developed ASEAN countries and continues to bear the scars of the region’s past,” Kings said. He’s seen the devastation firsthand. 

“The evidence of the bombing is still everywhere. School grounds which have had unexploded ordnance removed are still full of bomb craters.” 

A 750lb bomb uncovered in Laos. Image: Supplied

Five million dollars’ worth of funding over the next 21 months will support a project focused on clearing 1000 hectares of land, benefitting more than 13,000 people, as well as reaching more than 79,000 people with education sessions. 

“UXO Lao had noticed that the older generations who were there when the war occurred in the 70s were mostly aware of what UXO were, and so were their children,” Blythen said. 

“But their grandchildren weren’t, and they were becoming the victims of UXO as they found the items and did not know what they were.”  

The lessons raise awareness about UXO dangers, helping communities to identify them and know where to report them for clearance. 

While Kiwi kids are taught to ‘drop, cover and hold’ to protect themselves from earthquakes, Lao kids are taught not to play with UXO. “And it shouldn’t be like this,” Blythen said. “Kids shouldn’t be dying like that anywhere.”

Banner image: Forty dangerous UXO items were found on Saikam Saivongsa's farm in Nafa Village, Xiengkhouang, Laos. Image: Supplied

Asia Media Centre