16 June 2000

U.S. Gives Vietnam $1.7 Million in Demining Equipment

Vietnam will participate in the U.S. Humanitarian Demining Program, State Department Spokesman Richard Boucher announced June 16.

The assistance program includes humanitarian demining equipment that will enhance Hanoi's efforts to detect and safely remove or destroy landmines and unexploded ordnance, Boucher said.

According to the State Department and the United Nations, there are an estimated 3.5 million mines in Vietnam, concentrated mainly in the border region between what was formerly North Vietnam and South Vietnam, the mountainous region between Vietnam and Laos, and on Vietnam's northern border with China.

Following is the text of Boucher's statement:

U.S. Department of State
Office of the Spokesman
June 16, 2000
Statement by Richard Boucher, Spokesman
Inclusion of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam
In the U.S. Humanitarian Demining Program

As a result of extensive negotiations between the United States and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), the Department of State announces that the Socialist Republic of Vietnam will be included in the U.S. Humanitarian Demining Program. This program of assistance will include humanitarian demining equipment that will assist the Socialist Republic of Vietnam in its efforts to detect and safely remove and/or destroy landmines and unexploded ordnance.

The U.N. and the U.S. State Department estimate the number of mines in Vietnam at 3.5 million. The most affected region is Quang Tri Province, which borders the former border between North and South Vietnam. Mines also pose a serious problem near Vietnam's border with China, as well as in the mountainous regions bordering Laos. The Vietnamese army began the arduous task of clearing mines in the mid-1980s. Given the lack of technology and other demining equipment, they have made considerable progress, particularly along the border with China.

Although not officially a participant in the U.S. Humanitarian Demining Program up to now, Vietnam has received some U.S. assistance. The United States government has funded a very successful mine awareness program in the Quang Tri province. The project, a joint effort of Peacetrees Vietnam, an American non-governmental organization, and the James Madison University Mine Action Information Center, was developed in concert with provincial government officials and is now fully operated by Vietnamese organizations.

Under the program of assistance announced today, Vietnam will receive humanitarian demining equipment valued at approximately $1.7 million. The equipment will include mine and unexploded ordnance detectors, vehicles, individual protective gear, and equipment necessary to support a comprehensive mine action information database.

The U.S. humanitarian demining program began in 1988 with assistance provided to Afghanistan, then recovering from its conflict with Russia. Since 1993, the United States has provided over $400 million of humanitarian demining assistance to 36 nations around the world. Included in this amount is approximately $81 million spent for research and development of new demining technologies.

Vietnam becomes the thirty-seventh country to be included in the U.S. Humanitarian Demining Program.

(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)