Why laos bombing

From to , the U. To this day, the country holds the dubious distinction of being the most heavily bombed neutral country in history. Laos remains heavily agricultural, and many farmers have also been killed or injured while working the fields. The Lao people have adapted in some surprising ways, transforming shrapnel, shell casings, and unexploded bombs into everything from decorations to boats, spoons, and ladders as well as creating a thriving, but highly dangerous market in scrap metal trade.

Often the scavengers are young, helping support their families by searching bomb-ridden forests for metal. And it is building a safer future for women, girls, boys and men that drives the deminers working with MAG, many of whom have also had their lives impacted by unexploded bombs. The tragedy inspired Xoua to join MAG: "I am so proud to now be working to support my local community to save lives and help people to be able to use their land without fear and danger from unexploded bombs.

Today we celebrate removing , unexploded bombs in Laos, and reflect on the more than one million women, girls, boys and men we have supported to live free from fear — but the job is far from complete.

Laos has the ambition to eliminate all possible unexploded bomb casualties by And with the continued support of our donors, MAG is committed to supporting Laos to achieve its goal. For every bomb we remove, a community takes one step closer to the freedom to live without fear. That freedom gives girls and boys across Laos the chance to embrace their education.

But the work was halted by the discovery of a deadly danger. This amounts to a planeload of bombs every eight minutes, 24 hours per day, for nine years. In fact, Laos is the most heavily bombed country per capita in history. Forty percent of the victims are children. A cluster bomb is designed to explode into smaller pieces of shrapnel, causing casualties over a large area.

The smaller pieces of these bombs, known as cluster munitions, are they are usually the size of a soup can, an orange, or a tennis ball. Those cluster bombs that do not explode on impact can remain buried in the ground for years, posing an indefinite danger to the civilians who live around them.