عنوان

Explosive remnants of war :

Number

TLets679613

Title Proper

Explosive remnants of war :

General Material Designation

[Thesis]

First Statement of Responsibility

Kemp, Anna F.

Title Proper by Another Author

a case study of explosive ordnance disposal in Laos, 1974-2013

Subsequent Statement of Responsibility

Bellamy, Christopher ; Ware, Christopher

Name of Publisher, Distributor, etc.

University of Greenwich

Date of Publication, Distribution, etc.

2014

Dissertation or thesis details and type of degree

Ph.D.

Body granting the degree

University of Greenwich

Text preceding or following the note

2014

Text of Note

This thesis examines one man-made disaster, resulting from the plethora of UneXploded Ordnance (UXO) in Laos, to clarify the performance of post-conflict humanitarian aid and development until 2012. This is achieved through case study field work in Laos. The time period studied is from 1954, the beginning of the political background to the war in Laos, through to the work carried out by the national agency UXO Lao in the field to 2012. The academic disciplines driving this research are War, Conflict and Security Studies, including Post-Conflict Studies, plus aspects of International Relations and Disaster Management. It is not a Law thesis although of necessity it touches on aspects of International Law and particularly the subsequent Protocol V to the 1980 Treaty on Explosive Remnants of War (ERW) and the 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions (CMC). In nine years from 1964-1973 the U.S.A. dropped 260 million cluster bomb submunitions on Laos. It is estimated that 30 percent of the cluster munitions failed to detonate. It is not known exactly where they were dropped and rivers and rain cause them to move. The effect of UXO in the most affected provinces has made them unsuitable for expansion in tourism and agriculture. Analysis of responses to this situation shows that efforts to educate people about the dangers of UXO have often been ineffective and victim assistance is lacking, although now covered by the CMC. The U.S.A. bombing, remained shrouded in official secrecy, and Laos's Communist status precluded overt aid. Laos was therefore a forgotten war but one which has profound implications for warfare and subsequent peace-building. Clearance remained a low priority, in part because it was a low priority for the Lao Government which was not much interested in the welfare of the rural communities affected. The National Regulatory Authority (NRA), the agency within the Laotian government responsible for UXO and EOD requires in FY 2013

HM Sociology

Kemp, Anna F.

Bellamy, Christopher

Ware, Christopher

University of Greenwich

Electronic name

p

[Thesis]

276903

a

Y