Dak Lak: UXO victims receive financial aid to improve livelihoods

The donations were given to UXO/Mine victims from difficult backgrounds in an event in the provincial capital of Buon Ma Thuot to support their livelihoods.

The financial aid is expected to help the victims develop their business and escape from poverty, said Lt. Gen. Pham Ngoc Khoa, VNASMA Vice President.

He noted that the VNASMA will continue educating people on the consequences of war-era UXOs and how to prevent related accidents and injuries. The association will ramp up activities to support the victims’ livelihoods and give them access to medical treatment, orthopedic and rehabilitation services. 

Furthermore, people living in UXO-contaminated land will be supported to move to safer places while more funds will be mobilized from donators both at home and overseas to assist the victims and mine clearance efforts.

Some 18 charity events of this kind have been held by the VNASMA since 2015 to support the livelihoods of UXO/Mine victims in 17 cities and provinces.

The Central Highlands province of Dak Lak has more than 152,000 hectares of land contaminated by mines and UXOs. Since 2010, four UXO/Mine accidents have occurred in the province, killing three people and injuring seven others. Over 6,400 bombs and mines alongside thousands kilogrammes of ammunition have been discovered so far.

According to a report of the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs last year, Vietnam is one of the most UXO-contaminated countries in the world. It is estimated that about 800,000 tonnes of UXOs were left across the country after the war ended, mostly in the central region. 

Some 6.13 million hectares of land are polluted with or suspected of being polluted with UXOs, accounting for 18.82% of the country’s total area.

Since 1975, UXO incidents have killed more than 40,000 people and injured 60,000 others, most of whom were breadwinners of their families or children.