Crisis Prevention and Recovery

Examples of the impact of cluster munitions on civilians

Kosovo

It was well documented that cluster munitions caused more civilian deaths in the wake of the Kosovo conflict than were caused by landmines.1 In addition to death and injury the contamination caused by these weapons also impeded the return to social and economic normality.

A sample of some 213 clearance records from Kosovo show that more than 1,700 hectares of agricultural land had to be cleared of cluster munitions after that conflict.2 In some places, this contamination stopped commercial agricultural enterprises from operating, meaning paid labourers were unable to return to their jobs after the conflict.3 Elsewhere contamination resulted in an abandonment of arable cash crops and a reliance on aid inputs amongst rural villages.4

In terms of humanitarian funding, such contamination can have multiple costs. A rough estimate of the direct cost of responding to cluster munitions after Kosovo has been put at US$30 million.5 This does not factor in increased reliance on other forms of development and humanitarian aid as a result of impeded agricultural productivity, nor that this money could otherwise have been spent on activities that would have laid foundations for future development.

As recently as 9 November 2007, 4 children were injured by a NATO BLU-97 left over from a bombing that ended more than 7 years ago. 6

Whilst Kosovo saw a massive humanitarian response by some of the wealthiest countries in the world to only a relatively short conflict, in other locations the extent of cluster munition contamination has greatly exceeded the capacity to provide post-conflict assistance.

Lao

In Lao cluster munition contamination is widespread and has an ongoing negative effect on development in a number of areas.

A preliminary survey of the impact of ordnance contamination on internationally assisted infrastructure development projects in Lao PDR indicates that clearance of unexploded ordnance has required the expenditure of approximately US$20million as part of these projects. These projects include the construction of roads, clinics, schools, water pipelines, irrigation structures, power lines and dams, and assistance to rural small holders. 7

In one project, designed to provide power to over 33,000 households in rural areas of northern Laos, the costs of UXO clearance were equal to more than 5% of the total project costs.

In another, road reconstruction project in Xieng Khouang province, UXO contamination was responsible for an additional US$1.2 million in project costs and was cited as a key reason for a delay in the implementation of the project.

Cluster munitions account for nearly half of the ordnance cleared in Lao since records began in 1996, (nearly 850,000 submunitions). 8

As well as making it more difficult for rural communities to escape from poverty, cluster munitions have directly impeded efforts towards the achievement of other Millennium Development Goals. Clearance organisations have documented the removal of cluster munitions before schools could be built in remote rural areas where literacy levels are at their lowest. As well as affecting the delivery of education in remote areas, cluster munitions have also been an obstacle to Provincial efforts to improve education provision, with cluster munition clearance required ahead of the construction of new teacher training facilities. 9

Cluster munition contamination alone will not prevent Lao from meeting its Millennium Development Goals. But in diverse ways this contamination will have made that achievement more difficult and more expensive.

Afghanistan

Cluster munitions cause contamination that is more problematic for the civilian population than other unexploded ordnance. For example, after the bombing and intense ground fighting in Afghanistan in 2001-2002, people questioned by Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation in some rural 600 communities reported a perception that approximately 34 square kilometres of previously safe land was now contaminated by cluster munitions. This was second only to the land-area feared contaminated by anti-personnel landmines, and was far greater than the area considered to be affected by other types of ordnance. 10

As a result of this 'area-contamination', the impact of cluster munition use extended beyond the immediate threat to personal security and safety. Cluster munitions destroyed homes and prevented their reconstruction until clearance could be undertaken. Agriculture was affected, as contamination extended over vineyards, walled gardens and wheat fields. Livestock was killed, and areas available for gathering vital resources, notably firewood, were restricted due to the presence of unexploded cluster munitions. 11 As has been noted in other locations, civilians were left with a choice between suffering a loss of livelihood and severely deprived living conditions, or risking their safety in order to generate income and gather resources.

As well as creating problematic areas of contamination, individual cluster munitions were also perceived to present more of a risk to the civilian population than other types of ordnance. The 2002 Annual Report by the UN Mine Action Program for Afghanistan noted that the "high threat posed by this type of UXO [forced the mine action programme] to allocate major resources to the clearance of these UXO instead of other priority areas." 12 Due to the particular threat that they pose, cluster munitions demand a disproportionate level of resources from those bodies charged with making the environment safe post-conflict.

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