U.S. Conventional Weapons Destruction in East Asia and the Pacific: Clearing Legacy Contamination, Promoting Recovery in Conflict-Affected Countries

Countless communities across East Asia and the Pacific face lingering dangers from landmines and explosive remnants of war dating back to World War II, the Vietnam War, and the Indochina Wars. Many Pacific Island nations are still contaminated with unexploded ordnance following World War II battles between Japanese and Allied forces. Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam face challenges from explosive hazards remaining from the Vietnam War and the Indochina Wars. In the decades since combat ended, strong economic development and population expansion into previously uninhabited areas continue to expose civilians to hidden landmines and explosive remnants of war. The United States is a global leader in addressing these emerging challenges, adapting operations when weather-related incidents expose large air-dropped bombs that require immediate attention or when newly populated areas require assistance to find and remove explosive hazards.

For 30 years, U.S. conventional weapons destruction programs have been a bedrock of our diplomatic engagement in the region, helping expand our bilateral relationships to locate and remove explosive hazards while creating a more prosperous and secure future. These investments in explosive hazard clearance operations save lives, deepen diplomatic ties, and open new economic opportunities for affected communities. Cooperation to clear explosive hazard contamination was at the forefront of initial post-war reconciliation efforts in Southeast Asia and remains a foundation of the United States’ commitment to regional peace and prosperity.

Since 1993, the United States has invested more than $912 million in the East Asia and Pacific region for unexploded ordnance clearance, explosive ordnance risk education, assistance for survivors of landmine and unexploded ordnance accidents, local capacity building, and improving weapons and ammunition management.

In fiscal year 2023, the United States contributed $87.23 million to support activities in 11 countries in the East Asia and Pacific region. With this assistance, the U.S. government accomplished the following key achievements:

• Cleared 135,626,521 square meters (33,514 acres) of land of explosive hazards;
• Surveyed 209,163,128 square meters (51,685 acres) of land for cluster munition remnants;
• Destroyed 2,667 landmines;
• Destroyed 99,077 explosive remnants of war;
• Provided explosive ordnance risk education to 2,916,941 individuals;
• Conducted 10,511 explosive ordnance disposal callouts in response to urgent requests for unexploded ordnance to be investigated and rendered safe;
• Destroyed 11,449 excess and obsolete small arms and light weapons;
• Destroyed 40.89 metric tons of unserviceable ammunition;
• Trained 23 personnel in physical security and stockpile management;
• Provided medical or psychological support to 29 survivors of explosive ordnance.

The United States is the world’s leading financial supporter of conventional weapons destruction, providing more than $5.09 billion in assistance to over 125 countries and areas since 1993. For more information on U.S. humanitarian demining and conventional weapons destruction programs, see the latest edition of our annual report, To Walk the Earth in Safety.

For additional information or to request a printed copy of To Walk the Earth in Safety, please contact the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, Office of Congressional and Public Affairs, at pm-cpa@state.gov, and follow us on X (Twitter) @StateDeptPM. The report is also available on the Department of State website at https://www.state.gov/to-walk-the-earth-in-safety/.