Seventy-seven years after the end of World War II, Pacific Island communities still face the daunting challenge of post-war impacts: unexploded ordnance (UXO) and abandoned munitions. them all over the region.
During WWII from 1941 to 1945, the American, Japanese, Australian, and New Zealand forces clashed in a series of battles in the Pacific Islands. Heavy weapons were shipped mostly from the US and Japan to the various islands to support the ongoing military operations. Unused and abandoned explosives and other unexploded ordnance were left scattered on islands and atolls, buried in the sand, or sunk in lagoons. around. At the end of WWII, large amounts of UXO remained, posing a significant threat to local communities. More than seventy years later, the presence of WWII continues to affect nine Pacific island nations: the Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea, the Marshall Islands, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu.
The United States has been at the forefront of efforts to remediate unexploded ordnance, along with its allies and allies such as Australia, Japan, and New Zealand, through its program to destroy conventional weapons. Progress to date is important, but there is much more to be done. The United States is a Pacific nation—geographically, economically, historically, and culturally—and continues to invest in supporting a prosperous Pacific. The detection and destruction of explosives is essential to sustaining this success by providing a safe environment for our friends and partners in the Pacific Islands to develop their economies through sustainable development. In countries where land is scarce, clearing unexploded ordnance can be very effective.
In Palau, the United States supports UXO permits through the National UXO Security Office. The United States has provided more than $5.4 million to create a national UXO research program, conduct cleanup operations, and build the capacity of the Government of Palau to detect and destroy UXO. As of 2020, the United States has funded the return of more than 80 acres of land back to local populations and the destruction of 2,294 UXO with the U.S. partner Norwegian Public Assistance (NPA).
In the Solomon Islands, the United States has provided more than $6.8 million since 2009 to establish an explosives disposal unit with the Solomon Islands Police Force and build a national capacity to locate and destroy Remnants of War. This includes the training of 13 engineers who have conducted more than 1,200 EOD calls and destroyed more than 29,746 items of UXO with the implementation of the Golden West Humanitarian Foundation since 2009. Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare during her visit in August in Honiara.
The United States has invested more than $2 million in the Republic of the Marshall Islands for UXO technology research and bomb disposal operations on 12 islands spread across five atolls. This includes significant collaboration by the Marshall Islands Historical Preservation Office to identify and catalog original American and Japanese artifacts. US support to the Golden West Foundation has helped locate and destroy more than 140 air-dropped bombs, mortars, landmines, and other explosive hazards that threaten local communities. The United States is working with the Republic of the Marshall Islands to expand cooperation and continue UXO remediation throughout the islands.
The U.S. Response Force is also critical to the safety and security of UXO threats in the Pacific. Civilian technical expert teams work as field responders to unexpected Uxo battlefields, and explosives that pose a major threat to civilians. The Emergency Response Team addresses UXO needs throughout the Pacific in the Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, and Tuvalu.
The work that the United States has done over the past decade with its Pacific Island partners to address the problems of World War II explosions is the basis for the development of a prosperous Pacific, and the United States will continue to build on these partnerships to building the capacity of communities dealing with UXO, and supporting research and development. permission, so that the Pacific partners can have continuous development priority on land free from UXO.
The United States, through its program to destroy conventional weapons, has supported operations in the Pacific since 2009. Since 1993, it has provided more than $4.7 billion in aid to more than 100 countries – making the United States the being the world’s single largest sponsor of conventional weapons. havoc. For more information, see our annual report, To Travel the World Safely, and follow us on Twitter @StateDeptPM.
About the Author: Ethan Rinks is the Program Manager for the East Asia and Pacific Portfolio in the Office of Political-Military Affairs, Office of Disarmament and Disarmament at the US Department of State.
