Three million Agent Orange victims

50 years after the Agent Orange mission still new victims

12/08/2011

Fifty years ago, in the Vietnam War, the Americans first used the herbal agent Agent Orange to defoliate the jungle in order to cover the opposing forces. Hundreds of thousands of people are still suffering from the after-effects.

The highly poisonous plant poison Agent Orange used to destroy the canopy caused significant irreversible health problems for both the population and the soldiers who came in contact with the defoliant. Since the dioxin-containing agent Orange not only directly attacks the health, but also damages the genome, in Vietnam still today unusually many children are born with severe malformations. The US Army had during the war, according to „Vietnam's Association of Victims of Agent Orange / Dixoin (Vafa)“ For more than ten years, 76 million liters of the highly toxic plant poison have been sprayed and contaminated entire tracts of Vietnam.

Cancers, malformations and immune deficiencies by Agent Orange
Agent Orange, first deployed 50 years ago, has often caused significant health damage, including immunodeficiencies, cancers and a host of other diseases, among the population and soldiers who came into contact with the herbicide in Vietnam between 1961 and 1971, reports Nguyen Van Rinh „Vietnam's Association of Victims of Agent Orange / Dixoin (Vafa)“ at the second sacrifice conference in Hannoi. In addition, the highly toxic chemical can damage the genome and endangered so even decades after the Agent Orange use or the health of newborns, said Rinh. The children and grandchildren who came in contact with the herbicide, disproportionately suffer from severe deformities such as deformed body parts, missing eyes or limbs and cleft lip and palate (colloquially harelip). Overall, according to Vafa boss Nguyen Van Rinh, more than three million Agent Orange victims have been reported to date. The sufferers with their problems often stand alone, because only 200,000 would get a little government support, said the expert. A large proportion (70 percent) of Agent Orange victims live below the poverty line, with 20 percent of affected families counting three or more victims. A burden that is hard to master without support. Therefore, at the sacrificial conference on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the first drop of Agent Orange, the Vafa leader called on the US to do so, „to take responsibility for the damage“. Also, the manufacturers of the highly toxic herbicide such as Dow Chemical and Monsanto should finally admit their debt and pay compensation, so Rinh on.

Lawsuit against chemical companies in US court failed
Already in 2004, Vietnamese victims of the Agent Orange operation in the US had sued a total of 32 chemical companies that had produced the highly toxic herbicide. However, the court ruled that the companies acted on behalf of the military and could not be held responsible. However, Monsanto and Co. had already agreed in 1984 with the approximately 30,000 affected US veterans and granted them $ 180 million in compensation. However, the Vietnamese lawsuit was subsequently rejected after several revisions in 2009. The US Army, which is ultimately responsible for the use of Agent Orange, can not be charged under the existing laws in the United States for possible war damage. And since the US is not ready to take responsibility for the damage caused to the Vietnamese population by spraying the nearly 80 million liters of Agent Orange, including the 366 kilograms of dioxin it contains, those affected can hardly expect help from this side.

Agent Orange victims desperately in need of help
Vietnam's Agent Orange victims are in urgent need of assistance, as the appeal by Vietnam's Health Minister Nguyen Thim to Kim Tien at the sacrifice conference illustrates. „We urgently need the help of international friends“, stressed Tien. Nationwide, twelve rehabilitation centers have already been set up for the victims with such support, and families with severely handicapped children can also be helped. The failed lawsuit in the United States has also borne fruit in Tien, although the parties could not prevail in court against the chemical companies. For the US government made in 2007 for the first time $ 3 million for investigations available. In addition, a relief project has recently been launched to clean the contaminated floor of the airport in Danang, where the chemical barrels bearing the eponymous orange banderole were stored and shipped, by the end of next year. $ 32 million will flow from US taxpayer money to support the project. Overall, a bilateral working group last year estimated the cost of a $ 300 million ten-year plan of action. But those affected will hardly benefit from it, for them are provided only three million dollars, so the criticism of the Association of victims of Agent Orange / Dixoin. (Fp)

Picture credits: Alexis Duclos, Wikipedia