National Assembly Approves List of Ethnic Groups

Transcription

1 EAST & SOUTHEAST ASIA 359 LAOS Laos is the most ethnically diverse country in mainland Southeast Asia, with a population of approximately 7 million. The ethnic Lao, comprising around a third of the population, dominate the country economically and culturally. Another third consist of members of other Tai language-speaking groups. The final third have first languages in the Mon-Khmer, Sino-Tibetan and Hmong-Ieu Mien families. These groups are sometimes considered to be the indigenous peoples of Laos. Officially, all ethnic groups have equal status and therefore the concept of indigenous peoples is not recognized by the Lao government. The Lao government currently recognizes over 100 ethnic subgroups within 49 ethnic groups. Some researchers have estimated that there are over 200 distinct ethnic groups in the country. The indigenous peoples of Laos historically resided predominantly in mountainous areas, although many have been resettled to the lowlands in recent decades. They are generally economically worse off than Lao groups, and form a majority in Laos 47 poorest districts. They are experiencing various livelihood-related challenges, and their lands and resources are under increasing pressure from government development policies and commercial natural resource exploitation (agro-industry and tree plantations, mining concessions and the development of large hydroelectric dams). There is no specific legislation in Laos with regard to indigenous peoples. National Assembly Approves List of Ethnic Groups In 2005 the National Assembly declined to approve the new list of 49 ethnic groups along with a large number of sub-group names pro-

2 360 IWGIA - THE INDIGENOUS WORLD posed by the Lao Front for National Construction (see Indigenous World 2005 and 2006). This was after the Central Party Politburo (leadership committee within the Central Lao Revolutionary Party) had approved the list in principle in late 2001 (see Indigenous World ). The Politburo again reaffirmed the validity of the list in 2005 (see Indigenous World 2006). According to observers, the National Assembly s main objection to the list came from ethnic Brou members from Savannakhet Province, who wanted the Brou included as a separate ethnonym from the Mangkong and Tri ethnic groups, which are included in the list. The Central Lao Front for National Construction returned to Vilaburi District, Savannakhet Province, for a re-study. The people there reaffirmed that they preferred the terms Mangkong and Tri to the designation of Brou, even though most Mon-Khmer language speakers in the province call themselves Brou. On the one hand, it is believed that the main reason why the terms Mangkong and Tri are preferred in Vilaburi is that the two groups want to be categorized differently, even if they often refer to themselves, in their own languages, as Brou. On the other hand, some who outwardly identify as Brou appear to want the Mangkong and Tri to be identified as sub-groups of the Brou in order to increase the political power of those who self-identify as Brou. The provincial government of Savannakhet only recognizes three ethnic groups in the province: the Lowland Lao, the Phou Thai and the Brou, even though the Brou include a wide variety of peoples with different dialects and cultural practices. In any case, in November 2008 the National Assembly adopted the original list of ethnic groups, which does not include the Brou. The controversy appears to remain unsettled, and is likely to re-emerge in the future. Hydroelectric Dams In early 2008, foreign investors were still continuing to show considerable interest in developing various large hydroelectric dams in Laos. By the end of the year, however, some investors had withdrawn from projects, including those studying the Nam Ngum 3 dam in Vientiane Province, the Nam Ou dam in Luang Phrabang, and a lignite power

3 EAST & SOUTHEAST ASIA 361 project in Sayabouri. 1 As the global economic crisis expands, other projects may be in jeopardy, although the controversial Nam Theun 2 dam is likely to be completed. In September 2008, International Rivers 2 released a detailed report highlighting various negative impacts associated with large dam projects, including those affecting indigenous peoples, entitled Power Surge: The Impacts of Rapid Dam Development in Laos. 3 International Rivers criticizes the rapid and poor quality of large dam developments in Laos, including the neglect associated with environmental and social impacts, and related compensation for local people. The report includes 11 detailed case studies on dam projects

4 362 IWGIA - THE INDIGENOUS WORLD completed, under construction and planned in various parts of Laos. There is also a useful chapter that lays out some alternatives to large dam development. A large proportion of Lao dams are located in mountainous parts of the country, particularly in areas populated by indigenous peoples, thus threatening them disproportionally as compared to the lowland Lao people. Some of the dams that are considered to be a particular threat to the livelihoods and the natural and cultural heritage of indigenous peoples include Nam Tha 1 (Luang Nam Tha Province), Nam Theun 1 (Bolikhamxay Province) and Nam Theun 2 (Khammouane Province), Xekong 4 and 5 (Xekong Province), Xekaman 1 (Attapeu Province) and Xekaman 3 (Xekong Province), Xekatam (Champasak Province), Xepian-Xenamnoy (Champasak Province) and Xeset 2 (Salavan Province). Many environmental and social problems associated with the Houay Ho (Champasak and Attapeu Provinces), Nam Leuk (Bolikhamxay and Vientiane Provinces), Nam Song (Vientiane Province) and Nam Theun-Hinboun (Khammouane Province) dams also remain unresolved. Mining The mining industry in Laos continued to boom in early 2008 (see, also, Indigenous World 2008). However, a sharp decline in commodity prices at the end of the year resulted in rapid declines in foreign investor interest in the mining industry. For example, Australia s large multinational corporation, OZ Minerals Limited, which owns the Sepon Mine in Savannakhet Province, the largest mine in the country, announced that it was holding off on plans to spend US$100 million to expand the mine, citing dramatic declines in copper prices and difficulties in securing loans as the reasons for its change of plans. The mine is located in an area populated by mainly ethnic Brou people. In December 2008, a company spokesman denied that the mine would close down although some workers have lost their jobs and, according to the Vientiane Times, OZ minerals has no policy to compensate local people who have lost their jobs because they were employed on a daily contract basis. 4 It is unclear how changes at the Sepon Mine are affecting Brou people, either workers or those from communities that

5 EAST & SOUTHEAST ASIA 363 were resettled to make room for the International Finance Corporation (IFC)-supported project. Economic Land Concessions There has been a massive expansion of economic land concessions throughout Laos in recent years for industrial tree crops such as rubber, acacia, eucalyptus, teak, Jatropha, and agar wood, and for a wide range of agricultural crops including corn, cassava, cotton, coffee, cashew nut and others. In May 2007 Prime Minister Bouasone Bouphavanh announced a moratorium on new concessions 5 (see, also, Indigenous World 2008) although this has had only a limited effect. The granting of concessions continued to increase throughout 2008, even though the Lao government has been increasingly promoting various forms of contract farming whereby the farmers retain at least partial control of the land. 6 The central government has also been granting new large land concessions, and large numbers of smaller concessions of 100 ha or less have recently been allocated to companies. This is the maximum concession size that provinces can approve following the May 2007 moratorium, thus resulting in large areas of additional new land losses for indigenous peoples and others. The price of rubber, like many other globally traded commodities, has been in rapid decline recently and yet the expansion of rubber concessions has thus far continued. 7 The situation may, however, change as the global economic crisis deepens in Still, on November 27, 2008, it was announced that Sai Gon-Tay Nguyen Investment Joint Stock from Vietnam had received a 30,000 ha concession from the Lao government in Somboun Sub-district, Phou Vong District, Attapeu Province, a heavily forested mountainous area near the Vietnamese border entirely populated by ethnic Brao people. The project will take over the lands and forests in which the Brao people have historically conducted rotational forms of swidden agriculture, and collected nontimber forest products. Some provincial governments, such as those from Luang Nam Tha and Xekong, have recently instated moratoriums on the expansion of rubber production in their jurisdictions due to concerns regarding pro-

6 364 IWGIA - THE INDIGENOUS WORLD fitability and land availability for more lucrative crops. 8 In most cases, little is mentioned in the press about the loss of important forest and grazing lands for local people, although Kham-ouane Boupha, the President of the National Land Management Authority, has criticized the destruction of forest lands for economic land concessions. 9 In Oudomxay, the head of the Provincial Planning and Investment Department was quoted by the Vientiane Times as saying, in relation to shortfalls in contract farming rubber plantations, We ve encountered many problems over the years. Some of the land that was approved for plantations was in fact part of a protected forest area or was used by farmers to grow rice and other crops. This happened because we didn t check and survey the land properly. 10 In Bachieng District, Champasak Province, many indigenous communities have already lost most of their agricultural and forest lands to Vietnamese economic rubber concessions, causing severe livelihood problems and a great deal of anxiety amongst affected communities. Expansion of areas under rubber cultivation is still continuing. 11 In Paksong District, another district dominated by indigenous peoples, there are so many economic land concessions that some overlap, causing conflicts between the companies involved. As an indicator of the extent of the problems, a group of former revolutionary soldiers (nak lop kao in Lao) in the district sent an ominous letter to the government stating that if the land problems plaguing the people were not resolved soon, there could be serious unrest in the district. Although it was not stated directly, the wording left no doubt as to the warning that the indigenous people of the area could rise up in armed rebellion, although the likelihood of this happening on a wide scale seems unlikely in the immediate future. Lao Hmong Repatriation from Thailand Continues In 2007 there were approximately 7,000 Lao Hmong living in a camp at Huay Nam Khao in Petchabun Province, Thailand. Although organizations such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch criticized an agreement between Thailand and Laos to forcibly repatriate the Hmong to Laos, approximately 2,000 Hmong have been involunta-

7 EAST & SOUTHEAST ASIA 365 rily returned to Laos since November 2006 (see Indigenous World 2008). According to the Vientiane Times, a publication controlled by the Lao government, nine groups of Hmong have voluntarily returned to Laos since repatriation began, with the most recent group of 58 people from 17 families arriving in Laos on December 22, According to the Vientiane Times, the Hmong who left Laos illegally and ended up in Huay Nam Khao had been tricked into believing that they would be able to obtain refugee status in the USA if they went to Thailand. The newspaper also reported that there are still 5,000 people scheduled to be repatriated from Huay Nam Khao, and that there are plans to return them all to Laos by June The Thai and Lao government consider the Hmong in Thailand to be illegal economic migrants. 12 Those moved are apparently being allowed to return to their villages, or resettle with relatives in Laos. However, those who previously conducted swidden agriculture are being sent to resettlement areas in the lowlands, 13 including places where agricultural land is scarce, and people are already experiencing various livelihood problems. q Notes 1 Phouthonesy, E. 2008: ADB vows to stand beside Laos as crisis grows. Vientiane Times, December Formerly International Rivers Network or IRN. 3 International Rivers 2008: Power Surge: The Impacts of Rapid Dam Development in Laos. Berkeley, CA, 88 pp. 4 Phonthonesy, E. 2008: Sepon Mine cuts production costs. Vientiane Times, December Vientiane Times 2007: Govt suspends land concessions. May 9. 6 Vientiane Times 2008: Luang Phrabang to grow more trees for export. October Vientiane Times 2008: Vietnamese firm to process Lao rubber for export. November 14; Asia Pulse Dak Lak develops industrial crops in Southern Laos. October 6. 8 Vientiane Times 2008: No more rubber for Luang Nam Tha. November 11; Vientiane Times Xekong to expand crop varieties. September 2. 9 Khaosan Pathet Lao 2008: Development projects affect forests. June Syvongxay, K. 2008: Oudomxay rubber plantations fall short. Vientiane Times, November Baird, I.G (in Preparation): Land, rubber and people: Rapid agrarian change and responses in southern Laos. Journal of Lao Studies. 12 Agence France-Presse (AFP) 2009: Laos wants Hmong repatriated. January 2.

8 366 IWGIA - THE INDIGENOUS WORLD Chandara, P. 2008: Illegal migrants return home from Thailand. Vientiane Times, December 24. Ian G. Baird, originally from Canada, has a PhD in human geography and has been working on natural resource management and ethnic identity issues in mainland South-east Asia for 21 years. He is Executive Director of the Global Association for People and the Environment, a Canadian NGO active in Laos.